Page 9 - Domestic Cricket

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

Few players will suffer but let it be: Kapil backs BCCI on domestic cricket

"A few players will suffer, but let it be," said legendary former India captain Kapil Dev on Friday as he backed the BCCI's decision to terminate central contracts for lack of commitment to domestic cricket, calling it a much-needed step to protect marquee first-class events like the Ranji Trophy. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were on Wednesday excluded from the BCCI's central contracts after ignoring the board's diktat to play in the Ranji Trophy. The decision evoked mixed reactions with some former players like Kirti Azad and Irfan Pathan backing the out-of-favour duo. Kapil refrained from taking names but said the BCCI's decision to assert the importance of domestic cricket was long overdue. "Yes, few players will suffer, kuch logon ko taqleef hogi, hone do lekin desh se badhkar koi nahi hai (some people will feel hurt but let it be because nobody is bigger than the country). Well done," he said. "I congratulate the BCCI for taking the much needed step to protect the status of .

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

BCCI to conduct women's red-ball tournament in Pune from March 28

Women's red-ball cricket will return to India's domestic calendar after four years when the BCCI conducts a Senior Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy in Pune from March 28, the board announced on Friday. The move comes after the Indian women's team's return to Test cricket. The side has played Tests against Australia and England in the recent years. Domestic red ball cricket for women was last held in 2018. "It is a welcome step taken by BCCI. The national team has started playing Test cricket again and we need the next generation of cricketers to play red ball cricket at the domestic level," former India pacer Amita Sharma told PTI. "I would also want red ball to be played at the state level and not just zonal level. Back in the day we had both those events," she added. The Maharashtra Cricket Association will be hosting the tournament which will feature six teams, representing East, West, North, South, Central, and North-East zones. They will be competing in a series of five matches t

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

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

IPL 2024: Hardik Pandya returns to competitive cricket after long layoff

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya on Monday made his return to competitive cricket after a long injury layoff with a two-wicket haul in the DY Patil T20 Cup here. Pandya grabbed 2/22 in three overs in Reliance One's win by two wickets in a low-scoring game over Bharat Petroleum Cooperation Limited at the DY Patil Cricket Academy. Pandya had been out of action since suffering an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup match against Bangladesh in Pune in October, and is preparing up for a comeback in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the new skipper of the five-time winners Mumbai Indians. The Reliance One team also included other Mumbai Indians players such as Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Akash Madhwal, Naman Dhir and Piyush Chawla. The 30-year-old all-rounder, however, was replaced by Rohit Sharma as India's captain for the T20 World Cup to be played in the Caribbean and the USA in June this year. The DY Patil T20 Cup is a corporate tournament in which a total of 16 teams are taking .

I'll never play for Andhra again, lost my self-respect there: Hanuma Vihari

Lashing out at the Andhra Cricket Association for mistreatment, senior batter Hanuma Vihari on Monday said he will never play for the state again. Andhra's campaign in the on-going Ranji Trophy came to an end when they lost to Madhya Pradesh by four runs in the quarterfinals on Monday. Sad part is the association thinks that players have to listen to whatever they say and players are there because of them. I've decided that I'll never play for Andhra where I lost my self-respect. "I love the team. I love the way we're growing every season but the association doesn't want us to grow, Vihari wrote on Instagram. The middle-order batter, who has played 16 Tests for India, started the season as Andhra captain but stepped down after the first match against last year's runners-up Bengal. Ricky Bhui led the team for the rest of the season, and he now leads the season's run chart with 902 runs. At the time, Vihari attributed his decision to move away from leadership role due to personal .

