Young Sudip Gharami (106 batting) scored his maiden first class hundred that put Bengal in a strong position in their Ranji Trophy quarter final clash versus Jharkhand.

At stumps on Day I at the Just Cricket Academy ground near Bangalore, Bengal were 310/1 after being put in to bat. Alongside Gharami, senior pro Anustup Majumdar (85 batting), too, looked solid, being only 15 away from a century.

Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran also came up with a well-compiled knock of 65, while his opening partner Abhishek Raman had to leave the field due to back spasm after scoring 41. Raman’s condition, however, is better and he will be able to resume his innings, head coach Arun Lal said.

The star of the day though was none other than the 23-year-old Gharami, who has so far played a splendid knock at No.3 after aggregating only 101 in his first seven Ranji innings. “I kept egging myself to perform as this could well have been my last game had I failed. So I went out to bat with such a mindset,” Gharami said later.

“As I got going, I just made sure I didn’t play any loose shot or try some fancy stuff. Besides, the support I got from our head coach and skipper gave me a lot of confidence.”

Brief scores: Bengal 310/1 (S. Gharami 106 batting, A. Majumdar 85 batting) vs Jharkhand. At stumps, Day I