Page 2 - Ranji Trophy

Ranji Trophy Final: Musheer Khan credits Sachin's presence for his hundred

Legendary Sachin Tendulka's presence on the second day served as a huge motivating factor for 19-year-old Mumbai batter Musheer Khan, whose patient 136 turned the Ranji Trophy final result into a mere formality with hosts out-batting Vidarbha by third day itself. The batting legend was present for the morning session on the third day as Musheer piled up his second century in the three knockout games of this season's Ranji Trophy to help Mumbai extend their advantage. Musheer's ton on the third day, came after his splendid 203 not out in the quarterfinal against Baroda and a vital 55 against Tamil Nadu in the semifinal, helping Mumbai set a mammoth 538-run target for Vidarbha. "I did not even know that Sachin sir was here," Musheer told the media after the end of play on Day 3. "But when I was batting on 60, I saw on him on the big screen and (thereon) I batted with the motivation that he is watching today and I have to impress sir," he said. Tendulkar's along with India captain Ro

Ranji Trophy final: Harsha Dube confirms Vidarbha will go for the 538 chase

Battered but not yet beaten, Vidarbha on Tuesday maintained a defiant stand with their left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey saying they would look to chase down the remaining 528 runs in the ongoing Ranji Trophy final here against Mumbai. Two-time winners Vidarbha managed to bowl Mumbai out for 418 in the second innings but not before the lead had surged to extreme levels, with the hosts setting a 538-run target on the third day here at the Wankhede Stadium. Vidarbha's woes compounded particularly on the third day which was spent without their most successful bowler Aditya Sarwate, who did not take the field on Tuesday owing to back spasm. "We are positive. With nothing to lose, we will go for the chase. A lot of time is left in the match. Let's see how the wicket behaves," left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, who toiled to return 5/144 in the second innings, told media after the end of play. "Sarwate's absence was a loss for us. They (Mumbai) batted well. Had we grabbed our chances, maybe the sc

Ranji Trophy final: Job is far from done for Mumbai against Vidarbha

Senior left-arm spinner Shams Mulani feels that Mumbai team cannot afford to be complacent despite having an overall lead of 260 runs after two days in the Rnji Trophy final against Vidarbha. Mumbai produced an all-round show on the second day at the Wankhede Stadium to take complete command, bowling out Vidarbha for a mere 105 in the first innings to earn a big 119-run lead. In their second innings, Mumbai were jolted twice early on but skipper Ajinkya Rahane (58 not out) and Musheer Khan (51 not out) led a resolute fightback with an unbeaten 107-run stand for the third wicket to take second innings score to 141/2. "Three days are left (in the game). We have not thought about anything else other than batting. Yes, we have got a healthy lead but we will look to build on it and see how we can improve and take the game away from them as much as possible," Mulani told the media after stumps. "Right now, we feel that we need to bat. There's no target in mind because we are just thinkin

Ranji Trophy final: Karun Nair backs Vidarbha's 'ability to fight back'

Karun Nair on Saturday backed Vidarbha to come good against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy final owing to their ability to fight back from tough situations, an attribute that the two-time winners displayed against Madhya Pradesh in the semifinal. Vidarbha bounced back strongly in the second innings after being bowled out for a mere 170 in the first to win by 62 runs, setting up the final against Mumbai which starts here on Sunday. "The thrilling and close win against Madhya Pradesh really showed the character in the team, a lot of fighting ability," Nair told PTI Video in an exclusive interview here at the Wankhede Stadium. "We have always come back from difficult situations, that was another difficult situation (first innings against Madhya Pradesh) where we didn't play quite well to our potential in the first innings, but we came back really hard and won that game," he said. However, Nair hoped that there is no such situation for the team to deal with in the final. "But we need to s

