Anand was the third century for Mumbai and the sixth score over fifty as the hosts piled up 671/7 declared against Meghalaya
Representational Image (Pic: AFP)
He missed the entire white-ball season for Mumbai, but a timely recovery from a wrist fracture coincided with wicketkeeper-batter Akash Anand's return in the second round of the Ranji Trophy, where he marked his comeback with a maiden First-Class century on Friday.
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Anand's 103 off 151 balls, which included 15 fours, was the third century for Mumbai and the sixth score over fifty as the hosts piled up 671/7 declared against Meghalaya, setting a strong platform for a quarterfinal berth.
Anand made his debut in the fifth and final match of the first round in Ranji Trophy against Services in Delhi last November but a fracture to his wrist while playing a game in a local competition, Purshottam Shield here, ruled him out of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.
"Coming from an injury, I did not get a game in local tournament to assess my match fitness, but with the backing of Mumbai coach and captain, I did some match simulation and went on to play this game," Anand told media after the end of play on Day Two here at the BKC Ground.
Anand said his maiden ton will now make him feel that he belongs at this level.
"This is very important for me before the knockouts because I wanted to have that feeling that I belong here and (there is) nothing better than scoring a hundred to feel like it," said Anand, who has also played List A cricket in Sri Lanka three years ago.
Playing only his second match, Anand has shared the Mumbai dressing room not only with the team's current India stars such as Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur, but also with incumbent India skipper Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
It is an experience that Anand says he cannot describe in words.
"I cannot put it into words, actually. There's a lot to pick up, with the way they conduct themselves, the way they prepare for a game, the way they behave after a game " even if it's a good game or a bad game," he said.
"You don't have to ask them " if you can just observe them, that is also a lot of learning.
"Even if I was hesitant to ask them because obviously I had not met Ajju da (Rahane) before or Rohit da before, but they themselves approached me with something and made me feel comfortable. Credit goes to them that I'm open to them nowadays."
Anand said Mumbai wanted to out-bat Meghalaya from the game after the visitors were shot out for a mere 86 in the first innings.
"The main motive was that we have to bat just once in this game to get a bonus point," Anand said.
"The biggest motivation (was) to bat long and stay focused irrespective of their first innings' score, because we did not want to take any chance whatsoever with regards to our second innings' ," he said.
(With agency inputs)
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