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In contrast to Assam's dressing room which cheered for Amol Muzumdar reaching 10,000 first-class runs, a cloud of silence loomed heavily over the Railways hut at the Karnail Singh Stadium on Friday. Long before the rest of his team-mates could leave the ground, Railways off-spinner Kulamani Parida quietly walked away bearing his kit bag, head bowed. Skipper Murali Kartik did his best to make it easy, patting his back on the way.
Parida bowled just one over, the last one of the day, in Assam's second innings. The one run Parida conceded came off a no-ball after he was called for throwing. Parida had bowled nine overs in the first innings and escaped censure after displaying a corrected albeit ineffective action. In the second innings, he seemed to struggle to complete his over cleanly.
Last year, when Parida had come under the scanner for the first time, he had said, "Am I a 22-year-old who is looking to play for India? If I am called again, I may just retire." So when Parida was included in the Railways squad against Assam, it was widely believed that it was for his farewell match.
Assam were nine wickets down when Kartik who had taken five wickets in the innings handed the ball to Parida. When asked why, Kartik replied, "Spur of the moment. It's really sad the way he had to go. I started my playing career with him. We have had some really good times together. It's sad for things to come down to this."
Amol's 10,000,/b>
On Thursday, Amol Muzumdar had celebrated his 36th birthday by cutting a cake. On Friday, he again had to do the honours, this time for celebrating 10,000 runs in first-class cricket. Muzumdar reached five figures during the course of his unbeaten 73.
Brief scores: Assam 187 & 160/9 (A Muzumdar 73 n.o; M Kartik 5/66); Railways 182 (TP Singh 41; D Goswami 5/53)
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