'Shreyas Iyer likes a challenge, tough situations, playing against the top teams.'
Arun Lal's "very poor pitch" comment on the opening day drew a sharp rebuttal from the Saurashtra Cricket Association on Wednesday after its curator, Mahendra Rajdev, said the Bengal coach erred in his judgement by jumping the gun in the ongoing Ranji Trophy final in Rajkot.
Dinesh Karthik may have spent his career in M S Dhoni's shadow, but his contributions to Indian cricket, especially in the IPL, deserve a legacy all his own, asserts Sudhir Bisht.
Ramesh Powar wreaked havoc with a five-wicket haul as Mumbai skittled out Delhi for a meagre 211 to take a huge first innings lead of 289 runs on the third day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final in Mumbai on Tuesday. A deadly spell of 5.3-3-9-5 by the India discard soon after lunch triggered a dramatic collapse, as Delhi, replying to Mumbai's huge first innings total of 500, lost their last six wickets for the addition of only 23 runs in 20.3 overs.
With spinners extracting significant turn and bounce exploiting the roughs, Sarwate (3/55) and off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (2/42) blew away Saurashtra's top half to seize the momentum.
KB Arun Karthick struck a vital unbeaten 115 to help Assam garner three crucial points against defending champions Karnataka after their Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match ended in a tame draw, Guwahati, on Sunday.
Rudra Pratap Singh and Piyush Chawla claimed two wickets each to help Uttar Pradesh take a vital 64-run first innings lead after Assam were bowled out for a mere 149 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Guwahati, on Friday.
Kaverappa (3/20) and More (3/31) started it all with a perfect bowling display inside the Powerplay overs before Venkatesh (3/51) seized control in the middle overs to wrap up Jharkhand innings for 187 in 47.1 overs.
Late last month in Kolkata, Shami expressed a desire to first play for Bengal before making his return to the national team. He also participated informally in motivational and fitness sessions with state players.
Ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin starred with a five-wicket haul to help Tamil Nadu bundle out Himachal Pradesh for 158 on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group B match. A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday.
Karnataka looked set to secure a big first innings lead against Goa despite fighting half-centuries by three of the home team's batters on day three of their Elite Group C match in Porvorim, on Thursday.
Under intense scrutiny, Iyer looked rusty at the start of the IPL and got out for a two-ball duck in their opener against SRH. He had some significant contributions later on but his efforts were all overshadowed by Narine and Salt's explosive batting.
In a big blow to the Indian team, the hosts will miss Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul for the second Test against England.
India and Gujarat left-arm spinner Axar Patel acknowledged RP Singh that veteran pacer Singh's presence in the Gujarat dressing room for the past two years played a big role in the team's development.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar feels one reason for the recent dwindling dominance of oft-crowned Ranji champions Mumbai could be because other teams are getting stronger.
A summary of Thursday's action in Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday.
MP clinched a five-wicket victory over Orissa on the last day of the Plate division semi-final.
India's young guns are fearless and mentally hardened by the IPL exposure. But true mettle will be tested when adversity strikes -- and this time, there will be no Kohli to stir up the crowd, no Rohit to deliver a captaincy masterstroke, and no Ashwin to conjure wickets out of nowhere.
The Bengal captain will have to miss his team's first two East Zone one-day league games.
arpreet Singh Bhatia slammed his second first-class ton to lead the Madhya Pradesh run-spree in the second innings and set Bengal an improbable 788 runs for a win in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinals on Saturday. The 24-year-old Bhatia notched up 139 in 206 balls, studded with 14 fours, to help MP pile on runs after resuming on overnight score of 338 for five. MP finally declared at a mammoth second-innings total of 560 for 9, just before tea on the fourth and penultimate day. Bengal, who conceded a huge first-innings lead of 227 after being bowled out for a meager 121, are on the verge of a defeat as they were struggling at 113 for three in 31 overs at the close of play.
India discard Murali Vijay registered his first century of the season as Tamil Nadu took a huge first innings lead over Mumbai, and then more than doubled it by stumps on Day 3 of the four-day Ranji Trophy semi-final at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
The 22-yard strip at the Bansi Lal stadium in Lahli turned out to be a minefield for Rajasthan and Haryana batsmen, as 18 wickets fell on the first day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final, on Tuesday. If young Harshal Patel's eight for 34 saw Rajasthan being skittled out for 89, the defending champions had another youngster in Rituraj Singh, who took five for 36, to reduce the hosts to 82 for eight at stumps on first day.
A round-up of results from the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday.
The retiring Dhawal Kulkarni said he would be available to take up any role which keeps him associated with the sport.
Domestic giants Mumbai on Thursday broke the world record for highest margin of victory in the history of first-class cricket as they crushed minnows Uttarakhand by a staggering 725 runs on the fourth day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final.
Karun Nair on Wednesday served a reminder to his prowess with an unbeaten 144 for Northamptonshire against table-toppers Surrey in a County Championship Division One contest, in London at the Oval.
KKR Mentor Gautam Gambhir was all ears as Virat Kohli did all the talking.
An intriguing third day is on the cards as hosts Haryana need another 170 runs for victory with eight wickets in hand against defending champions Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy semi-final, being played at the Bansi Lal stadium in Rohtak. Rajasthan's batsmen gave a better account of themselves in the second innings, scoring 192, after Haryana's first innings folded for 97, providing the hosts a slender lead of eight runs.
A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches played on Thursday.
A summary of the second day's play in Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Delhi spinners Manan Sharma and Vikas Mishra took an hour to grab the remaining four wickets as the Ishant Sharma-led team beat Railways by an innings and 105 runs in their second Group A league match of the Ranji Trophy, on Tuesday.
Steve Smith's pointers to Riyan Parag on the technique of playing red ball helped him in the Ranji season where he ended with 492 runs for Assam, including a hundred and three half-centuries.
Vidarbha claimed their maiden Ranji Trophy after beating Delhi by nine wickets in the final of India's premier domestic tournament, in Indore, on Monday.
Openers Aakash Chopra and Vineet Saxena showed loads of patience on a placid strip to enable Rajasthan take the opening day's honours in the Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu, in Chennai, on Thursday. At stumps, Rajasthan, opting to bat, were 221 without loss, with Saxena unbeaten on 120 and Chopra on 86.
Ganesh Satish slammed an unbeaten 117 and shared 216 runs with opener Lokesh Rahul (94 batting) as Karnataka took control of their Ranji Trophy summit clash against Maharashtra on the second day in Hyderabad.
Saurashtra were best chasers during the knockout stage but their reliable batsmen came a cropper in the most-important clash.
