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Ranji Trophy Round-up: KL Rahul flops, Shardul Thakur dazzles for Mumbai & Virat Kohli mania arrives

Ranji Trophy Round-up: KL Rahul flops, Shardul Thakur dazzles for Mumbai & Virat Kohli mania arrives

Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Vidarbha are at the top of their respective Ranji Trophy groups.

How often is it that fans jostle outside the stadium 5 hours before a Ranji Trophy toss? How often does a player’s lunch choice become headlines all over the media? How often does an entire stadium fill out within the first session of a Ranji Trophy game on a Thursday morning? All these events are out of ordinary and only one player is behind this massive craze: Virat Kohli. The Kohli mania hit the Arun Jaitley Stadium as he single-handedly brought the Indian domestic scene on the frontpage. Turning up for Delhi, Kohli was the reason why this Delhi vs Railways match has as much attraction as it has.

Apart from this, three other Indian superstars returned to the Ranji Trophy scene. KL Rahul, one of them, had a poor show against in-form Haryana. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav, fresh from his recovery, had a long day at the office as Madhya Pradesh piled misery on UP. As for Mohammed Siraj, he bowled decently but got just one wicket to show. The last league games still hold massive value, with numerous teams in contention for quarterfinal spots.

Virat Kohli is a showstopper, but fans are disappointed

The Delhi vs Railways clash has been the highlight so far despite Virat Kohli not having a chance to bat on Day 1. Delhi captain Ayush Badoni won the toss and elected to bowl first. The fans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium thought they would see Kohli bat today. Unfortunately for them, Delhi couldn’t bowl out the visitors before the third session. Veteran Upendra Yadav had his day out, scoring 95, missing out of a much-deserved hundred.

Railways made 241/10, with Navdeep Saini and Sumit Mathur taking three wickets each. As for Delhi, Kohli has been slotted to bat at number four. Delhi did lose Arpit Rana but Yash Dhull and Sanat Sangwan stood out in the early storm, with Delhi ending the day at 41/1. They still trail by 200 runs, and Kohli’s chance to bat in the Ranji Trophy after more than 12 years will finally be here tomorrow!

Shardul Thakur dazzles with hat-trick

Shardul Thakur is on fire! The Mumbai all-rounder continued his phenomenal run in the Ranji Trophy, destroying Meghalaya’s batting order in the final round of the tournament. Shardul took a stunning hat-trick, leaving Meghalaya reeling at 2 for 6, and finishing with impressive figures of 4 for 43. His hat-trick was a masterclass, with the ball swinging prodigiously and catching the Meghalaya batters off guard.

Shardul’s performance was crucial in bundling out Meghalaya for a mere 86 runs in 24.3 overs. He was well-supported by other Mumbai bowlers, including Mohit Avasthi, Sylvester D’Souza, and Shams Mulani. Thakur has been in excellent form, especially after his lone battle in Mumbai’s defeat to Jammu and Kashmir last week. He had scored a sixty in the first innings and a hundred in the second, but his team ultimately fell short. As for Mumbai, they already have a lead of 127 runs, with Ajinkya Rahane remaining not out at 83.

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KL Rahul homecoming ends in…

KL Rahul’s highly anticipated return to the Ranji Trophy didn’t quite go as planned. Batting at number three on a good pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Rahul scored 26 off 37 balls, hitting four boundaries, before being dismissed by Haryana’s Anshul Kamboj. Despite looking composed, Rahul’s innings was cut short, and he’ll likely be disappointed with the outcome.

Meanwhile, Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal took charge, adding 62 runs for the third wicket. Agarwal was particularly aggressive, hitting three sixes and eight boundaries, but ultimately fell short of a century by nine runs. The young Ravichandran Smaran then joined Padikkal at the crease, looking to build on Karnataka’s solid foundation. The hosts finished the day at 267/5, with KL Shrijith (18*) and Yashovardhan Parantap (27*) at the crease.

Ranji Trophy Brief Scores after Day 1

MatchTeam 1Innings 1Innings 2Team 2Innings 1Innings 2
Odisha vs ServicesOdisha180 (62.2 Ov)Services85/2 (23.0 Ov)
Bengal vs PunjabBengal119/4 (31.0 Ov)Punjab191 (57.2 Ov)
Jharkhand vs Tamil NaduJharkhand185 (53.2 Ov)5/1 (2.0 Ov)Tamil Nadu106/9 (27.5 Ov)
Chhattisgarh vs ChandigarhChhattisgarh13/0 (2.0 Ov)Chandigarh283 (80.4 Ov)
Baroda vs J&KBaroda29/2 (15.3 Ov)J&K246 (71.3 Ov)
Maharashtra vs TripuraMaharashtraYTBTripura230/5 (90.0 Ov)
Mumbai vs MeghalayaMumbai213/2 (59.0 Ov)Meghalaya86 (24.3 Ov)
Gujarat vs Himachal PradeshGujarat44/2 (21.0 Ov)Himachal Pradesh215 (66.3 Ov)
Vidarbha vs HyderabadVidarbha190 (55.5 Ov)Hyderabad90/2 (29.0 Ov)
Pondicherry vs UttarakhandPondicherry246/7 (89.1 Ov)UttarakhandYTB
Andhra vs RajasthanAndhra49/0 (8.0 Ov)Rajasthan258 (79.5 Ov)
Karnataka vs HaryanaKarnataka267/5 (89.0 Ov)HaryanaYTB
Kerala vs BiharKerala302/9 (84.0 Ov)BiharYTB
Madhya Pradesh vs Uttar PradeshMadhya Pradesh335/1 (90.0 Ov)Uttar PradeshYTB
Saurashtra vs AssamSaurashtra361/3 (90.0 Ov)AssamYTB
Delhi vs RailwaysDelhi41/1 (10.0 Ov)Railways241 (67.4 Ov)

Ranji Trophy points table

Elite Group A

TeamMatWonLostDrawNRPtsNRR
Jammu & Kashmir6402029+1.598
Baroda6411027-0.003
Mumbai6321022+0.495
Services6231016-0.011
Odisha6221116-1.291
Tripura6113115+0.663
Maharashtra6231014+0.434
Meghalaya606000-1.450

Elite Group B

TeamMatWonLostDrawNRPtsNRR
Vidarbha6501034+0.902
Gujarat6303025-0.089
Himachal Pradesh6330021+0.166
Rajasthan6114016+0.454
Hyderabad6222016-0.319
Uttarakhand6132010-0.892
Andhra603307+0.181
Puducherry603303-0.411

Elite Group C

TeamMatWonLostDrawNRPtsNRR
Haryana6303026-0.385
Kerala6204021+0.303
Karnataka6204019+1.294
Bengal6113114+0.021
UP6114013+1.050
Punjab6132011+0.897
MP6114010+0.601
Bihar605011+0.345

Elite Group D

TeamMatWonLostDrawNRPtsNRR
Tamil Nadu6303025+1.824
Chandigarh6330019-0.162
Saurashtra6222018+1.114
Railways6213017+0.050
Jharkhand6114014+0.908
Delhi6123014+0.757
Chhattisgarh6015011+1.152
Assam602408+0.275
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