The first round of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy saw eleven outright wins and seven draws, Puducherry's win over Delhi perhaps being the biggest upset. Here's a recap.
Rinku, Kuldeep impress for UP
Rinku Singh fell eight short of an eighth first-class century, but helped Uttar Pradesh post a formidable 302 after they elected to bat. Kuldeep Yadav then sliced through the cream of Kerala's top order with the big scalps of Sachin Baby and Vishnu Vinod. He finished with figures of 19-1-68-3 to play a part in UP taking a 59-run lead. Alongside Kuldeep, fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot also hit top gear, picking a five-wicket haul. Having taken the lead, UP opted to bat on with Priyam Garg and Aryan Juyal hitting centuries in a tame draw. Sanju Samson, who is one of two wicketkeepers for the Afghanistan T20Is alongside Jitesh Sharma, made 35 in his only innings in the match.
Bishnoi makes a mark in Gujarat's thrilling win
Ravi Bishnoi's four-wicket haul in the first innings helped Gujarat overcome a 14-run deficit to clinch a thrilling win over Tamil Nadu in Valsad. Gujarat's 236 seemed quite massive when TN were tottering on 119 for 8 in the first innings. M Mohammed and Sandeep Warrier then put on 116 for the ninth wicket to help TN secure a lead. Gujarat's turnaround was led by Ripal Patel, who led the counter-attack with 71-ball 81 and Umang Kumar (89). Set 299 for victory, Tamil Nadu were skittled for 187 with fast bowler Arzan Nagwaswalla picking up four wickets. Washington Sundar, who is one of two allrounders in the India squad, finished with scores of 1 and 6 with the bat, while returning a combined figures of 1 for 68 with the ball.
Padikkal, Pandey star as Karnataka wallop Punjab
Devdutt Padikkal and Manish Pandey struck big hundreds to help Karnataka open up a massive lead after fast bowler V Koushik sliced through Punjab on the opening day with 7 for 41. Electing to bat, Punjab were skittled for 152 before Karnataka racked up 514 for 8 declared. Needing 362 to avoid an innings defeat, Punjab batted for 114.4 overs and made Karnataka toil by posting 413, with Abhishek Sharma (91) and Prabhsimran Singh (100) setting the tone with a 192-run opening stand. Needing 52 to victory, Karnataka lost three early but eventually squeezed home in the final session to pocket six points. Fast bowler Arshdeep Singh got plenty of miles under him with figures of 28-1-92-3 in the first innings.
Pujara remains in the conversation with 17th double-ton
Cheteshwar Pujara's unbeaten 243 helped carve up a massive first-innings lead for Saurashtra, but Jharkhand managed to salvage a point in a drawn fixture in Rajkot. Middle order batter Kumar Suraj struck an unbeaten 113, while opener Kumar Deobrat made 91 as Jharkhand batted 109 overs for 306 for 3 when the captains shook hands. Pujara aside, allrounder Chirag Jani impressed with a five-for in the first innings while Harvik Desai, the wicketkeeper batter, and Prerak Mankad hit 85 and 104 not out respectively.
Chaos reigns as Delhi slump to defeat
The cream of their batting talent is elsewhere: Nitish Rana moved to UP. Dhruv Shorey to Vidarbha. Association politics led to a jumbo 26-member squad that was pruned to 15 only hours before they took the field. With hardly any build-up, Delhi stood exposed as they were handed a nine-wicket defeat by Puducherry, new entrants no more. Gaurav Yadav, the fast bowler, playing his first first-class game for his new team since moving over from Madhya Pradesh took a ten-wicket haul. Within minutes of the loss, Yash Dhull, India's Under-19 World Cup winning captain from 2022, was removed as Delhi captain. Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini managed just three wickets between them in the first innings as Puducherry's lead of 96 proved decisive.
Dube celebrates India call-up with all-round show
Shivam Dube is back in India's T20I setup following a stellar IPL. Although he was part of the Asian Games winning squad, his selection for the Afghanistan T20Is is significant considering it is India's last assignment prior to the T20 World Cup in June. He struck a 61-ball 41 in a low-scoring first innings where Mumbai managed just 251, but it was enough to secure an innings and 51 run win as Bihar were bowled out for 100 in each innings. Dube finished with combined figures of 6 for 23 in the match.