A Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) all-rounder has racked up a marvelous ton on the second day of the new Ranji Trophy season. The player batted beautifully and has almost been a lone warrior in the innings so far.

Deepak Hooda, the Rajasthan batsman, scored an unbeaten 105 runs off 171 balls, including 12 boundaries. He came to bat at number 4 and kept the innings tight, even though wickets continued to fall from the other end.

Several batsmen had starts, but none could translate them into big scores, the next best being 33 by opener Yash Kothari. Deepak tried to form partnerships with several batsmen, but the other batsman lost his wicket just before the stand became big and the innings never improved.

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However, Deepak provided stability on his part and ensured that Rajasthan did not fall too far behind Puducherry’s first innings total. He will look to continue his innings and weave crucial partnerships with the lower order batsmen to take Rajasthan’s score ahead of Puducherry and give them a vital lead in the first innings of the game.

Rajasthan Trail with 14 tracks at the end of the second day.

After winning the toss, Rajasthan opted to bowl first and bowled brilliantly to defeat Puducherry for just 248 in 85 overs. As many as four bowlers (Deepak Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Aniket Choudhary and Manav Suthar) snared two wickets each, while Rahul Chahar took a solitary wicket.

Ajay Rohera scored 94 runs for Puducherry, while Fabid Ahmed (49) and Anand Bais (41) also started but could not convert it into a big run. Later, Rajasthan did not start well, losing Abhijeet Tomar in the fifth over.

There were several openings by the Rajasthan batsmen, but only Deepak Hooda turned it into a big one, scoring a brilliant century under pressure. So far, he has scored 44.87% of the team’s runs alone, which meant Rajasthan came close to Puducherry’s score in the first innings.

Rajasthan would want Hooda to go on and bat deep to ensure Rajasthan gets ahead of Puducherry’s score. Meanwhile, Puducherry would like to take the remaining four wickets as soon as possible.

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