Vidarbha defeat Madhya Pradesh by 62 runs, to meet Mumbai in Ranji final

The pace bowling pair of Aditya Thakare and Yash Thakur battered the Madhya Pradesh tail as Vidarbha defeated their rivals by 62 runs to set up a Ranji Trophy title clash with Mumbai, here on Wednesday. Madhya Pradesh, who were in a precarious position at stumps on day four at 228/6 requiring 93 more runs to win, withered in the face of hostile bowling from the duo who shared the spoils in the first session of the final day to earn Vidarbha a memorable semifinal win. Madhya Pradesh were finally bundled out for 258 in 81.3 overs as their hopes of entering the final for the third time in the premier domestic tournament were dashed. This is Vidarbha's third entry into the Ranji final, and on both the occasions they have won the title, defeating Delhi (2017-18) and Saurashtra (2018-19) respectively. Chasing a target of 321 for victory, Madhya Pradesh, the 2021-22 Ranji champion, were still in the match despite losing six wickets, but Thakare and Thakur were on song on the final day, wi

Domestic cricket give national players chance to work on basics: Tendulkar

The legendary Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said playing in the Ranji Trophy provides national players an opportunity to go back to basics while also elevating the level of the domestic tournament. The BCCI recently made it mandatory for its centrally contracted players to play domestic red-ball cricket if they aren't on national duty or in the NCA. The BCCI excluded Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from its central contract list after they missed their state team's respective Ranji Trophy games. "When India players turn up for their domestic teams, it raises the quality of play for youngsters and sometimes new talent is identified. "It also gives the national players a chance to sometimes rediscover the basics," Tendulkar posted on X. "Throughout my career, I remained passionate about playing for Mumbai whenever I had the opportunity. Growing up, we had almost 7-8 India players in our dressing room, and it was fun to play alongside them," Tendulkar added. The 25-year-old Kishan did n

Playing 10 Ranji games with 3-day gaps tough, could lead to injury: Shardul

India and Mumbai all-rounder Shardul Thakur on Sunday said that the BCCI will have to relook next year's Ranji Trophy schedule as playing 10 matches with just three-day gaps between games could lead to injuries to players. Thakur said it's difficult for players to adjust to the three-day gap between knockout matches, which was not the case earlier. It's difficult because we are playing first-class games in (a) three days' gap that has never happened in Ranji Trophy season ever, Thakur told the media here after making a fine century in the semifinal against Tamil Nadu. You know the schedule is becoming tighter and tighter. If boys keep playing like this for two more seasons, there will be lot of injuries across the country. Next year, they (the BCCI) have to re-look at it and give more break, he added. He said few years back players got more days in between matches in Ranji Trophy. When I remember playing Ranji Trophy back in the days, good 7-8 years back, (the) first three games

Ranji Trophy: Deshpande, Thakur shine as Mumbai take opening day honours

Tushar Deshpande (3/24) and Shardul Thakur (2/48) starred with the ball to put Mumbai on top following a meek display from Tamil Nadu on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Saturday. Tamil Nadu skipper B Sai Kishore's decision to bat first backfired as the visitors were shot out for a mere 146 in the first innings with Deshpande and Thakur making life miserable for the visiting batters at the BKC Ground. If it was any consolation, Tamil Nadu struck twice with the ball but Mumbai shaved off a significant chunk of first-innings deficit, reaching 45/2 at stumps to trail by another 101 runs. Musheer Khan (24 not out) and nightwatchman Mohit Avasthi (1) were at the crease with Mumbai losing openers Prithvi Shaw (5) and Bhupen Lalwani (15). Shaw fell early against Kuldeep Sen while Sai Kishore trapped Lalwani for the second wicket, but Mumbai remained on top. On a track which had movement off the surface as well as turn for spinners, Mumbai proved to be the superior

Ranji Trophy: Avesh's four wickets help MP to bowl out Vidarbha for 170

Avesh Khan-led Madhya Pradesh pace bowling unit hit right lengths on a pitch that offered enough carry to bowl out Vidarbha for a meagre 170 on day one to gain control of their Ranji Trophy semifinal match here on Saturday. Avesh (4/49) was the pick of MP bowlers, while receiving good support from Kulwant Khejroliya (2/38) and Venkatesh Iyer (2/28). Madhya Pradesh reached 47 for one in their first innings at close, and trail by 123 runs. The VCA Stadium deck wore such fine green tinge as MP employed spin for just 2.4 overs in a total of 56.4 overs they bowled on the day. Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya, who dismissed last man Umesh Yadav, did the spinner's duty for a brief period. Other spinners in their ranks like offie Saransh Jain remained spectators of the proceedings. Vidarbha's feeble fight came through Karun Nair, who made 63 (105 balls, 9x4). India pacer Avesh gave MP a fine start to the match when he uprooted the stumps of opener Dhruv Shorey (13). Vidarbha lost wicke

