Mukund hits ton for Rest of India

Abhinav Mukund struck an unbeaten 156 while Shikhar Dhawan (83) and S Badrinath too blossomed (72 not out) as Rest of India (ROI) piled up a mammoth 331 for one against Ranji champion’s Mumbai on the opening day of the Irani Trophy match here on Friday.

Abhinav Mukund struck an unbeaten 156 while Shikhar Dhawan (83) and S Badrinath too blossomed (72 not out) as Rest of India (ROI) piled up a mammoth 331 for one against Ranji champion’s Mumbai on the opening day of the Irani Trophy match here on Friday.

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Batting first, ROI batsmen capitalised on Mumbai’s sloppy fielding. Dhawan (83) was the lone ROI batsman to depart, caught by Iqbal Abdulla off part-time spinner Rohit Sharma, but not before stitching a 167-run opening stand with Mukund.

Dhawan hit 12 boundaries during his 140-ball stay at the crease. But from there on, it was all Mukund who mixed caution with aggression to end the day on an unbeaten 156 that was studded with 17 fours.

S Badrinath remained unbeaten on 72. He hit seven fours. Mukund was of the view that the wicket at the Sawai Mann Singh stadium had nothing to offer to the bowlers. “Mumbai bowlers tried their best but the pitch was too flat,” he said. Off-spinner Ramesh Powar also blamed the placid pitch for Mumbai’s bowlers unimpressive display.

“The wicket had nothing in it. It was a big disappointment. It should have been better,” said Powar.

Brief Scores: Rest of India 331 for 1 (Avhinav Mukund batting 156, Shikhar Dhawan 83, S Badrinath batting 72; Rohit Sharma 1/9).