Back in Business

After a disastrous run in the Ranji Trophy one-dayers at Rajkot, wherehe failed to reach double-figures in all the four innings, AmeyaShrikhande bounced back in style clubbing a rollicking ton for IncomeTax against United Cricket Club

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, February 26, 2009

Cricket can be a great leveller. One moment you could be perched ontop while at another moment you can plunge to a low. Within a matterof a couple of months, Ameya Shrikhande seems to have realised howthat famous dictum holds true. After a phenomenal season in thefour-day Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra, where he amassed 571 runs(including three hundreds against Tamil Nadu, Baroda and Railways) atan impressive average of 51.90, the right-handed strokemakerexperienced the blues with the willow, managing just 27 runs at a paltry average of 6.75 in four innings in the Ranji Trophy one-dayers recently.
"The Ranji Trophy four-day games went well for me. I got three hundreds and was feeling pleased to have contributed when my teamrequired the most, but in the Ranji one-dayers in Rajkot Iunfortunately missed out," says the youngster nonchalantly.
So did he indulge in any kind of soul-searching to decipher as to what went wrong with his batting in the Ranji one-dayers in Rajkot where hefailed to reach double-figures in all the four innings? "I cannot saythat there was any single factor for my lean run with the bat in Rajkot. I got run out in the first game and perished cheaply in the next three matches. I guess one has to learn from failures and emergestronger, I’m just doing that," Shrikhande talks with a fair amount ofmaturity.
The city lad seems to have learnt his lessons quickly as he vanquished his bad patch and blazed his way to a swashbuckling 120 off only 122balls, punctuated with seventeen fours and two sixes for Income Taxagainst United Cricket Club in the MCA Open Invitational League.
Interestingly, Shrikhande’s century was the lone three-figure score inthe entire slot of last week’s of matches. So double elation for notjust returning to run-making ways but Ranji one-dayers," he says witha satisfied tone.
How about all the talk going around about some of the Pune boys beingin the running for a berth in IPL teams? "I’m hearing it from thenewspapers only. Let’s hope some of our boys make it, it will be goodfor the game in the state," he signed off.