ഇറാനി കപ്പ്: തകർച്ചയിലും പതറാതെ രവിചന്ദ്രൻ സ്മരൺ; റെസ്റ്റ് ഓഫ് ഇന്ത്യയ്ക്ക് കരുത്തായി സെഞ്ചുറി പ്രകടനം

"Rishabh bhai, aaj bas survive karna hai (Rishabh, just survive today)," a fan called out to the wicketkeeper as the Rest of India captain trudged towards the dugout at tea on day three. In the last couple of hours, his team had lost four wickets for 55 runs. Jammu & Kashmir, who won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in February, could see a double within reach. The Irani Cup was there for the taking.

Pant, who was unwell, had walked out to bat with his team in disarray. He gave the fan a small nod that seemed to say he would try.

He did not last. A wild swing and he was lbw in only the second over of the third session. Nine deliveries later, Akash Deep was out.

"Ab toh jaldi all out ho jayenge (they will be all out soon)," the fan said. The statistics were on his side: the two men still to come, Mukesh Choudhary and Mukesh Kumar, have first-class averages of 11 and 8.14.

Two hours later, he stood corrected. Ravichandran Smaran was still there. His unbeaten 126 took the visitors from 197/8 to 306/8 at stumps.

He had done it in the first innings too, scoring 68 when Rest of India were 155/7.

He was matter-of-fact about it. "I've been in these situations a lot throughout my career. Back in Karnataka, in home league matches as well as for the state, I've been in a lot of situations like this. I have the game awareness of how to bat with the tail."

It was his seventh first-class century, in only his 19th appearance, with five sixes and 15 fours.

"In these situations, I always want to play aggressive cricket. The fourth innings is always going to be hard for any team batting, irrespective of how the wicket is playing. The plan was to play with positive intent. I knew that as I keep scoring runs, they are also going to spread the field and try different things."

At the other end Mukesh Choudhary was unbeaten on 9 off 47 balls. The pair's 109 for the ninth wicket is the highest in the Irani Cup.

Smaran credited his partner, and said what might have been. "It was unfortunate that we lost a couple of wickets in the middle. Probably, if I had another batsman out there, it could have been a different situation and we would probably have a lead of more than 300 runs."

He topped the charts last Ranji Trophy season with 950 runs, yet that was not enough to earn a place in the India A side for the two unofficial Tests against Australia A.

Smaran, 23, is not thinking about call-ups.

"I'm not expecting any call-ups from India A. Honestly, I'm just looking to score as many runs as possible, help my team and win every trophy that we have. I can't think about what can happen in the future. It's not in my hands. The goal doesn't change. In the Ranji Trophy, my goal is to score 1,000 runs and be back-to-back on the top (of the run-scorers' list)."

Red-ball cricket is not the only format he thinks about. His century in the final won Karnataka a fifth Vijay Hazare Trophy title in 2025, and his T20 strike rate is 155.82.

"It is a very good challenge for guys who want to excel in three formats. In this day and age, T20 has gone to a whole other level, where the demands are entirely different. You have to get your strike rate to more than 200. As batters who want to play three formats, we also have to evolve and ensure that we are right up there. We have to be in pace with the demands of the game."

Smaran is yet to make his mark in the IPL, but he finds a link between his Sunrisers Hyderabad stint and his red-ball batting.

"Definitely, IPL has improved my game. Even in red-ball games, there are situations where you have to take on bowlers, like today. The white-ball game of mine came into play when I was batting with the tail."

His one let-off came on 104, when Umar Nazir had him lbw off a no-ball.

His father, Ravichandran S, and his coach, Syed Zabiullah, were watching from the stands. "I'm really grateful that I could get a hundred in front of them," he said.

Rest of India lead by 265 runs. The Ranji Trophy champions have won the last two editions of the Irani Cup. Smaran may have just rewritten the script.

Brief scores: Rest of India 237 & 306/8 (Ravichandran Smaran 126 not out; Sahil Lotra 3/71) lead Jammu & Kashmir 278 by 265 runs.