NEW DELHI: Services captain Rajat Paliwal is about to turn 35. He draws inspiration from the persistence of J&K’s 41-year-old captain Paras Dogra. On Monday, he was up against Aman Chaudhary – a 21-year-old left-arm spinner – who emerged as Delhi’s trump card in just his second first-class game.The word ‘relentless’ is tattooed on Chaudhary’s arm; and on a slow-turning first-day track at the Air Force ground in Palam, Paliwal, with an unbeaten 111, threatened to take the game away from Delhi. But it was Chaudhary’s probing spell of 4/79 (in 31 overs) that helped Delhi bowl out Services for 266 at stumps in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C game.At the end of the day’s play, Paliwal, who has 110 first-class matches behind him, didn’t want to judge the new-age cricketers who unapologetically prioritise T20 cricket over first-class cricket. He cited Delhi captain Ayush Badoni’s consecutive double centuries this season to validate the depth of Indian domestic cricket and then went on to talk about Dogra – Paliwal’s “inspiration”.“My inspiration is Paras Dogra. He got to lift the Ranji Trophy at this stage and age,” Paliwal said, who, earlier in the day, managed to steer his team from a precarious 158/7 to a competitive total on a pitch that’s likely to deteriorate.
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Harsh Dubey claims 9 wktsSpinner Harsh Dubey’s sensational spell of nine for 53 headlined a dramatic opening day as 14 wickets fell in the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy clash between Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha, with the hosts struggling at 56 for four after bowling out the visitors for 209. Madhya Pradesh, who elected to bat, were bowled out in 66.1 overs on the first day.
