Kalyani (Nadia, WB), February 15 A determined Sudip Gharami exemplified patience as he continued from where he left off in the quarterfinal, scoring a second successive century to take Bengal to 249 for 5 against Jammu and Kashmir on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Sunday.
The dismissal of Shahbaz Ahmed (42 off 90 balls) late in the day, an in-cutter from left-arm seamer Sunil Kumar, will give J&K an opportunity to capitalize at the start of the second day, when the new ball will be due after the last delivery of the 80th over.
Having batted for 15 and a half hours to score his match-winning 299 against Andhra in the quarterfinal, Gharami took guard again, but appeared to have carried forward his form from the previous game, scoring an unbeaten 136 off 227 balls.
Gharami came to the crease in the second over after veteran Sudip Chatterjee (0) was dismissed without troubling the scorers.
Gharami hit 19 fours and a lofted six in his near six hours of astute batting, which also showcased his stamina and defensive technique.
He shared a 85-run stand for the second wicket with captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (49), who looked good before a delivery from Auqib Nabi moved slightly after pitching to knock back his off-stump.
Anushtup Majumdar (14) managed a low score, but he was involved in a 66-run stand that steadied the innings. However, the 94-run stand with Shahbaz posed real concern for J&K captain Paras Dogra, especially with the pitch offering little assistance to the bowlers.
For Gharami, scoring runs on the big stage – the quarterfinal and now the semifinal – will certainly make the national selectors notice him when they select the next India A squad for a red-ball series.
Gharami's ability to wait for loose balls and respect a good spell was commendable. His six was a lofted shot over extra cover off left-arm seamer Sunil. Gharami stepped out to play that shot.
For the national selectors, who look for the "x" factor before elevating a player, Gharami's strokes against Nabi – on both sides of the wicket – were particularly eye-catching, as he handled the veteran pacer with assurance and authority. He also launched into IPL seamer Yudhvir Singh, with 11 of his 19 boundaries coming off these two bowlers.
When left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq came in to bowl, unlike Anushtup, who was leg-before after being rooted to his crease, Gharami used his feet to good effect, reaching to the pitch of the deliveries and neutralizing the spin.
One such push towards deep mid-wicket brought up his century – his eighth in 39 games for Bengal.
The 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season has been a breakthrough one for the former Bengal U-23 skipper, whose current run tally is 787. He is currently fourth in the list of top run-getters for the season, behind Ayush Doseja (Delhi, 949 runs), Sanat Sangwan (Delhi, 828 runs) and Abhinav Tejrana (Goa, 787 runs).
With the top-three run-getters no longer a part of the season, Gharami would want to take Bengal to a position where he gets to play one more game and end up on the top of the run-getter's charts.
