On Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy final at Hubballi, it took bouncers, bruises and even a moment of raw temper to unsettle Paras Dogra – but not enough to move Jammu & Kashmir off course. Across two days of stubborn batting and theatre in patches, the 41-year-old captain’s gritty half-century helped J&K stretch Karnataka’s patience and pile up a formidable 527 for 6 before bad light brought early stumps.
Technique may not be his strongest suit, but in the pursuit of prising Dogra out with a short ball on Wednesday, Karnataka’s streaks of brilliance weren’t enough to topple J&K’s mountain project. While his numerous lives ended before tea, Dogra’s painstaking 70 off 166 balls meant J&K’s batters lasted for two whole days
A whump off the collarbone, a rip-snorting bumper copped on the finger and the helmet, had all forced J&K head coach Ajay Sharma to retire Dogra on Tuesday. The stage of a big final – his first in 25 years of pro cricket – had already exposed a few of his softer nerves.
Returning from an injury-laden nine off 48 balls from last evening, Dogra faced the Karnataka seam cast that blew off overnight centurion Shubham Pundir (121) and (61) in five deliveries, between the 10th and 11th over of the morning. Substitute KV Aneesh, the silly point scapegoat, soon managed to get under the skin of Dogra, who debuted the year he was born.
The nagging extraction of his short-ball weakness, a sore hand and shoulder, and the chirpy substitute for had taken a toll on Dogra.
He gave in, dropping a ‘Zizou’ act on the cricket pitch – , brushing Aneesh’s grille. The J&K captain soon received a moral red card from the Hubballi crowd in exchange for their first real popcorn moment across four sessions.
Prasidh Krishna’s bouncer barrage had rekindled in the 101st over, and Dogra miserably failed to align himself to anything short, which is second-nature for the India pacer. “Let’s see another headbutt here, boys,” yapped the seasoned faces of the Karnataka slip cordon.
Dogra skipped, hopped, prodded and flailed against the shorter lengths. Squared-up and caught wrong-footed in the air aplenty, he buried his face into every bouncer, landing in awkward positions most often. His wavy technique was imitated by a concerned Sharma in the dug-out last evening, but none could deprive Dogra of being an immensely proud holder of over 10,000 runs in this tournament.
A specific drill with the coaches helped with the jitters.
“I had a talk with Ajay Sharma, sir and Dishant Yagnik, our fielding coach. In the morning, I did a one-hour drill for it [short ball]. When you’ve been doing it for such a long time, some movements get restricted. After doing that drill for an hour or something, I felt better,” Dogra said at stumps.
He may not have added on to his solitary India A cap he earned on this ground 14 years ago, but Dogra’s runs weren’t always about the prettiest strokeplay. The first drinks break also helped to lighten the mood, as Dogra’s relaxed chat with Prasidh almost involuntarily shifted the bowlers’ lengths.
Scenes in Ranji Trophy final!
Paras Dogra, J&K captain, headbutts KV Aneesh, substitute Karnataka fielder.
Obviously physical contact not on in cricket.
Got me wondering – in general & not for this – how much verbal provocation should be allowed too…
— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42)
Settling into the first spread of spin from both ends, Dogra soon found his regular movements, shifting effortlessly in the crease. A series of late cuts set him up behind wicket-keeper Kanhaiya Wadhwan’s busy half-century, who also invited attention by nudging seamer V Vyshak’s arm in between a run. Shortly after crawling to a half-century in 140 deliveries, Dogra smeared left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty through extra cover, opening up adeptly for an inside-out shot that mauled the over-the-stumps angle.
The weakness would still twitch. Seven balls later, pacer Vidhyadhar Patil hit Dogra flush on the grille once again. It would ricochet to the stumps but not down the bails on another luckless day for the Karnataka bowlers. That would be the final straw for Dogra, though, as Karnataka veteran Shreyas Gopal redeemed himself with a back-spinner after long, hopeless spells across both days.
Karnataka only have themselves to blame after squandering a second new ball without sustained pressure against the stumps. The runs continued unabated when lower-order bats Sahil Lotra and Abid Mustaq piled an unbroken 56-run stand for the seventh wicket, before bad light pulled up the covers.
The batting will go on, affirmed Dogra, keen on pushing Karnataka into a time-gauntlet for the first-innings lead to add onto their eight titles. The incident behind the players, Dogra, will still likely cop an official sanction for the fleeting, “heat-of-the-moment” headbutt. What will endure is his doggedness: part-gritty, part-ugly but effective nonetheless.
Brief Scores: J&K 527/6 in 86 overs (S Pundir 121, Y Hassan 88, Dogra 70) vs Karnataka
