Blog - Gaikwad 145, Rinku 89, Pujara 75*, Patidar 90 light up day three

The day is coming to an end, let’s catch up with the day’s highlights for some individual performances:

Fast bowler Mohit Avasthi gets the last wicket, getting Hangargekar clean bowled and Maharashtra are gone for 388 after a century from Ruturaj Gaikwad and 98 from Sachin Dhas. Stumps is 5.30pm so we'll see an over or two today, and come back tomorrow for the rest. Mumbai have a chance to bag seven points if they win by 10 wickets, after losing their first round game.

Daya Sagar is feeling the excitement in the press box:

"Finally, Yash Dhull gets a hundred. Wickets were falling at the other end, two of his team-mates are injured and they could have been all out any moment. Eight down and with possibly the last batter for company, Dhull was farming the strike and on the last ball of an over from M Mohammed he sttuck the full ball straight over his head and completed his sixth first-class ton. He made his debut against TN and made the centuries in both the innings. It is his third first-class hundred against the same opponent, and he must be emotional since he was coming from a bad patch and a minor heart surgery. He showed his emotions in his celebration too and immediately got some medical treatment too on his back."

It's stumps soon enough, and Delhi end the day without getting all out, on 264 for 8, although still trailing by a massive 410. With one day to go, and the way Tamil Nadu batted it could also be a draw from here, which will surely disappoint TN.

Baroda had their star bowler Bhargav Bhatt opening the batting and he smoked 39 off 34 before Shashwat Rawat hammered 40 off 20 and Baroda declare on 134 for 1 in under 15 overs to set Services a target of 341.

In Barsapara, Assam lead Chandigarh by just 36 runs and they're 144 for 7 at stumps. One full day to go, Chandigarh will have their tail up with their eyes on seven points.

J&K are in a much better position, leading Odisha by 193 runs at the end of day three. They're 195 for 4 with Abdul Samad batting on 70 off 69, after his 127 off 117 in the first innings.

After Rinku Singh's wicket for 89, Aryan Juyal has gone on to score his fourth first-class hundred and he's not even 23 yet. He got there in 168 balls and he has also lost Nitish Rana and Saurabh Kumar at the other end. UP 245 for 6, trailing by 208 runs against Haryana. Two wickets have gone to Jayant Yadav but Yuzvendra Chahal is still wicketless.

Daya Sagar is at the Kotla and he tells me there's some action there with Yash Dhull closing in on a century: "After a quickfire knock of 26 in 38 balls with five fours, Navdeep Saini departs. He gave some catching practice to gully off left-arm quick Gurjapneet Singh. Before that, Saini played some beautiful drives. On the other hand, Yash Dhull is closing to his sixth first-class hundred. Although he has to be cautious to farm the strike because two Delhi players are injured and it could be their last wicket stand now. That’s why Dhull is not taking singles at the start of the over."

Delhi 246 for 7, Dhull on 91, the second new ball is in its 11th over.

Saurashtra are still way behind Cahhattisgarh's score of 578 for 7, but they're being led by their veteran Cheteshwar Pujara, unbeaten on 75 at stumps. It's an early end to the day there because it rained there after tea and things neer recovered. Saurashtra 177 for 2, trailing by 401 runs with one day to go.

There are a few spots up for grabs for the five-Test series so let’s see which ones are those and who are the contenders:

The third opener
Abhimanyu Easwaran’s few scores read 127*, 5, 191, 19, 116, 157*, 4 and 13 this season; that’s four centuries in five games. Tamil Nadu’s Sai Sudharsan wasn’t as prolific with his scores of 82, 32, 17, 111, 43, 11, 7 and 22 until he smashed a double-century in this round of Ranji Trophy against Delhi. And following his Duleep Trophy scores of 17, 44, 58, 62, 5 and 46, Ruturaj Gaikwad has scored 86 and 145 in the Ranji Trophy.

All three have been picked for the India A squad which will fly to Australia after this round for two red-ball games against an Australia A side featuring some Test bowlers like Scott Boland, Michael Neser, Todd Murphy and others. That A tour could easily be an audition for the India players named above.

The fast bowlers
In case Mohammed Shami isn’t fit – he was bowling with a heavily strapped left knee in Bengaluru after India lost – then we have to see who will tour along with Bumrah, Siraj and Akash Deep. Going by recent selection, Yash Dayal could make it as the left-arm quick, although Khaleel Ahmed is also part of the India A squad and will be keen to audition there. The other options are Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur (strangely not in the A squad, although he could easily make it to the Test squad).

The other wicketkeeper
Dhruv Jurel is the other wicketkeeper in the current Test squad along with Pant. We don't know if the selectors are thinking of taking someone else or not, but the thought of picking someone like Ishan Kishan, who is also naturally aggressive like Pant and can counterattack with his batting style is always tempting. Kishan scored 101 off 158 balls in the ongoing game against Railways, and what he does for India A in Australia will be watched keenly.

