A day to forget for stars as domestic grind shows no mercy
Mumbai: The high-profile return of India’s stars in Ranji Trophy ended up as a damp squib with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill falling cheaply on Thursday, unable to click in the face of some hostile bowling on the opening day of their respective matches across different venues.
Veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the only one who stood out among the battery of Indian stars as he took a five-wicket haul for Saurashtra to dismiss Pant’s Delhi for 188 on a Rajkot turner.
Following a dismal run in Australia, Rohit’s poor form in red-ball cricket continued as he fell for a 19-ball 3 in Mumbai’s first innings against Jammu and Kashmir at the BKC ground here.
His India opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) too fell cheaply for Mumbai.
Named in the squad for the Champions Trophy, Shreyas Iyer (11) was caught at mid on off pacer Yudhvir Singh.
Electing to bat on a green-top wicket proved costly for the Ajinkya Rahane-led side as Mumbai were shot out for a mere 120. In reply, J&K finished the opening day’s play at 174/7 for a lead of 54 runs. As many as 17 wickets fell in the day’s play. Shardul Thakur saved Mumbai some blushes as his 57-ball 51.
Pant, Gill flop
In Rajkot, Jadeja’s excellent all-round effort — 5 wickets and 38 runs — outshone Rishabh Pant’s minuscule 10-ball 1 as Saurashtra gained an upper hand over a shoddy Delhi after Day 1 of their Elite Group D match.
Batting first, Delhi were shut out for 188 with captain Ayush Badoni (60 off 78b) and Yash Dhull (44 off 76) leading their batting effort.
However, they failed to convert their knocks into something more substantial as India left-arm spinner Jadeja ran roughshod over his clueless opponents with figures of 5 for 66.
In reply, Saurashtra reached 163 for five with opener Harvik Desai making a 93 off 120 balls with eight fours.
In Bengaluru, Punjab captain Shubman Gill (4) was caught behind in the game against Karnataka.
The team was skittled out for a mere 55 with the pace duo of Abhilash Shetty and Vasuki Koushik sharing seven wickets between them to
maul the visitors.
