Removed from captaincy at the eleventh hour, Mahesh Rawat scored his first ton of the season as his smashing 146 propelled Railways to 331 for 9 against wooden spooners Uttar Pradesh in final Ranji Trophy group league encounter, here today.
Courtesy Rawat's belligerent 189-ball knock that has 23 boundaries and two sixes, Railways reached a respectable total after being down in the dumps at 51 for four due to some lovely swing bowling by Praveen Kumar (5/68).
En route his 11th first-class century, Rawat enjoyed two fruitful partenrships of 129 for the fifth wicket with Arindam Ghosh (51) and and 123 for the sixth wicket with India international and new captain Karn Sharma (56). Karn also had four boundaries and three sixes in his innings.
Both Yadav's sixes came off chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav.
It was a typically attacking from Rawat, who according to many insiders in the Railways camp has had a strained relationship with chief coach Harvinder Singh of Punjab and his assistant Zakaria Zufri from Assam.
According to sources, Rawat was not taken into confidence before naming Karn the captain although the reason may be his status as a current India player having made his Test debut in the recently concluded Test series in Australia.
Brief Scores: Railways 331/9 in 89.2 overs (Mahesh Rawat 146, Arindam Das 51, Karn Sharma 56, Praveen Kumar 5/68) vs UP.
