Ranji Trophy: Jadeja takes five while batters flounder on return to domestic red-ball cricket

New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) The sixth round of the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy season began with much fanfare on Thursday, with all eyes being on the Indian Test team players turning out for their respective state teams. Following the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) guidelines that made it mandatory for international cricketers to play domestic matches, Ravindra Jadeja had a day to remember on his return to Ranji Trophy by picking 5-66 and making 38 with the bat for Saurashtra on Day One of their game against Delhi. 

Jadeja dismissed Yash Dhull, and Ayush Badoni, Navdeep Saini, Harsh Tyagi, and Sanat Sangwan to pick a brilliant five-wicket haul and help Saurashtra dismiss Delhi for 188 runs in Rajkot. Delhi had wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant turning out for them, but he made just one of 10 balls as his attempt to sweep off-spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja ended in him being caught at deep square leg.

In Saurashtra’s batting innings, Jadeja walked into bat at number five and hit 38 off 36 deliveries, including two fours and three sixes, before being dismissed by Shivam Sharma as the hosts reached 163/5 at stumps and trail Delhi by 25 runs.

At the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai, Rohit Sharma’s much-anticipated return to the Ranji Trophy after 10 years was short-lived, lasting just 19 balls as he was dismissed for just three runs by J&K fast-bowler Umar Nazir. It was a day on which 17 wickets fell, as current Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai were bowled out for just 120 and conceded the first-innings lead to J&K, who ended day one at 174/7 with a lead of 54 runs.

Nazir, bowling with discipline and accuracy, troubled Rohit with consecutive maidens before having a length delivery outside off taking Rohit’s leading edge as he went for a pull and was caught at extra cover, much to the dismay of fans surrounding the ground in large numbers. This dismissal extended Rohit’s lean patch in red-ball cricket after he averaged only 10.93 in the 2024/25 Test season for India.

On the other hand, Jaiswal fell for four to Auqib Nabi, who exploited the morning nip to the fullest and trapped the left-handed lbw with a sharp delivery jagging back in. The rest of the star-studded Mumbai players couldn’t do much as Nazir picked 4-41 in his 11 overs while Yudhvir Singh took 4/31 to shine for J&K. It took a 57-ball 51 from Shardul Thakur to get Mumbai to reach 120 in their first innings. Shubham Khajuria’s 53 and Abid Mushtaq's 44 ensured J&K took the lead and reached 174/7 at stumps despite Mumbai’s bowlers striking at regular intervals.

At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, opening for Punjab, top-order batter Shubman Gill was dismissed for four off eight balls after being caught behind off Karnataka pacer Abhilash Shetty, as the visitors were dismissed for just 55. By the time the first day ended, Karnataka reached 199/4 in 50 overs and led Punjab by 144 runs.

Brief scores:

Mumbai 120 (Shardul Thakur 51, Tanush Kotian 26; Umar Nazir 4-41, Yudhvir Singh 4-31) trail Jammu and Kashmir 174/7 (Shubham Khajuria 53, Abid Mushtaq 44; Mohit Avasthi 3-34) by 54 runs.

Meghalaya 198 (Jaskirat Singh 43, Sumit Kumar 40; Tapas Kumar Das 6-67, Sunil Kumar Roul 3-31) lead Odisha 70/0 (Swastik Samal 44 not out, Shantanu Mishra 23 not out) by 128 runs.

Maharashtra 258/7 in 86 overs (Saurabh Nawale 60 not out, Siddhesh Veer 48; Raj Limbani 2-45, Atit Sheth 3-48) against Baroda.

Tripura 116-4 (Srinivas Sharath 57 not out, Rajat Dey 25 not out; Varun Choudhary 2-26, Nitin Yadav 2-41) against Services

Punjab 55 (Mayank Markande 12; V Koushik 4-16, Abhilash Shetty 3-19) trail Karnataka 199/4 (R Smaran 83 not out, KV Aneesh 33; Mayank Markande 1-6) by 144 runs

Haryana 157 (Ankit Kumar 57; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6-46, Mukesh Kumar 2-52) lead Bengal 10/1 in five overs (Sumit Kumar 1-2) by 151 runs

Bihar 248 (Ayush Loharuka 101, Sharman Nigrodh 44; Shivam Mavi 4-61) lead Uttar Pradesh 4/0 in one over by 244 runs

Madhya Pradesh 160 (Shubham Sharma 54, Venkatesh Iyer 42; MD Nidheesh 5-44) lead Kerala 54/0 in 18 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 25 not out, Akshay Chandran 22 not out) by 106 runs

Delhi 188 (Ayush Badoni 60, Yash Dhull 44; Ravindra Jadeja 5-66, DA Jadeja 3-63) lead Saurashtra 163/5 (Harvik Desai 93, Ravindra Jadeja 38; Shivam Sharma 2-36) by 25 runs

Tamil Nadu 301 (Andre Siddarth C 106, N Jagadeesan 63; Vishu Kashyap 5-79, Nishunk Birla 2-61) against Chandigarh

Chhattisgarh 230 (Anuj Tiwary 99 not out, Ashutosh 43; Utkarsh Singh 5-50, Aditya Chandresh Singh 2-17) lead Jharkhand 11/0 in six overs by 219 runs

Assam vs Railways was washed out due to wet outfield

Uttarakhand 111 (Shashwat Dangwal 35, Avneesh Sudha 30; Siddharth Desai 9-36) trail Gujarat 190/4 (Manan Hingrajia 66 not out, Urvil Patel 53; Mayank Mishra 3-86) by 79 runs

Hyderabad 291/2 (Tanmay Agarwal 137 not out, Abhirath Reddy 73; Akash Vashist 1-35, Apporav Walia 1-44) against Himachal Pradesh

Andhra 245/7 (Shaik Rasheed 105, KV Sasikanth 57 not out; Abin Mathew 3-37, Ankit Sharma 3-58) against Puducherry

Vidarbha 165 (Karun Nair 39, Akshay Wadkar 34; Khaleel Ahmed 5-37, Manav Suthar 3-40) lead Rajasthan 101/5 (Mahipal Lomror 44 not out, Shubham Garhwal 22; Shubham Kapse 2-17) by 64 runs