India off-spinner Saransh Jain recorded his career-best figures in First-Class cricket to help Madhya Pradesh dismiss Bihar for a mere 99 on Day One of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match in Indore on Monday. The 33-year-old, who had earned his maiden India call-up for the Sri Lanka tour earlier this year, returned 7/40 in 13 overs including a maiden, to help bundle out Bihar in just 30.3 overs. Jain dismantled Bihar’s batting line-up, dismissing Ayush Loharuka, captain Sakibul Gani , and Akash Raj, before getting the rid of Raghuvendra Pratap Singh, Aditya Raj, Suraj Kashyap, and Himanshu Singh.
Avesh Khan (2/13) and Kumar Kartikeya (1/20) were the other wicket-takers for MP. For Bihar, Mangal Mahrour top-scored with 42, and No. 9 Suraj Kashyap (15) was the only other batter to score in double digits. Saksham Purohit then cracked an unbeaten 113, while fellow opener Yash Dubey made 84 as Madhya Pradesh reached 261 for 3, taking a 162-run lead in the first essay. Skipper Rajat Patidar (21) was giving Purohit company at the draw of stumps. In Nagpur, Nachiket Bhute snared four wickets as Vidarbha restricted Goa to 204 for 8. Bhute (4/40) claimed the wickets of Suyash Prabhudessai (1), Snehal Kauthankar (0), Abhinav Tejrana (30), and Lalit Yadav (22) to break the backbone of the opposition in his 18 overs. Yash Kasvankar (51 not out) and Darshan Misal (51) produced timely half-centuries, adding 104 runs for the seventh wicket to take Goa past the 200-run mark. Besides Bhute, Rajneesh Gurbani (2/28), Parth Rekhade (1/31), and Harsh Dubey (1/47) also claimed wickets. In Vadodara, Priyanshu Moliya smashed a century to take Baroda to 259 for 6 against defending champions Jammu and Kashmir in a Group A match. Priyanshu hit 11 fours and a six in his unbeaten 113, while Deepak Hooda (45) was the only other batter to make a substantial contribution after Baroda opted to bat. Umar Nazir Mir led the attack with figures of 2/28. Raghuvanshi, Musheer hundreds take Mumbai to 290/3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (114) and Musheer Khan (109) hit scintillating centuries to put Mumbai in the driver’s seat as the hosts ended the first day of their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy match against Haryana at a commanding 290 for three in Mumbai on Monday. Raghuvanshi cracked his maiden first-class hundred, while Musheer converted his third fifty of the tournament into a hundred to lay the foundation for Mumbai, putting on 208 runs for the second wicket. Mumbai were jolted early by the dismissal of Divyaansh Saxena (10), but opener Raghuvanshi and No. 3 Musheer consolidated the hosts’ position with compelling centuries amid severe heat and humidity. Raghuvanshi cracked 13 fours and a six to make 114 off 180 balls, while Musheer’s 109 came off 185 balls and included 12 fours and a spectacular six over midwicket. I fell for 92 and eventually lost my place in the side. At stumps, skipper Siddhesh Lad was batting on 29, accompanied by Sarfaraz Khan on 20, with the latter surviving a loud caught-behind appeal off Aman Kumar (1/39). Meanwhile, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu were placed precariously at 71 for three after Zubair Ali ‘s 75 and his 61-run stand with Himanshu Sangwan for the 10th wicket helped Railways reach 184 all out. Badoni plays captain’s knock as Delhi score 309/5 vs Jharkhand on Day 1 Skipper Ayush Badoni continued his rich vein of form with a second successive century that propelled Delhi to a comfortable 309 for 5 against Jharkhand on the opening day of their group C Ranji Trophy match in Ranchi Monday. Opting to bat, Delhi were in a spot of bother at 181 for 5 before Badoni (106 batting) added 124 runs for the sixth wicket with all-rounder Sumit Mathur (50 batting) to put visitors in a position of strength.