Who's in contention from Australia?
Just like this Ranji Trophy blog, we have Andrew McGlashan running the Sheffield Shield blog to bring you up to date with what people like Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Sean Abbott are up to.

Meanwhile, it's tea time in a number of games. Let's see what's happening all over the country...

Maharashtra were fighting back with Sachin Dhas' 98 and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad's century, but once he fell for 145, Maharashtra have lost three wickets for six runs in the space of 13 balls. All three go to Tanush Kotian, named in the India A squad recently, and Maharashtra are 95 for 6, still need 20 more to make Mumbai bat again.

Back in the Ranji Trophy after nearly two years, but fresh on the back of plenty of wickets in county cricket recently, Yuzvendra Chahal has been smoked for 41 in his first six overs, by UP captain Aryan Juyal and six-hitting specialist Rinku Singh. Juyal cleared the long-off boundary whereas Rinku hit a straighter six towards long-on, while also carting him to the covers boundary twice and once to fine leg. Both batters are in their 70s now and UP 183 for 3, trailing by 270 runs.

Mumbai have another breakthrough and it comes through Shams Mulani. It's the biggest wicket for the home side as Ruturaj Gaikwad, who's not 100% fit, was leading the side into the lead but he's fallen for 145. Against Mulani's left-arm spin, Gaikwad edged one to slip where Mumbai captain Rahane made no mistake.

Maharashtra are 274 for 3, trailing by 41 runs.

For Rinku Singh in Lucknow, Sheldon Jackson in Rajkot and Yash Dhull in Delhi.

Rinku has been the most attacking of those, getting there in 72 balls, while also smacking Yuzvendra Chahal for a six and two fours in just 13 balls off him. UP's deficit has come under 300 against Haryana now with seven wickets in hand.

Dhull gets there off 102 balls, the most patient of the lot. He is leading mission revival at the Kotla, after they were reeling at 103 for 5 at lunch in reply to Tamil Nadu's 674. Daya Sagar adds from the Kotla: After a poor domestic season last time and a heart surgery recently, Dhull is back. He has a 50-run partnership with the debutant wicketkeeper-batter Pranav Rajvanshi. They are making sure Delhi don’t lose another wicket in this session.

Jackson nudges a single to the leg side to get to his off 73 balls in the esteemed company of Cheteshwar Pujara, who is ticking along nicely on 70. Saurashtra's task is much stiffer, compared to Delhi's, they're 165 for 2 after Chhattisgarh amassed 578 for 7.

Aryan Juyal is the talk of the town in Uttar Pradesh. He is their new captain, he smashed one century and two fifties in the UPT20 League before being picked for the Duleep Trophy where he scored 12 and 47. He got close to a century in the opening round of Ranji Trophy by but fell short by eight runs against a strong Bengal attack. And now he's gone past 50 again, off 83 balls, against Haryana who are playing Yuzvendra Chahal (yet to bowl), Harshal Patel and Jayant Yadav. And with Juyal for company is Rinku Singh, who has struck a six over long-on.

You can read a lot more about Aryan Juyal here.

This might be over by the time I finish typing this. Rajasthan have wrapped up Himachal Pradesh for 264 after making them follow-on, and their target is just 27. Five wickets for their tall left-arm quick Aniket Chaudhary and four for left-arm spinner Manav Suthar, who should be heading to Australia with the A squad after this round.

Here's an interview we did with Manav Suthar recently.

I'm not making this up. The batter is Maharashtra's 19-year-old Sachin Dhas, named after the legend himself. He was part of the India Under-19 squad earlier this year when they finished runners-up and made his name for being calm under pressure and counter-attacking with a lot of skilful batting. But not today. After patiently playing 207 balls, he takes on a short ball from fast bowler Mohit Avasthi and pulls it straight to Shardul Thakur at deep square leg. Mind you, there was only one fielder in the deep there, unlike the field that was set for Gaikwad earlier.

See what I did there? But if you've been following domestic cricket even a little bit, you'd have known this was about Arjun Tendulkar, a left-arm quick for Goa. After they posted 367 for 4 in reply to Sikkim's 108, Goa bundled them again 206 to register an innings win with the help of four wickets from Tendulkar, to add to his two from first innings.

It's really hot instead in Mumbai today, despite late-night rain, and Ruturaj Gaikwad is literally feeling the heat. He's batting on 114 at lunch break but was down on all fours only a couple of overs ago, most probably because of the scorching heat along with the usual humidity. He has been on the field almost through the game, having fielded for nearly two days and then batting since the start, having come out to bat in the first over. Maharashtra are 207 for 1, with Sachin Dhas on 89, trailing Mumbai by 108 runs.

