JAIPUR: Rajasthan badly needed someone to step up after losing four wickets in quick succession in the first hour of the play on day two, and there came 18-year-old Karan Lamba. The cool-headed and confident teenager slammed an unbeaten 122 off 184 balls against Jharkhand in a Group C Ranji Trophy match at the SMS Stadium on Wednesday and became the fourth player from Rajasthan to score a hundred on first-class debut. Before him it was Gagan Khoda (116 runs) in 1991–92, Rajesh Sanghi (108) in 1993-94 and Salman Khan (110 runs) in 2016-17 who scored centuries on debut. En route his ton, Lamba struck 14 boundaries and three sixes.
The centurion stitched important partnerships with No.10 and 11 batters, Rituraj Singh (15 off 52 balls) and Aniket Choudhary (22 off 31 balls) respectively, to put Rajasthan in the pole position with a 195-run lead in the first innings. At stumps, Jharkhand were 66/0.
Rajasthan resumed from the overnight score of 101/4 and Jharkhand seamers, Ashish Kumar (25-6-75-5) and Supriyo Chakraborty (14–3-51-3), sent packing four batters back to the pavilion in no time. Right-hand batter Lamba walked in at No.5 and wasted no time in getting started as wickets were falling at the other end. Batting with the tailenders was tricky and there was uncertainty with the scoreline reading 141/8.
But Lamba displayed immense maturity and tactfully coordinated with Singh and Choudhary. Especially the way he rotated the strike was commendable. The first 33 runs in a 76-run (148 balls) partnership with Singh came solely from Lamba's bat. Partnership with Choudhary was a lot quicker as pitch had eased out after lunch and scoring became a lot easier. They together added 70 runs off 92 balls.
"I was nervous facing the first five deliveries and then I told myself that I have been in similar situations earlier as well, so what's to worry about?" Lamba told TOI after the day's play. He added that his plan was to keep the strike as much as possible and score fast as already eight wickets were down in 42 overs.
Jharkhand openers, Kumar Deobrat (31 not out off 71 balls) and Aryaman Sen (31 not out off 79 balls) started cautiously in the second innings and they now need to dig deep to avoid their second loss of the season.
Brief score: Jharkhand 92 in 47 overs & 66/0 in 25.0 overs (Kumar Deobrat 31 not out, Aryaman Sen 31) vs Rajasthan 287 in 81.2 overs (Yash Kothari 52, Karan Lamba 122 not out; Ashish Kumar 5/75, Supriyo Chakraborty 3/51).
