Ranji Trophy 2015: Punjab’s Varun Khanna joins party after pacers derail Railways

This triggered a slide. Getting steep bounce, Sran picked up two more wickets in his next over — Mahesh Rawat and Arindam Ghosh — to leave the Railways gasping at 153-4. Sran was ably supported by Siddarth Kaul, who removed A Singh for 90. Together, the Punjab pace duo dismantled the Railways. Sran finished with six wickets and Kaul coming to the party with four wickets to polish off the tail. Together, Sarn and Kaul took the last 9 wickets for a mere 46 runs. As many as five Railways batsman were out without scoring.

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“It was a comeback match for me after more than three years. Last three years, I I have be out due to a shoulder injury and a fracture in my feet. I was playing the district matches when Yuvraj paaji insisted that I join the team and today my focus was to bowl with bounce and discipline,” Sarn later said after the day’s play.

Enforcing the follow-on, Punjab found another hero in their second innings – left-arm orthodox spinner – Varun Khanna. Bowling unchanged from the pavilion end, Khanna, who last played a first class match in 2009, used his flight and variations in his 13-over spell to ignite Punjab’s hopes for a win on the fourth day.

If the first innings mainstay Ashish Singh was caught and bowled by Khanna with a slow delivery, the wickets of well set Prashant Awasthi and Mahesh Rawat off consecutive deliveries showed that Khanna took full advantage of the home conditions. “I still remember the date of my last first class match against Tamil Nadu. But I was always playing cricket in the last five years. Be it at the district level or state level, I would practice daily and would consult current Ranji team-mates. I bowled to Yuvi paaji in the nets prior to the match and today also he said that I have a role to play. I have worked upon my flight in the last one year and I am happy that I got wickets today,” Khanna said.

With Punjab still ahead by 283 runs, the home team would look towards to take the remaining five Railways wickets on the last day to begin their Ranji Trophy campaign this season with a win.

Brief scores: Punjab 604/5 decl in 171.1 ovs vs Railways 196 in 56 ovs (Ashish Singh 90; Brainder Sran 6/61, Siddarth Kaul 4/53) & 125/5 in 29 ovs (Varun Khanna 5/51).