RANJI ROUND-UP
Follow UsNotable results from the week
Mumbai beat Maharashtra by 9 wickets
Gujarat beat Andhra by 1 wicket
Rajasthan beat Himachal Pradesh by 8 wickets
Uttarakhand beat Hyderabad by 78 runs
What made news this week?
Pujara slams another double ton
After a grim start to the season (scores of 16 & 0 against Tamil Nadu), Cheteshwar Pujara made his presence felt in the ongoing Ranji season with a cracking double hundred against Chhattisgarh. The veteran cashed in on the batting-friendly conditions in Rajkot with 234 at a decent strike rate of 61.
This is Pujara’s 66th hundred in first-class cricket, going past Brian Lara’s feat of 65. He is also the fourth on the tally of most double hundreds, only behind Don Bradman (37), Wally Hammond (36) and Patsy Hendren (22). He also notched up a few other records, including the milestone of 21,000 first-class runs.
ALSO READ: Pujara hits record-breaking double ton against Chhattisgarh
The right-hander struck 25 fours and a six in his 383-ball knock and had 100-plus partnerships with Sheldon Jackson and Arpit Vasavada. He got out to Shashank Singh at Saurashtra’s score of 478 as the game ended in a draw, with both teams going back with a point each.
Can Pujara return to the Indian team given they have a tour Down Under around the corner? Only time will tell.
Top performers of the week
Abdul Samad - 127 & 108* vs Odisha
Abdul Samad became the first Jammu and Kashmir cricketer to register a century in each of the two innings in a first-class game with scores of 127 and 108*. Batting at four, Samad’s knocks came at a strike rate of 108.5 and 100 respectively. He struck 15 sixes in the match (nine in the first innings and six in the second), third-most among Indian batters in a first-class game.
Despite his high count of sixes, Samad bailed out his team both times as no other J&K batter could manage a half-century in the match. Setting Odisha a target of 269, J&K came quite close to victory, with the hosts in Cuttack finishing their second innings at 112/8. The game ended in a draw but Odisha clinched three points on account of their first innings lead of 2 runs.
Ruturaj Gaikwad - 0 & 145 vs Mumbai
Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad made amends for his duck in the first innings with a hundred in the second outing against Mumbai.
With Maharashtra facing a deficit of 315 runs, Gaikwad held the innings together batting at number three. Scoring 145 off 171 balls, the right-hander built partnerships of 222 with the opener Sachin Dhas (98).
Gaikwad had amassed three fifties this season across the Duleep Trophy, Irani Trophy and Ranji Trophy but this is the first time he converted it into a triple-digit score. However, he couldn’t save the game for Maharashtra as they lost by nine wickets. But on a happier note for Gaikwad, he was later announced as India A’s captain for their upcoming tour of Australia.
Sai Sudharsan - 213 vs Delhi
Sai Sudharsan’s double hundred established Tamil Nadu’s thorough dominance against Delhi. His 213 came at an impressive strike rate of 77.7 with the help of 25 fours and one six, translating to nearly 50% of his runs in boundaries.
After a 168-run opening stand with the skipper N Jagadeesan, Sudharsan forged a 232-run partnership with Washington Sundar before getting out to Saini. Seen as an India prospect, this is Sudharsan’s sixth hundred in 26 first-class matches and the first which he has converted into a double hundred.
Deepak Chahar - 5/30 & 1/35 vs Himachal Pradesh
Deepak Chahar laid the foundation for Rajasthan’s outright victory with his first five-wicket haul in five years. The 32-year-old registered bowling figures of 10-3-30-5, folding Himachal for 98 in their first innings. Chahar ran through their batting order, accounting for five of their top six batters.
This was Chahar’s only fourth first-class match in the last three years. His last five-for for Rajasthan in red-ball cricket came in 2019.
