Ranji round-up: Jadeja demolishes Delhi, Thakur rescues Mumbai yet again

R Smaran, meanwhile, turned a maiden first-class ton into a double as Karnataka ground Punjab into the dust

24-Jan-2025

Shardul Thakur's century led Mumbai's rescue act, Mumbai vs Jammu & Kashmir, Ranji Trophy 2024-25, Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy, Mumbai, 2nd day, January 24, 2025

Highlights from day two of the sixth round of matches

Thakur Lords over J&K after Rohit misses out again

Rohit Sharma briefly caused bursts of excitement among early-morning office-goers in Mumbai's financial district with a typically attractive start. He hit three sixes and two fours as Mumbai began their second innings against Jammu & Kashmir with a half-century stand between Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair wiped out more than half their 86-run first-innings deficit, before Rohit fell for 28, mistiming a heave to midwicket. The two shots that stood out were a hooked six off Umar Nazir and a flat-bat hit down the ground for six off Auqib Nabi, who eventually dismissed him.

Rohit's dismissal opened the floodgates as Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube fell in quick succession. Then, from what was effectively 15 for 7, Mumbai roared back thanks to an outstanding hundred from Shardul Thakur; his unbroken eight-wicket stand of 163 with Tanush Kotian leaves Mumbai with a lead of 188 going into day three.

A win for either side will take them a step closer to the playoffs. A loss won't mean the end of the road either. But J&K have a tougher next opponent in Baroda, who are the current table-toppers, as compared to Mumbai, who play minnows Meghalaya.

Jadeja takes 12; Pant endures unhappy Ranji return

Few teams in domestic cricket have used home advantage as well as Saurashtra. They had spoken of the need to get two outright wins in the back-end of the group stage, and had decided that 'spin to win' was the way to go at home. Ravindra Jadeja duly unleashed himself on a brittle Delhi batting line-up, and picked up five-wicket hauls in each innings to secure a bonus-point win that vaulted Saurashtra from the bottom half of Group D into third position.

Jadeja bettered his first-innings figures of 5 for 66 with 7 for 38 in the second innings after they had taken a first-innings lead of 83. Jadeja's haul included the wicket of Rishabh Pant, who made 17 to go with 1 off 10 in the first innings. Pant, who began by reverse-sweeping Jadeja for his first boundary, was the second-highest run-scorer for Delhi in their capitulation; they were bowled out for just 94 before Saurashtra knocked off their 12-run target inside three overs to complete a two-day victory.

You know who!#WhistlePodu #RanjiTrophy pic.twitter.com/c7Jj23KnEy
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) January 24, 2025

Smaran's time in the sun

Last week, R Smaran, 21, hit a match-winning century in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Vidarbha. This week, he converted his maiden first-class century into a double to open up a 420-run first-innings lead for Karnataka against Punjab at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

In the first half of the season, Smaran had scored 145 runs in seven innings without a half-century. But the selectors kept faith in him and other youngsters, and phased out a key senior player in Manish Pandey ahead of the white-ball leg of the season. Smaran took Pandey's position at No. 4, and played an innings that hinted at a bright future.

Smaran's initiation into the Karnataka set-up comes on the back of plenty of runs at the Under-23 level. In 2023-24, he hit 872 runs in the CK Nayudu Trophy, including a match-winning hundred in the final against Uttar Pradesh. He also enjoyed a stellar run at the Maharaja Trophy, the state's local T20 competition.

for Shardul Thakur

A crucial knock under pressure

The celebrations say it all#RanjiTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

Scorecardhttps://t.co/oYXDhqotjO pic.twitter.com/o3XQIjzRAH
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 24, 2025

What to look forward to on Saturday

He was preparing for a Test debut at this time last year, but Rajat Patidar now finds himself lower down in the pecking order after missing out even on the India A tour of Australia. But a strong back end of the first-class season, and a good IPL, could propel him back. For starters, he will look to covert his unbeaten half-century into a big innings as Madhya Pradesh look to build a sizeable lead after conceding first-innings honours to Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram.
In Bengaluru, Shubman Gill will face a stern test against a young Karnataka pace attack after Punjab have been run ragged for nearly two days. Having begun their second innings facing a 420-run deficit, they are 24 for 2. Gill, who was out to an inside-edge to the keeper while attempting a drive off left-arm seamer Abhilash Shetty in the first innings, is batting on 7.

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo