Ranji Trophy: Sudip Gharami here for the long haul

KOLKATA: Sudip Gharami suffered a typical ‘so-near-yet-so-far’ emotion, missing out on a 300-run mark by just one run against Andhra at the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in Kalyani this week. Disappointed and dejected? Yes, he was, but the Bengal batter is not one who intends to brood about the issue.

“I was not playing for any milestone. My aim was to take Bengal to safety as that would ensure me an-other innings in the semifinal,” he stated after his marathon innings helped Bengal advance and set up a Ranji semifinal clash with Jammu and Kashmir.


At a time when cricketers grow up as a product of the IPL era, when being sassy and swashbuckling seems to be the leitmotif of their batting, the 26-year-old has marked a stunning departure from the trend. Against Andhra, Gharami stayed at the crease for two days, facing 596 balls (99.2 overs) and hitting 31 fours and six sixes. This was the longest innings of the decade so far in first-class cricket.

In doing so, Gharami also be-came the third batter and first In-dian to get dismissed for 299 in first-class cricket, after New Zealand great Martin Crowe (in a Test match) and Mike Powell. Don Brad-man (in Test) and Shantanu Sugwekar had remained unbeaten on the same score.

“This innings was very satisfying. We were 43/3 after losing our top three batters — Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Chatterjee and Anushtup Majumder. Getting to 600 runs from there was pretty special,” Gharami said.

Son of a mason, Gharami has come up the hard way. Hailing from Naihati, 45km north of Kolkata, coach Debesh Chakraborty saw the spark in young Gharami as his cricketing journey began under him at the age of 11. Later he trained at different academies in Barasat, Kalyani, Ichapur before being picked for a second-division club at the Kolkata Maidan. Staying in a mud house fenced by bamboo, Gharami’s parents sacrificed a lot to fulfil their son’s passion.

Graduating through the ranks after playing for Bengal at Under-16, U-19 and U-23 levels, Gharami — a fan of Sachin Tendulkar — made his first-class debut for the state in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy final against Saurashtra in Rajkot.

“I will say this boy has great batsmanship,” former Bengal U-23 coach Sourasish Lahiri told TOI. “He re-minds me of Manoj Tiwary. He has both aggression and a solid defence. He was the highest run-getter (more than 600 runs) in the national One-day championship at the U-23 level,” Lahiri stated. The former Bengal spinner was impressed with the youngster’s hunger to succeed.