Ranji Trophy: Sai rules again as Tamil Nadu outlasts Saurashtra to enter SF

Tamil Nadu skipper R Sai Kishore stole the spotlight, this time with the ball, as his four-wicket haul helped his side thrash Saurashtra by an innings and 33 runs on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here on Sunday. As a result, TN became the first team to enter the semi-final this season, which will be played on March 2. Resuming at the overnight score of 300 for 6 in their first innings, TN managed to add just 38 more to their total, with Ajith Ram staying unbeaten on 23. However, TN managed to take a lead of 155 against Saurahstra's 183, thanks to some commendable knocks from Sai Kishore (60), Baba Indrajith (80) and Boopathi Kumar (65). It was a collective effort from the visiting bowling unit, with everyone chipping in with wickets, barring Prerak Mankad, who was the most economical of the lot (1.00). Chirag Jani claimed three. Saurashtra began their second innings on a nervous note, losing three wickets for 48 runs, with Sandeep Warrier getting two of their top-order

Ranji Trophy: Big boys Mumbai, Karnataka, TN, Saurashtra eye semis berth

After a month and half of topsy-turvy ride, eight teams have managed to steer themselves clear of other 24 contenders to enter the quarterfinals. Now, they are standing at a point of no return, as even the slightest slip can throw them out at the quarterfinals stage, beginning across India from Friday. There are familiar faces -- 41-time champions Mumbai, strong contenders Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, giant-killers Vidarbha and Baroda, the stonewalling Saurashtra besides Madhya Pradesh and Andhra, who are capable of springing a surprise or two. So, here's a closer look at the four last eight clashes. Mumbai vs Baroda ============= A depleted Mumbai will hope to make the most of their current form when they face Baroda here from Friday. Without middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, who has been struggling for fitness, and star all-rounder Shivam Dube, who has been sidelined with a bilateral side strain, Mumbai have their task cut out against Baroda at the BKC Ground. While Dube could be

Essence of IPL seems to have been lost, says Manoj Tiwary after retirement

A day after his retirement from cricket, Bengal star Manoj Tiwary raised concerns over the IPL-centric approach of young cricketers and strongly advocated for greater emphasis on Ranji Trophy. The 38-year-old Tiwary, who served Bengal for about two decades and represented India in 12 ODIs and three T20Is, had recently posted on X that Ranji Trophy should be "scrapped" but did not elaborate on the subject as he was an active BCCI cricketer. He was fined 20 per cent of his match fee for that remark. He also had a Facebook live in the midst of the match where he said he would come out in the open after taking retirement. "I can observe that young players have adopted an IPL-centric mindset," Tiwary said, referring to central contracted players opting out of playing domestic cricket. "Those who don't play IPL often go to Dubai or other places whenever they find some free time. However, this trend is diminishing the significance of the prestigious Ranji Trophy. "Now, expressing any opi

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka qualify for Ranji Trophy quarterfinals from Group C

Tamil Nadu needed just seven overs to chase down an easy target and beat Punjab by nine wickets on the final day to top Group C and qualify for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals here on Monday. With six points from the easy win, TN topped the group with 28 points from seven matches. Karnataka, who drew with Chandigarh in Hubballi on Monday, also qualified for the quarterfinals as they finished second in the group with 27 points. Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner Sai Kishore (4/80) shone with the ball on Monday as he took four wickets to help his side bowl Punjab out for 231 in 64.2 overs. Punjab were following-on after they made 274 in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu's 435. Ajith Ram (3/52) and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (3/23) added one wicket each to their two on Sunday as Punjab added just 51 runs from 24.2 overs for the loss of six wickets in their second innings. Punjab began the final day at 180 for 4. Needing just 71 runs for an outright win, Tamil Nadu reached the target in j

Ranji Trophy: Vidarbha beat Haryana by 115 runs, qualify for knockout stage

Spin bowling all-rounder Aditya Sarwate produced another impressive show as Vidarbha registered a comfortable 115-run win over Haryana on the fourth and final day to qualify for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals from group A, here Monday. Vidarbha (33) grabbed six points from what was their fifth win in the tournament to finish on top of Group A and were followed by Saurashtra (29). Sarwate, who had scored 99 in the first innings, made a valuable 42 in the second essay to help Vidarbha add 92 runs to their overnight total of 113/4. They set the visitors a victory target of 296 after being dismissed for 205 in 71.4 overs. Vidarbha then dished out a superlative bowling effort with left-arm spinner Sarwate also starring with the ball, taking two wickets for 38 runs to go with his first-innings figures of 3/59. Off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (3/30) snapped three as the hosts bundled out Haryana for 180 in 34.3 overs. Pacer Umesh Yadav (2/37), Aditya Thakare (1/47) and Yash Thakur (1/21) wer