Had Ajinkya Rahane not suffered a hamstring injury during the IPL last month, Suved Parkar would have been serving a drink. The debutante made full use of his opportunity to gift Rahane a suitable birthday present on Monday.
More importantly, Parkar (No.104, 218B, 8×4, 2×6) unbeaten centuries and his two hundreds with Armaan Jaffer and Sarfaraz Khan put Mumbai in strong control on the first day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals.
Riding on the valor of the trio, Mumbai ended the day at 304 for three at 64 for two. Despite the match starting 75 minutes behind schedule, good lighting meant only four overs were lost.
When Parkar walked in with just seven minutes left for the lunch break, Deepak Dhapola – Uttarakhand’s fast-paced army – was responsible for both the openers. He survived the awkward phase with Armaan and the pair flourished after the initial half an hour in the afternoon session.
Armaan was classy with his strokeplay – his whip through midwicket that was reminiscent of his uncle Wasim. Parkar took his time and tried to rotate the strike. When the spin started in the 25th over, he changed gears.
Both his sixes – on a left-arm spin from Mayank Mishra and then in an over by long-on leggie Dikshanshu Negi – were effortless. Soon after the partnership touched the three-figure mark, Dhapola returned and forced Armaan to strike one in the channel.
Swapnil Singh, who had failed to catch Parkar’s return catch at the age of 18, took a brilliant catch at slips to end Armaan’s knock.
Walk into the walk saw Sarfaraz and the two go through the rest of the session without much trouble, with Parkar conceding a run to Akash Madhwal in the last over to reach his half-century.
going on the offensive
Last season, Sarfaraz and Parkar had fun against an exhausting bowling unit. While Sarfaraz’s six-over cover which was over the mound of grass was the shot of the day, Parkar showed his class by swinging the strike without any fuss.
Once he entered the 90s, a nudge through the hoop followed by a blow to Madhwal through midwicket meant that Parkar joined an elite list of Mumbai cricketers who made their debuts. But scored a century.
Score:
Mumbai – 1st Innings: Prithvi Shaw b Bhapola 21, Yashasvi Jaiswal c Swapnil B Dhapola 35, Armaan Jaffer c Swapnil B Dhapola 60, Suved Parkar (batting) 104, Sarfaraz Khan (batting) 69; Extra (B-4, Lb-6, Nb-4, W-1): 15; Total (for 3 wickets in 86 overs): 304.
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-64, 3-176.
Uttarakhand Bowling: Dhapola 18-3-53-3, Madhwal 15-1-74-0, Tiwary 19-6-43-0, Swapnil 12-2-35-0, Mishra 17-0-47-0, Negi 3-0- 28-0, Bista 2-0-14-0.
Toss: Mumbai