Half-century for Pujara: In the very last over before the break, Pujara takes a single and brings up a fairly quick fifty, he's on 50 off 79 going into the first break of the day. Saurashtra are 104 for 2 after Chhattisgarh declared on 578 for 7.

UP are in trouble against Haryana. In reply to Haryana's 453, UP have lost three wickets - two to Harshal Patel and are 63 for 3 at lunch. Their captain Aryan Juyal and international star Rinku Singh are unbeaten at the break.

Daya Sagar is loving the action unfolding in Delhi, serving like dessert after his chhole bhature (scroll down for the pic): "The Delhi vs Tamil Nadu match has suddenly come alive and this has been possible only because of the Tamil Nadu fast bowlers, who brought life to the lifeless pitch in the first session. When the game ended on the second day, Delhi's openers Sanat Sangwan and Harsh Tyagi had made a cautious start with 43/0 in reply to Tamil Nadu's 674. The openers stretched the partnership to 74 runs in 34 overs. However, Delhi soon fell apart. Washington Sundar got left-handed Tyagi caught at slip off a brilliant offbreak. After this, it was all about the fast bowlers. M Mohammed got the other opener Sangwan caught by captain N Jagadeesan behind the wicket off an outside edge. And then left-arm quick Gurjapneet came from around the wicket and sent Delhi captain Himmat Singh to the pavilion in the same manner. Mohammed took another wicket, and why should the third fast bowler Sonu Yadav stay behind? Just before lunch, he got debutant Mayank Rawat, who was performing well in DPL, caught behind as well. Rawat also got out for a duck. It was a busy morning for Tamil Nadu captain Jagadeesan as well, who took three catches. Now the danger of innings defeat is looming large over Delhi. They are still trailing by a massive 571 runs."

Fast bowler Deepak Dhapola had played a key role in Uttarakhand's run to the knockouts in the 2018-19 season. He's 34 now and taken a five-wicket haul to help his team take a slender but useful lead of 33 runs by wrapping up Hyderabad for 292. Two wickets for IPL star Akash Madhwal as well.

Saurashtra are one down after Chhattisgarh declared on a massive 578 for 7 overnight, with captain Amandeep Khare unbeaten on 203.

Saurashtra then lost an early wicket of wicketkeeper-opener Harvik Desai, and Cheteshwar Pujara has joined the other opener Chirag Jani. Can he also get runs like Iyer, Gaikwad, Washington and others?

In other updates, Chandigarh and Andhra have been wrapped up in the first session.

Andhra have been wrapped up for 213 in reply to Gujarat's 367 after KS Bharat fell for 98 and Nitish Kumar Reddy for 47.

Chandigarh have meanwhile taken a lead against Assam after putting up 374, riding on a century from Raj Angad Bawa (146 off 164). Remember Raj Bawa? He was part of the victorious India Under-19 squad in 2022 at the World Cup and then went on to play for India A and two IPL games for Punjab Kings.

Yuzvendra Chahal might be harbouring some red-ball dreams these days. He has just returned from a county stint with Northamptonshire for whom he picked nine wickets in each of his last two games before also taking a five-for in a 50-over game.

Now batting for his home team Haryana in the Ranji Trophy, he has scored a career-best first-class score of 48 off 152 balls to help his team to 453 against Uttar Pradesh. Yash Dayal picked only two wickets out there.

There's a third name in the mix for the reserve opener's slot for Australia - apart from Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran. And Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has brought up a dazzling century off just 87 balls against Mumbai just about 40 minutes into the morning session.

Ajinkya Rahane was making things tough for Gaikwad though. Once he reached the 90s, Rahane placed two fielders square in the deep on the leg side, along with Shreyas Iyer at deep fine leg and one next to the umpire at square leg in the circle. Shardul Thakur was banging in the short balls from the Pavilion End but Gaikwad kept those down. With a double to fine leg, Gaikwad brought up this fighting hundred with Maharashtra still trailing by a mile.

Sarfaraz's father Naushad Khan is at the press tent at the BKC Ground in Mumbai. Thankfully, he was unscathed from the accident that gave a neck injury to his younger son Musheer Khan just before the Irani Cup clash. Musheer is recovering these days and will take a few weeks to get back. He's wearing a neck band these days for the cervical injury and is not able to exercise much, but walks around a lot at the BKC Ground where he's been turning up early morning every day. Let's wish the 19-year-old a speedy recovery.

Daya Sagar has crossed the Delhi-UP border and made it to the Kotla in Old Delhi where the home team is lagging behind. Daya adds there's an injury in the TN camp as well: "Shahrukh Khan got injured while fielding for a cut by Harsh Tyagi at second slip. Twelfth man Boopathi Vaishna Kumar is in."

"Kaushik's right palm got cut yesterday while fielding and he got 10 stitches. So spin-bowling allrounder Harsh Tyagi has come with Sanath Sangwan and both are closing in on the 50 partnership."