Jaipur: The calculated risk of switching from Punjab to Himachal Pradesh paying rich dividends for Pukhraj Mann.Just before the start of the season, Pukhraj took a gamble and joined hands with Himachal as he thought it would be difficult for him to feature regularly in the playing XI of the formidable Punjab side.Since then life has changed for him as he turned out to be the run-machine for Himachal this season.After scoring 272 runs in the Ranji Trophy this season in five matches and nearly 600 runs in the just-concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, the 24-year-old reached yet another milestone by slamming his maiden First-Class hundred against Rajasthan on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy match at the Anantam Ground here on Thursday.Thanks to Pukhraj’s sterling century in his 13th Ranji tie, the visitors bagged the honours on the opening day of their crucial Elite Group D clash.Coming into bat at 95 for 2, the southpaw batted with authority and steered his side to a strong total of 314 for 4. Just when it looked he will remain unbeaten, Pukhraj was dismissed by Manav Suthar at the fag end of the day. However, his 118 off 179 balls with 13 boundaries and a six put Himachal in the driver’s seat.The No. 4 batter had two fruitful partnerships and consolidated Himachal’s position after they opted to bat.Pukhraj stitched together 67 for the third wicket with his captain Ankush Bains (72: 136b, 9×4) and had an alliance of 148 with Nikhil Gangta for the fourth wicket.At close on Day 1, Gangta and Aryaman Dhaliwal were batting at the crease on 66 and 2, respectively.Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar (26-3-59-2) was the only bowler to contain the free flow of runs from the visiting team.Experienced seamer Khaleel Ahmed and part-time off-spinner Deepak Hooda managed to take a wicket each but rest of the bowlers failed to make any impact on the flat surface, which did not offer any assistance to the bowlers. Brief ScoresHimachal Pradesh 314/4 in 90 overs (Pukhraj Mann 118, Ankush Bains 72, Nikhil Gangta 66*, Innesh Mahajan 40; Manav Suthar 2-59, Deepak Hooda 1-36, Khaleel Ahmed 1-46) vs Rajasthan.
