Ranji Trophy 2025-26: Vihari’s serene century rescues Tripura against Bengal
On Monday, it would have dawned on Tripura’s Manisankar Murasingh what the then India captain Virat Kohli had meant when he said, “The dressing room feels calm when Hanuma Vihari is batting,” after a series against West Indies in 2019.
During a third round Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C fixture against Bengal at the Maharaja Bir Bikram Stadium here, Vihari was at his elegant best as he pulled Tripura out of the gallows with a clinical 25th First-Class hundred.
And just like that, the home team, which had just about avoided a follow-on earlier, stood within touching distance of its opponent’s first-innings score at the end of the day’s play.
The former Andhra batter, who emerged from the dugout when the scoreboard showed 29 for two, saw Tripura slip further and lose half the side for 53. It was then that Vihari dropped anchor, playing each ball to its merit. There was no innovative shot-making, only archetypal textbook cricket.
Maybe the only time he felt like having a bit of fun was in the 22nd over when he waltzed down the track to dispatch Shahbaz Ahmed’s flighted delivery over the umpire’s head.
The timely partnerships with Sentu Sarkar, Vijay Shankar, and Murasingh helped. Debutant Sentu, especially, may not have contributed much to the tally, yet he helped dent the bowlers’ confidence with his fluent strokeplay.
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Abishek Porel wore the black hat to help Vihari’s cause. He dropped the India international twice—the second one, right after Vihari scored his fifty, should have been a regulation take behind the sticks.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami’s Test bid was dealt a blow after he returned wicketless post seven spells of full-blooded pace bowling under the blazing sun. His frustration came to the fore when he took a shy at Vihari’s stumps in the 57th over without the batter having moved from his crease. His brother, Mohammad Kaif, fared better with four scalps.
With Tripura only 63 behind Bengal’s mark, Shahbaz may have been left mulling over what could have been if he had survived longer than five deliveries in the first session of the day.
Published on Nov 03, 2025
