The scoreboard read a concerning 54/3 when Tamil Nadu’s in-form batter Baba Indrajith walked out to bat in the 14th over of the 294-run chase vs Haryana in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final on Wednesday. The match situation, however, took a backseat when the cameras zoomed in on the white dressing which was covering the 29-year-old’s face. Just ten deliveries into his innings, the right-hander wasn’t didn’t look comfortable and signalled to the physio who, along with venue doctors, rushed out in the 16th over of the innings.
The white dressing was removed, the upper lip was secured with padding and firm taping was done around the mouth before the batter took guard again. At that point, it wasn’t clear what had happened as Indrajith batted without any major discomfort to keep TN alive in the stiff chase. For the next 61 deliveries, it was the in-form batter on display who had posted 103* and 92 in his last two outings in the tournament and was looking set for another big one before a sharp catch by Ankit Kumar in the deep ended his innings, and TN’s hopes of making the final.
TN lost the match by 63 runs but Indrajith won a lot of hearts for his brave 64-run knock in the big match. At the post-match presser, captain Dinesh Karthik revealed that the right-hander hurt himself during the mid-innings break and had a deep cut on the upper lip. Right after the game ended, Indrajith made his way to the hospital where he received stitches for the “deep cut”. The experienced campaigner, and mainstay of TN’s middle-order for years now, was in high spirits after the freak injury and assured “it should be fine soon”.
“Fell very badly”
It happened during the mid-innings break when Indrajith slipped after his ice bath session. He cut his upper lip after the fall but “managed to bat somehow”. The side’s leading run-getter in the tournament was gutted to not cross the line but assured to “be back soon”.
“Thank you all for your concern and wishes. Slipped and fell very badly when I stepped out of the ice bath mid-innings. Fell face-on in the bathroom and was shaken up quite a bit. Was bleeding with a deep cut on the upper lip and the inside of the lip. Managed to bat somehow but was gutted to not cross the finish line for the team. Just went to the hospital and got my stitches done. Should be back soon. Thank you once again,” Indrajith posted on Instagram.
Before the semi-final, the elegant right-hander hit an unbeaten 103 vs Mumbai in the quarters and scored a very crucial 92 in a low-scoring affair vs Madhya Pradesh. It was another good campaign for Indrajith who accumulated 330 runs from 7 innings at a healthy average of 66.00 and continues to make the right noise with the bat. For the last few seasons, he has been very consistent in the Ranji Trophy too but is yet to find a place in the various India A squads named during the period.
With the white-ball competitions now coming to an end for Tamil Nadu, the focus will now shift to the longer format and Indrajith would look to have another good season to ensure the knock on selectors’ doors only gets louder.
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