Ranji Trophy 2023-24 Semi-Finals: Matches, timing, live streaming details

The two Ranji Trophy 2023-24 semi-finals will see Vidarbha face Madhya Pradesh at Nagpur while Mumbai will take on Tamil Nadu in Kurla from March 02, 2024. Matches can be live-streamed on Jiocinema

Thrilled to have Shreyas in team for Ranji semifinal: Mumbai skipper Rahane

Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane on Friday backed Shreyas Iyer to put the contractual turmoil behind him and deliver a punchy performance for the team in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Tamil Nadu, beginning here on Saturday. Shreyas along with Jharkhand's Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual central contracts after both the players skipped the Ranji matches of their respective teams in violation of BCCI's diktat. Shreyas sat out of Mumbai's quarterfinal against Baroda here while complaining of back pain. He's an experienced player. His contribution has been amazing whenever he turned up for Mumbai. We are thrilled to have him in our team for the semifinal, Rahane told the media here at the BKC Ground. Rahane said Shreyas would not require any extra motivation to do well for Mumbai against TN. I don't think he needs any encouragement or advice. He has always contributed with the bat for Mumbai, and him being around other players in the dressing room will also help the .

Ranji Trophy SF: Shreyas Iyer in spotlight as Mumbai take on Tamil Nadu

Out-of-favour India batter Shreyas Iyer will be motivated to prove a point and serve a timely reminder of his skillset as he gets back to domestic action when the record 41-time champions Mumbai take on Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Saturday. Dropped from the Indian Test side and discarded from BCCI's list of contracted players after he did not make himself available for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal due to groin and back trouble, Iyer has recovered completely to join Mumbai for the key clash. Iyer would be key in Mumbai's scheme of things specially against Tamil Nadu's quality spin bowling, which has been one of their key weapons this season. Skipper R Sai Kishore (47 wickets) and fellow left-arm spinner S Ajith Ram (41) are perched atop the list of highest wicket-takers, against whom Iyer and Co. will have a great opportunity to make a strong statement. The semifinal promises to be an enthralling battle between Tamil Nadu's persistent and disciplined bowlers an

Ranji Trophy SF: Gritty Madhya Pradesh look to outwit formidable Vidarbha

A resolute Madhya Pradesh is faced with the daunting task of taming Vidarbha in their home ground, which the hosts have turned into an impregnable citadel this season, when the familiar foes clash in the Ranji Trophy semifinal here from Saturday. Two-time champions Vidarbha have played four matches at the VCA Stadium this season, and they have won three of them with the solitary defeat coming against Saurashtra. Those victories have come with convincing margins too seven wickets against Services, 115 runs against Haryana and 127 runs against Karnataka in the quarterfinals. The biggest strength of Vidarbha throughout this season has been the collective contribution of their batsmen. They have found different heroes in veteran Karun Nair (515 runs), import from Delhi Dhruv Shorey (496), top-order batter Atharva Taide (488) and skipper Akshay Wadkar (452). All of them have bailed them out of the woods on different occasions. The Nagpur pitch has often acted as an ally of the batters

Here's what Kotian and Deshpande said after scoring tons at no. 10 & 11

It is rare for a pair involving numbers 10 and 11 to be hitting first-class tons and rarer to have them adding 200 or more runs for the 10th wicket, yet fall agonisingly close to breaking a record. But for Mumbai's Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande, who hit their maiden tons and put on a stunning 232-run stand for the last wicket, there was no disappointment in missing out on the record in Ranji Trophy by just one run during their quarterfinal against Baroda. Kotian (120 not out) and Deshpande (123) pulverised the Baroda attack to enter record books here at the BKC Ground on Tuesday, but they narrowly missed overhauling the highest 10th-wicket stand between Ajay Sharma and Maninder Singh of 233 runs, for Delhi against Mumbai in the 1991-92 season. "I am happy; I was unbeaten. I had told Tushar that only 1-2 runs are left, he took a chance but we felt we had done something (in terms of records) at Nos 10 and 11," Kotian told PTI in an exclusive chat, sounding totally content with wh

