By Admin 
Debuts by professional athletes can range from the extremely impressive to the eminently forgettable. On day two of the Elite Group-A Ranji Trophy clash between Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh at the Sri Ramakrishna College ground here on Monday, G. Ajitesh and Kartik Yadav put in performances tilting towards the former for their respective sides.
While TN’s Ajitesh struck a fluent 86 at No. 7 to help his side notch up 455 from an overnight total of 282 for five, Kartik, a left-arm orthodox spinner who idolises Ravindra Jadeja, plugged away for 31.3 overs and claimed a five-wicket haul for the visitors. Once it was UP’s turn with the willow, it also made use of the pleasant batting conditions to move to 87 for one at the close.
With B. Indrajith trapped leg-before on 149 by the 19-year-old Kartik an hour into the second day — just as he had reached 6,000 First Class runs — the onus of guiding TN to an imposing first-innings total fell on Ajitesh. The 23-year-old, who was born and brought up in Bengaluru but moved to Coimbatore for cricketing reasons four years ago, was up to the task. From drives down the ground against spin to cuts and pulls versus pace, a broad repertoire was on view. When appropriate, Ajitesh was able to manoeuvre the ball into gaps and rotate strike too.
In R. Sonu Yadav, who chipped in with 44, Ajitesh found an able busybody. The duo added 106 runs for the seventh wicket.
It was Kartik eventually who broke the partnership after lunch. The delivery that got the wicket was asking for punishment, but Ajitesh could do no better than drag his pull to midwicket.
Never mind the TN batter missing the three-figure mark, Kartik didn’t allow the opportunity to grab a five-wicket haul to be squandered. He induced a nick from R. Sai Kishore that carried to slip, and then castled Sandeep Warrier with a straighter delivery.
The scores: Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: B. Sachin c Juyal b Tyagi 2, N. Jagadeesan c Kaushik b Aaqib 8, Pradosh Ranjan Paul c Goswami b Aaqib 2, B. Indrajith lbw b Kartik 149, P. Vidyuth b Kartik 11, C. Andre Siddarth c Mavi b Tyagi 121, G. Ajitesh c Karan b Kartik 86, R. Sonu Yadav b Karan 44, R. Sai Kishore c Rinku b Kartik 14, Sandeep Warrier b Kartik 0, P. Saravanakumar (not out) 1; Extras (nb-10, b-5, lb-2): 17; Total (in 136.3 overs): 455.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-11, 3-20, 4-71, 5-282, 6-331, 7-437, 8-441, 9-455.
UP bowling: Aaqib 9-2-13-2, Tyagi 22-8-51-2, Mavi 21-3-77-0, Shivam 28-4-108-0, Kartik 31.3-5-103-5, Karan 22-1-71-1, Rinku 3-0-25-0.
Uttar Pradesh — 1st innings: Abhishek Goswami (batting) 54, Madhav Kaushik b Sai Kishore 21, Aryan Juyal (batting) 8; Extras (b-4): 4; Total (for one wicket. in 33 overs): 87.
Fall of wicket: 1-73.
TN bowling: Warrier 8-1-27-0, Saravanakumar 4-0-20-0, Sai Kishore 14-5-21-1, Sonu 5-1-12-0, Vidyuth 2-1-3-0.