The words were confident. The cricket, at first, matched them.
On the eve of the Ranji Trophy season opener, head coach Satrajit Lahiri had said Tripura was eager to shed the ‘underdog’ tag. Until drinks on day one, the visitor played the part, standing firm against Mohammed Siraj’s Hyderabad and picking its way through pace and turn on a freshly laid red-soil pitch, all the while testing the home side’s patience.
Then, in the space of two overs, the contest tilted.
Tanay Thyagarajan tore through, removing Hrituraj Ghosh Roy with Rahul Radesh making no mistake at short fine. He came back in his very next over and struck twice more, sending Sridam Paul and Hanuma Vihari back for ducks.
Tripura’s hopes of rebuilding in the second session rested on the shoulders of opener Bikram Kumar Das, who ground his way to a half-century off 102 balls. But what followed was a collapse of spectacular proportions, and Aniketh Reddy was at the centre of it.
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He trapped Mandeep Singh leg before and then clattered Sentu Sarkar’s stumps two balls later. Debutant Ruthik Yadav joined the party, claiming the prized scalp of Bikram.
In just 28 balls, with a mere four runs added, Tripura lost six wickets, becoming the first team bowled out this Ranji season. Aniketh, with a five-wicket haul, was the pick of the bowlers.
Hyderabad’s gamble of playing two pacers and three spinners paid off handsomely, with the spin trio accounting for nine wickets.
Openers Tanmay Agarwal and Abhirath Reddy began confidently for the home side, adding 60 runs in 18 overs. Off-spinner Sandip Sarkar then swung momentum back Tripura’s way.
Abhirath’s flick fell to Manisankar Murasingh at leg slip. In his next over, Sandip dismissed Rahul Singh and Pragnay off consecutive balls. He later got Himateja to edge to wicketkeeper Sentu Sarkar, with Hyderabad trailing by 13 runs at stumps.
Published on Oct 11, 2026