'BCCI Ranji diktat..: State units agree with Rohit's 'hunger' comment

India skipper Rohit Sharma's assertion that Test opportunities should be only for those who show hunger for the format found resonance with state associations grappling with youngsters desperate to make a name in white-ball cricket but reluctant to grind it out in first-class games. With the advent of IPL, the club vs country debate has been raging for years now and Rohit's stern statement came at a time when two established names in Indian cricket -- Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan -- ignored a BCCI diktat to play Ranji Trophy quarterfinals, focussing instead on their IPL preparations. "Jin logon ko bhookh hai, hum unhi logon ko mauka denge (We will give opportunities to only those who are hungry)," Rohit declared on Monday after a series-clinching win over England in the fourth Test in Ranchi. "Agar hunger nahi hai to unko khila ke koi matlab nahi hai (There's no point in playing those who don't have the hunger)," he said. The hunger that he spoke about was there for everyone to se

Historic moment in Ranji: Deshpande-Kotian hits tons batting at no. 10 & 11

Kotian remained unbeaten on 120 from 129 balls with ten fours and four sixes, while Deshpande fell for 123 from 129 balls with ten fours and eight sixes

Ranji Trophy: Shreyas Iyer named in Mumbai squad for semis vs Tamil Nadu

Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was on Tuesday named in Mumbai's 16-member squad for the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Tamil Nadu starting on March 2. Mumbai qualified for the semifinals after their quarterfinal clash against Baroda ended in a draw at the BKC Ground, with the 41-time champions making it to the final four on the basis of first-innings lead. Lacking big runs and struggling with a back-related issue again, the 29-year-old Iyer was not named in India's squad for the last three Tests against England. Iyer, subsequently, also missed Mumbai's quarterfinal match along with all-rounder Shivam Dube. The timing of Iyer pulling out of the key Ranji clash coincided with BCCI secretary Jay Shah announcing that a directive will be issued to players to compulsorily play domestic matches. While Dube is on the mend having suffered a side strain issue, Iyer has recovered completely and will be available for the semifinal against Tamil Nadu. Mumbai squad: Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas I

Explained: Why Andhra Cricket Association initiated inquiry against Vihari

Following Vihari's announcement to not play for Andhra Pradesh any more, the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA), in a press release said that they are going to launch an inquiry against the cricketer

Andhra Cricket Association initiates inquiry against Hanuma Vihari

The bitter spat between Hanuma Vihari and Andhra Cricket Association took a fresh turn as the state body on Monday announced an inquiry against the senior batter, who had accused the ACA of forcing him to resign from captaincy at the start of the ongoing season. Drama unfolded after Andhra's campaign in the Ranji Trophy ended in a defeat on Monday as Vihari announced that he will never play for the side due to "mistreatment" by the state association. Complaints were received from teammates, support staff and ACA administrators about Vihari's use of foul language and abusive behaviour. ACA will conduct a thorough inquiry into all complaints and the due course of action will be communicated, said the ACA in a media release. Vihari had also hit out at a reserve team-mate (son of a politician) who he alleged had asked his father to take action against him after the veteran player shouted at him during a match. ACA stated that it had received a complaint from the junior player about Vih

Ranji Trophy: Madhya Pradesh reach semis with thrilling win over Andhra

Anubhav Agarwal ran through Andhra's batting lineup with a superb six-wicket haul to propel Madhya Pradesh into the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy following a four-run victory over Andhra here on Monday. In a low-scoring quarterfinal played at the Holkar Stadium, bowlers ruled the roost for the majority of the contest and despite a spirited fight from the visiting side, Madhya Pradesh prevailed to make it to the final four. With this win, the 2021-22 champions Madhya Pradesh became the second team after Tamil Nadu to enter the semifinals. On what turned out to be the final day, Andhra were bowled out for a mere 165 chasing 170 to win on the fourth day. Resuming at 95/4 and with their senior batter Hanuma Vihari on strike with 75 runs more needed to win, Andhra were the more confident side but Agarwal led a stunning fightback once again for Madhya Pradesh. Having taken three wickets in the first innings to help Madhya Pradesh take a vital lead of 62 runs, Agarwal terrorised the And