Irani Trophy: Dhawan, Rahane make merry on opening day

Contrasting centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane helped Rest of India (ROI) reach a commanding 400 for three against Rajasthan at stumps on Day One of the Irani Trophy tie here on Saturday.

While Dhawan sent the Rajasthan attack on a leather hunt, scoring a magnificent 177 (165 balls, 32x4, 1x6), Rahane continued his good form by registering a patient unbeaten 117 (212 balls, 12x4, 1x6).

The greentop at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium didn’t make much of an impact after ROI skipper Parthiv Patel decided to bat first. Deepak Chahar, who had a sensational First Class debut last year, was in for a tough day’s work. Dhawan attacked Chahar straight away and the youngster’s lack of pace only made matters worse.

When Chahar pitched up, Dhawan drove him through the mid-off region. When he bowled wide, the Delhi southpaw executed fierce cuts. And when he dug it in, Dhawan pulled with ease. With rookie left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary making his debut, Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund (18) added 77 runs for the opening wicket.

Mukund was, however, not at his best and remained unusually subdued. First-change bowler Sumit Mathur (1/65) forced the Tamil Nadu left-hander to play on. Dhawan, though, batted with a lot of swagger. While on 80, he got a reprieve after a miscued pull off Choudhary was misjudged by Chahar.

Rahane proved to be a perfect ally for Dhawan as he didn’t play any risky shots. He gave Dhawan most of the strike. The India A captain reached his 11th First Class century when he swept off-spinner Madhur Khatri for a couple and celebrated the ton by lifting the spinner for a six. His 100 came off 122 balls and he needed just 43 balls to score the next 77. Dhawan and Rahane added 190 runs in 37.2 overs before the former tried a wild slog sweep off Khatri to be clean bowled.

Manish Pandey (16) didn’t stay long enough and became Choudhary’s maiden wicket. Rahane was joined by skipper Parthiv Patel and the Mumbai batsman upped the ante, using his feet to good effect against the spinners. A copybook straight drive brought up his 18th century off 182 deliveries.

Parthiv, on the other hand, got some much-needed batting practice ahead of the five-match ODI series against England. The Gujarat southpaw completed his 50 off 88 balls. The duo has already added 113 runs for the fourth wicket.

Scorecard
Rest of India: A Mukund b Mathur 18, S Dhawan b Khatri 177, A Rahane batting 117, M Pandey lbw b Choudhary 16, P Patel batting 55; Extras (B4, LB2, W2, NB9): 17
Total (3 wickets; 90 overs): 400
Fall of Wickets: 1-77 (Mukund, 18.4 ov), 2-267 (Dhawan, 55.6 ov), 3-287 (Pandey, 60.5 ov)
Bowling: D Chahar 21-2-120-0 (NB5, W1), A Choudhary 17-1-73-1 (NB1, W1), S Mathur 18-3-65-1 (NB1), M Khatri 28-2-110-1 (NB2), A Menaria 1-0-10-0, R Bist 5-0-16-0