Lucknow: Abhimanyu Easwaran continued his rich vein of form at the Irani Cup, hitting a fine unbeaten century (151*) to ensure Rest of India’s strong reply to Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai on the third day of the five-day encounter, at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

Easwaran, who was part of India’s Test squad during their tour of South Africa in 2023-24, stroked his third successive hundred in first-class cricket this season after hitting back-to-back centuries in last month’s Duleep Trophy for India B. Easwaran had struck an unbeaten 157 against India C in Anantapur before smacking 116 against India D.

The 29-year-old right-hander scored his 26th first-class ton in just 117 balls with a boundary off Mohit Avasthi. He struck unbeaten 151 in 212 balls with the help of 12 boundaries and a six as Rest of India ended the day at 289/4 in 74 overs, still trailing by 248 runs in the first innings. Dhruv Jurel remained unbeaten at 41-ball 30, which contained four boundaries and a six as the two stitched an unbeaten 61-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

With his latest ton, Easwaran, who was watched over by national selectors Shib Sundar Das and Subroto Banerjee from the stands, has once again pushed his case for a Test selection. This year alone, he has scored over 800 first class runs, including four hundreds and three fifties. He top-scored for India B in Duleep Trophy, scoring 309 runs in five innings. He played two matches for Bengal in the last Ranji Trophy season, scoring a double hundred and two fifties.

In the 2018-19 season too, Easwaran amassed 861 runs at an average of 95.66, including a career-best score of 233 against Punjab and also played a crucial role in helping Bengal reach the Ranji Trophy final in the 2019-20 season.

“The ultimate goal is obviously to play for the country and win games for the country. Especially with the WTC coming in, every game is more like a World Cup game for India in Test cricket. That is the goal, but at the same time I just need to be focussing on what is there in my hand,” Easwaran said.

“If I can just keep doing my work off the field, keep preparing well, enter every tournament like it is the most important tournament of my life and then give it my best on the field, I think that is what matters. If I can do that, that gives me the best chance to perform. Selection is not in my hands. I want to play for the Indian team, but I cannot control that. My job is to just keep improving and working on my game and getting better every single day,” he added.

Earlier, Mumbai ended their innings at 537 with the addition of just one run to their overnight score. Sarfaraz Khan top scored with an unbeaten on 222 while Mukesh Kumar compelted the eigth five-wicket haul of his career (5/110). Yash Dayal and Prasidh Krishna finished with two wickets each.

In reply, Rest of India lost skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad early (9), caught brilliantly by Prithvi Shaw at third slip off debutant pacer Mohammad Juned Khan. Easwaran, meanwhile, continued with his merry ways on the slow surface, not hesitating to sweep spinner Shams Mulani for a boundary towards mid-wicket. He added 87 runs with Sai Sudharsan for the second wicket at a brisk rate before Tanush Kotian got the wicket of the Tamil Nadu batter in the 32nd over.

Easwaran held one end up after the fall of Saudharsan (32, 79b, 4x4) and Devdutt Padikkal (16, 31b, 1x4) in quick succession. He found a solid ally in Ishan Kishan as the two added 70 runs for the fourth wicket and steered the Rest of India past 200 in the final session. Absence of Shardul Thakur due to fever in Mumbai’s bowling attack also helped Rest of India. Thakur, who fielded in the last few overs on Day 3, is expected to bowl on Friday.

Brief scores: Mumbai 537 in 141 overs (S Khan 222*, A Rahane 97; M Kumar 5/110) vs ROI 289/4 in 74 overs (A Easwaran 151*; M Avasthi 2/66). ROI trail by 248 runs.

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