If Monday’s opening day was one of prayers being answered, Tuesday turned into a day of gifts for Tamil Nadu as Pradosh Ranjan Paul helped himself to a second First Class double hundred (208, 335b, 14x4), while Ajith Ram brought up his maiden First Class century (115 n.o., 219b, 10x4).

The duo piled on the agony for the host as the visitor declared its first innings at a mammoth 571 for seven on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D clash against Chandigarh at the Sector-16 Ground here on Tuesday.

The day began with overnight batter G. Ajitesh departing in just the second over of the morning as medium-pacer Rohit Dhanda breached his defence.

Thereafter, Pradosh and Ajith Ram took charge. The two initially took their time to settle down, showing patience and wearing down the bowlers before gradually opening up.

Once they found their rhythm, the runs began to flow. There were delightful square drives, crisp drives through the covers and pulls whenever the bowlers dropped short as the pair made the most of the scoring opportunities.

Pradosh reached his double hundred with a flick off a fuller-length delivery towards square-leg, letting out a roar before he was eventually castled by Chiragvir Dhindsa.

Ajith Ram then cut loose alongside skipper Sai Kishore, taking on the spinners and finding the boundaries with greater freedom.

He brought up his maiden three-figure mark with a boundary and yelled in delight, while Sai Kishore’s cameo (36 n.o., 35b, 2x4, 3x6) added to Chandigarh’s misery before TN declared.

In reply, Chandigarh lost three wickets to finish the day at 49 for three in 20 overs, trailing by 522 runs.

The scores: Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: Vimal Khumar c Arjit b Nikhil 11, N. Jagadeesan b Bhagmender 52, Pradosh Ranjan Paul b Chiragvir 208, B. Indrajith c & b Nishunk 51, Andre Siddarth c & b Bhagmender 13, G. Ajitesh b Rohit 34, Ajith Ram (not out) 115, Sonu Yadav lbw b Chiragvir 27, Sai Kishore (not out) 36; Extras (b-8, lb-7, w-5, nb-4): 24; Total (for seven wkts. decl. in 154 overs): 571.

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-92, 3-231, 4-254, 5-322, 6-448, 7-504.

Chandigarh bowling: Jagjit 21-5-61-0, Nikhil 15-1-42-1, Rohit 26-3-97-1, Nishunk 29-1-122-1, Bhagmender 28-2-102-2, Chiragvir 30-0-112-2, Arjun 5-0-20-0.

Chandigarh — 1st innings: Nehal Pajni b Gurjapneet 8, Arjun Azad lbw b Sai Kishore 21, Manan Vohra b Sai Kishore 15, Arjit Pannu (batting) 3, Akshit Rana (batting) 1; Extras (lb-1): 1; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 49.

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-34, 3-48.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Gurjapneet 7-2-16-1, Saravana Kumar 3-0-14-0, Sai Kishore 7-3-14-2, Ajith Ram 3-1-4-0.