Pradosh’s ‘sweep’ing success against Chandigarh

Tamil Nadu batter Pradosh Ranjan Paul was so locked in that he did not take a moment to soak in the applause when he reached his half-century against Chandigarh on Monday.

The left-hander went about his business with a single-minded focus on making it bigger in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match. Pradosh, who celebrated his deserved ton animatedly, ticked off a box by staying unconquered at stumps.

“When I got to my fifty, I felt that I could have batted better. I was not contacting the ball well in the initial part. I celebrate only when I have the perfect feeling that I batted well,” Pradosh told The Hindu after his unbeaten 138 put Tamil Nadu in the ascendancy.

“The job is not done. Until I am in the middle, my role is to take my team to a commanding place. I will be satisfied if this knock results in a win. Milestones give happiness, but my job is to win games for Tamil Nadu,” the 25-year-old added.

Pradosh curbed his attacking instincts – never taking the aerial route – and effectively used the sweep to combat the left-arm spinners.

“Overall, I tried to be as disciplined as possible. Some shots were not in demand in the situation we were in. If there is a need, I will try to pull them off. When the spinners hit the rough, I had to open up. I felt that the sweep was something which would get me runs.” Those strokes led to a sweeping success.