All India players play here, so those thoughts started creeping in, about whether I would make it (a maiden ton) or not,” Raghuvanshi told reporters. He told me to just think about how I could hit that ball for a boundary and, if it wasn’t there to hit, defend it,” he added. Jammu and Kashmir produced a clinical bowling effort, with five bowlers taking wickets. The two batted with ease in the first two sessions, flaying the Haryana attack on what was an uncharacteristically batting-friendly pitch at the BKC Ground. “My debut (in first-class cricket) was three years back. I know how tough it is to play for Mumbai. “I don’t know what perception the others had, but within me, there were some doubts. It’s a very natural thing. Unless I am able to prove it to myself, I am not sure whether I will be able to do it or not. “If I am playing white-ball or red-ball cricket, my job is to score runs. He asked me to just go out and not worry about what is going to happen.
Purohit hit eight fours in his innings, while Dubey produced a stroke-filled knock, hitting 11 boundaries in his 94-ball innings. Amod Yadav (2/25) snapped up two wickets. Tamil Nadu were trailing by 113 runs in the first innings. At Dehradun, Uttarakhand were 18 for no loss, trailing Rajasthan by 254 runs in the first innings. After losing both their matches so far, Chandigarh made a bright start in the third round, reaching 363 for two against Himachal Pradesh. Badoni, who couldn’t find a place in India A team for the tour of New Zealand, has now scored 85, 217 and 106 batting in his last three innings to send a loud reminder to the national selection committee, led by Pragyan Ojha . The short and wiry Badoni hit 11 boundaries and two sixes — one each off spinner Pratyush Singh and seamer Jatin Pandey. Delhi started off on a bright note as flashy Priyansh Arya (39) and stodgy Sanat Sangwan (37) saw off the new ball to add 56 runs. Once Arya was dismissed, Sangwan and Yash Dhull (29) added 43 runs for the second wicket but none of them concentrated hard enough to cash in on the starts that they got. Ayush Doseja (23) and Anuj Rawat (18) were also dismissed cheaply before Badoni and Mathur joined hands to steady the ship. Off-spinner Pratyush was steady as he picked 2 for 63 in 24 overs. It also helped Badoni that Mathur showed solid defensive technique, playing 119 deliveries and also contributed with five boundaries. Veteran Sarwate takes 3 as Kerala reduce Bengal to 172 for 6 At Mangalapuram, outstation professional Aditya Sarwate bowled his wicket-to-wicket tight left-arm spin to take 3 for 38 as Kerala reduced Bengal to 172 for 6 on a rain-curtailed opening day.
Badoni’s footwork was immaculate. He also treated seasoned Anukul Roy with disdain, scoring a number of boundaries off him on both sides of the wicket. The hallmark of the partnership was that the duo never allowed the opposition to take charge, finding boundaries at regular intervals.
Bengal opener Ankur Paul blazed his way to 66 off 80 balls and the visiting team was placed comfortably at 102 for 2 at one stage, but a sudden mini collapse saw them reeling at 108 for 5. Sudip Kumar Gharami (36) and all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed (35 batting) added 62 runs for the sixth wicket to salvage the situation. Pulkit takes 6 as Services bowl out Odisha for 194 Services off-spinner Pulkit Narang took his second five-wicket haul in as many games — 6 for 47 — to dismiss Odisha for a lowly 194 in Bhubaneswar. Gourav Choudhary was top-scorer with 41. At stumps, Services were 13 for no loss. Maharashtra dismiss Gujarat for 223 Off-spinner Siddhesh Veer took four wickets while pacer Rajvardhan Hangargekar and left-arm spinner Vicky Ostwal got three wickets apiece as Maharashtra bowled out Gujarat for 223 in Pune. For Gujarat, Abhishek Desai (79) and Jaymeet Patel (58) scored half-centuries. At stumps, Maharashtra were 24 for 1. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Raghuvanshi, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, said battling perceptions of him being more of a white-ball specialist than an all-format player was more in his mind than outside. Raghuvanshi said a conversation with his coach Abhishek Nayar helped him gain a clearer perspective on playing red-ball cricket. The only thing he told me was, ‘At the end of the day, it’s cricket’,” Raghuvanshi said.
“I had a conversation with my coach, Abhishek sir, and I was making it a huge thing in my head, thinking that maybe I don’t have the skills to play red-ball cricket. I asked him what I was doing wrong and whether I was not disciplined enough. However towards the fag end of the day, Gharami was dismissed by medium pacer Basil N, caught by Abhishek Nair .
