Bist better than the rest

On these grounds,the 24-year-old Robin Bists 117-run knock at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium was a superlative effort. The Ranji Champions,sent in by Cheteshwar Pujara,were struggling at 41/2 when Bist walked out to bat. And right from the start,he looked every bit the batsman who has scored 1034 runs last season,and not the sorry figure that he cut on the side lines subsequently,with hardly any game time during the IPL and on the India A tour to the West Indies.

He pulled,cut,drove and flicked with authority,caring little about reputations but never once recklessly,as wickets kept falling all around him. At times,it looked like Bist vs the Rest,with most other Rajasthan batsmen struggling to put bat to ball against Yadav,Ishant Sharma and Stuart Binny.

The fact that Bist is clearly one of the most improved batsmen in domestic cricket was evident from the way he handled the short ball. Last year,he had candidly admitted having a fear of being hit while playing the rising delivery. He had even discussed it with Sachin Tendulkar and sought his advice. On Fridays evidence,the disciple seems to have hung on to every word the sage might have said.

The pitch had pace and bounce and Yadav was bending his back when Bist took guard. Before long,the fast bowler dug in one short,but Bist didnt duck or sway; he stood tall every inch of his 5-foot-six frame swivelled on the back foot and neatly swatted it away with contempt towards the mid-wicket boundary.

He didnt look back thereafter. The century also came off an attempted pull,again off Yadav,although it was a top-edge that flew above the wicket-keeper for a four. Not a convincing shot,but its clear that he doesnt shy away from the short ball any longer.

Another statement with this knock that had 14 fours and two sixes is that he cant be ignored for long,especially if he carries on in the same vein. During the Ranji season,he scored four tons and half-centuries,but this ton was all the more special as it comes against a formidable attack that has three India bowlers. Bist handled all of them with aplomb 8211; in fact he scored nearly two thirds of his runs against Yadav and Pragyan Ojha,including 11 of his 14 boundaries.

Yadavs reverse spell

However,for all his efforts Rajasthan are still on the ropes,they have Yadav to curse. In a spell of seven overs with the old ball,he worked up serious pace and even a hint of reverse swing to take five wickets and reduce the two-time domestic champions from a healthy looking 218/4 to 253 all out.

One on one,he might have been outperformed by Bist today,but in the overall match scenario,Yadavs five-for seems to have put Rest of India on course for a consecutive seventh.

Scorecard

Rajasthan 1st innings: A Lamba c Rahane b Binny 29,V Saxena c Saha b Sharma 0,H Kanitkar lbw b Binny 8,R Bist not out 117,R Parida b Sharma 34,D Yagnik lbw b Yadav 40,D Chahar c Saha b Yadav 0,M Khatri c Saha b Yadav 0,Gajendra Singh c Badrinath b Yadav 6,A Choudhary b Yadav 0,S Mathur run out Pujara 4; Extras b 5,lb 7,nb 3 15; Total all out in 86.3 overs 253; FoW: 1-13,2-41,3-46,4-151,5-218,6-218,7-220,8-234,9-238; Bowling: I Sharma 12-6-17-2,U Yadav 20-7-55-5,S Binny 15-2-38-2,P Ojha 25.3-5-78-0,Harmeet Singh 13-2-45-0,S Badrinath 1-0-8-0; Rest of India 1st innings: A Rahane batting 2,M Vijay batting 0; Extras 0; Total 0 wickets in 1 overs 2; Bowling: A Choudhary 1-0-2-0.