Jammu and Kashmir skipper Paras Dogra on Wednesday downplayed the on-field incident in which he head-butted Karnataka player KV Aneesh, saying it wasn`t a “big thing” during the second day`s play in the Ranji Trophy final here. Dogra was involved in a heated exchange with substitute fielder Aneesh and head-butted him on the helmet shortly after hitting a four off Prasidh Krishna.
The J&K batter, who eventually fell for 70, was squared up by the India pacer with the ball flying past the slip cordon, which led to words being exchanged on the field. Asked to sum up the day in which J&K seized control reaching a massive 527/6, Dogra told reporters, “Very good, to be honest. We are in a good position.”
“That`s what matters for me. All that keeps happening and especially when you are playing a final or something (like that), a bit of it happens,” he said. “It was just in a little heat of the moment. Not a big thing. Yeah, it is all settled now. That`s (a hot day) a different thing and it was momentary. We started talking and chatting after that so it`s all well,” Dogra added.
Dogra said Jammu and Kashmir will look to bat as long as possible to force a result in the summit clash on the basis of first-innings lead. “No, we haven`t set a target, to be honest. We can get the result from the first innings lead as well so we will try to bat as long as we can,” he said.
“Mostly everyone (in J&K camp) is satisfied but still we can go (bat) long. Everyone knows Karnataka is a good batting side. We would try to put as many runs as we can,” Dogra said. Dogra, who put on 110 runs for the sixth wicket with Kanhaiya Wadhawan (70), said the discussion between them was to “dig in”. “(We spoke about) having a good partnership. Let`s dig in because this time won`t come again. Try to give your best and take the team in a good position,” he said.
Dogra said he did a one-hour drill against short bowling before play began but refused to comment on the toil for Karnataka bowlers. “I can`t comment on all those things. But we have worked hard. We have batted really well and that`s why we have put a good score on the board. I will never say anything about the bowlers,” he said. “I had a talk with Ajay Sharma sir and Dishant Yagnik, our fielding coach. In the morning (when) I came, I did a one-hour drill for it (short pitch bowling).”
153
No. of First-Class matches played by Dogra (including this final)
10,587
No. of First-Class runs scored by Dogra
70
No. of runs scored by Paras Dogra against Karnataka on Wednesday
Brief scores
J&K 527-6 (S Pundir 121, Y Hassan 88, P Dogra 70, K Wadhawan 70, A Samad 61, S Lotra 57*; P Krishna 3-90) vs Karnataka
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