Other notable showings
Amandeep Khare - 203* vs Saurashtra
Sanjeet Desai - 146 vs Saurashtra
Govinda Poddar - 133* & 9 vs J&K
Virat Singh - 128 & 3* vs Railways
Aniket Chaudhary - 3/28 & 5/66 vs Himachal Pradesh
Sumit Sharma - 5/79 vs J&K
Mayank Dagar - 5/85 vs Rajasthan
India watch
Washington Sundar - 152, 3/43 & 3/45
Washington Sundar turned up with an all-round performance in Delhi. He smashed the second hundred of his first-class career, scoring 152 off 69 deliveries. The 25-year-old then pouched six wickets with off-spin bowing, nailing some key Delhi batters.
Courtesy of his Player of the Match award-winning performance, Washington was added to India’s squad for the second and third Test of the ongoing series against New Zealand.
Shreyas Iyer - 142 vs Maharashtra
Shreyas Iyer grabbed the headlines in the Mumbai-Maharashtra fixture with his first red-ball hundred since November 2021. His last ton in red-ball cricket came on Test debut against New Zealand in Kanpur, 39 innings ago.
After Maharashtra were bowled out for 126, Iyer walked into bat at a rather comfortable position of 123/3. However, things were difficult for the 29-year-old who had bagged three ducks in this domestic season — two in the Duleep Trophy last month and one in this Ranji season (0 & 30 against Baroda). Out of the Test team, this was an important innings for Iyer and he made it count with a sparkling ton.
Ishan Kishan - 101 vs Railways
Another batter trying to get back into contention for the national team, Ishan Kishan scored 101 against Railways. The Jharkhand skipper, after a quiet outing against Assam (21 & 16), batted 158 balls in his innings, smashing 13 fours and two sixes. He forged a 174-run partnership with Virat Singh on Day 1, vindicating his call of batting first.
Kishan didn’t bat again in the match as Jharkhand batted only 19 overs in the second innings with the match ending in a draw. Jharkhand clinched three points for their first innings lead — by 3 runs.
Youngsters who shone
Yash Dhull - 105* & 8
Chasing 675 for a first-innings lead, Delhi were in all kinds of concerns at 103/5. That is when Yash Dhull stood up like a rock, scoring a resolute 105 not out from 197 deliveries, stretching Delhi’s score to 266. Batting at three, he scored 11 four and three sixes, the last of which, down the ground, brought up his hundred.
The 21-year-old had to undergo heart surgery for a minor issue because of which he had to miss the inaugural season of the Delhi Premier League.
Opening in the second innings following on, Dhull could only score 8. However, his first innings efforts went a long way in securing a draw for his team. Delhi finished their second innings at 193/8 at the back of Sanat Sangwan (83 off 231) and Navdeep Saini (15* from 64).
Manav Suthar - 4/77 vs Himachal Pradesh
Amidst the pacers, the left-arm spinner Manav Suthar also left his mark in Rajasthan’s outright win. The 22-year-old picked 4/77 in the second innings, bagging four of Himachal’s top five batters. Himachal slipped from 103/0 following-on to 260 all out with the left-arm seamer Aniket Chaudhary going through their lower-order.
Another India prospect, Suthar has now grabbed eight wickets in two Ranji Trophy matches this season, averaging 23.3 runs apiece.
Mahipal Lomror - 99 vs Himachal Pradesh
Rajasthan had multiple performers in this match and Mahipal Lomror added to the tally with his 99 in their first innings total of 334. The top-scorer in the match, Lomror’s 99 came off 134 deliveries batting at number five with 14 fours and a six, constituting more than 60% of his runs in boundaries.
Lomror was 89 not out at stumps on Day 1 and missed what would have been his seventh first-class ton by the barest of margins. He was caught by Prashant Chopra off the bowling of Rishi Dhawan.
Ayush Mhatre - 176 & 15 vs Maharashtra
The 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre justified his fast-tracked entry into the Mumbai setup with his maiden first-class ton against Maharashtra.
An opening batter, Mhatre made his debut in the Irani Trophy and featured in Mumbai’s opening game of this Ranji season where they lost to Baroda. Having scored 107 runs in these two games, Mhatre more than doubled the tally. He scored 176 off 232 balls with four sixes and forged a 200-run stand with Iyer for the fourth wicket.
Top scorer in this game, Mhatre now averages 49.7 in three first-class matches with one fifty and one hundred.
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