Karnataka skipper Manish Pandey went ballistic on the first day of Ranji Trophy 2022 season. Playing against Railways, Pandey piled on 156 runs at a strike rate of 128.93 batting at no.5 at India Cement Limited Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai.
Pandey came in to bat in the second session when Karnataka were 110/3 in the 37th over. Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal got starts but lost their wickets in the first session itself after Railways skipper Karn Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. Ravikumar Samarth was the third wicket to fall as he missed his half-century by just three runs.
Total dominance
Pandey stitched a dominating partnership with Krishnamurthy Siddharth. The two batters put on 267 runs for the fourth wicket in 47 overs. Pandey went on a rampage as he hit 10 sixes and 12 fours in his 156-run knock. Avinash Yadav faced the wrath of Pandey as the veteran hit him for three sixes in a row. The 32-year-old reached his century in style as well by hitting a six off pacer Amit Chandika Prasad Mishra. He faced a total of 121 deliveries and lost his wicket to off-spinner Shivam Chaudhary.
Siddharth did the damage from the other end as he remained unbeaten for 140 runs off 221 deliveries including 17 fours and two sixes. At the end of the day, Karnataka had 392 runs on the board for the loss of five wickets. On Day 2 of the First-Class game, Siddharth will have a chance to score his maiden double hundred.
New IPL franchise’s recruit
This was Pandey’s first game after getting picked by new franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). To rope in Pandey’s services, his former franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Delhi Capitals (DC) and LSG engaged in a bidding war. In the end, LSG roped him in for Rs 4.60 crore.
Last international appearance
Pandey has not represented India since the ODI series against Sri Lanka where Shikhar Dhawan led a second-string squad as Indian Test side was in England in the break between World Test Championship (WTC) 2021 final and five-Test series against Joe Root’s side. He was not given a chance after three ordinary scores in India’s series defeat to Sri Lanka.
