At their best, Rajasthan fast bowlers ripped through Manipur’s line-up and steered the team to an innings and 42 runs victory in a Group A Ranji Trophy match in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Right-arm seamer Arafat Khan, who has been quite effective with the bowl since the start of the domestic season, registered his best first-class figures of 11-1-36-4.
This is Rajasthan’s second clinical finish in less than 10 days that has earned them a bonus point. Currently, they have 16 points in four matches.
Manipur conceded a big first innings deficit of 240 runs after Rajasthan declared for 399/6, which included centuries from Kunal Singh Rathore (156) and Mahipal Lomror (117).
After resuming their second innings at 21/0, Manipur once again failed to cope with the quality bowling and were bundled out for 198 in 63 overs. It was Aniket Choudhary (18-3-68-3) who brought the first two breakthroughs and the remaining wickets fell in no time.
Talking about his performance, 27-year-old Arafat said that the fast bowlers made good use of the conditions on offer. “The plan was to bowl the good length and target the stumps. Since there was help from the wicket, it became easier to execute everything,” he said after the match.
This is Arafat’s sixth Ranji game since his debut in the 2019-20 season. He acknowledges that there is tremendous competition given the crop of fast bowlers in the state. “But it is also the competition out there which keeps you on your toes. I have worked really hard in the last couple of years and that is showing now. Hopefully, I will get more games in all the formats which will give me a chance to show how good and effective I can be,” Arafat added.
Rajasthan will next face Vidarbha in Jaipur on February 2.
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