Tushar Deshpande, Ravichandran Smaran and Umesh Yadav star in Ranji Trophy opening round
Tushar Deshpande, Ravichandran Smaran and Umesh Yadav produced standout performances in the Ranji Trophy opening round.
Tushar Deshpande took seven wickets including a hat-trick and scored 44 as Mumbai defeated Chandigarh by an innings and 155 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai posted 429 after being put into bat. Deshpande's five-wicket haul helped bowl Chandigarh out for 78, giving Mumbai a 351-run first-innings lead.
Ravichandran Smaran scored 126 off 218 balls for Karnataka against Andhra in Vijayawada. Karnataka were reduced to 22 for four before Smaran's century helped secure one point from the match. Shikhar Mohan scored 143 off 196 balls for Jharkhand against Kerala in Jamshedpur.
Umesh Yadav took five wickets for 70 for Punjab against Assam at New Chandigarh. Avesh Khan claimed six wickets for Madhya Pradesh against Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar. The defending champions were 88 for seven in their second innings when the match ended in a draw.
CricHubb Take
The opening round showed domestic cricket's depth with established IPL players delivering in conditions that demanded sustained effort.