Karnataka sealed a berth in the final the Ranji Trophy after the fifth and last day of their semi-final against Punjab was washed out, in Mohali, on Wednesday. They entered the final by the virtue of the first innings lead, and will take on Maharashtra at Hyderabad from January 29.
A loophole in the Board of Control for Cricket in India's working procedure enabled Maharashtra umpire Vineet Kulkarni to remain India's No 1 match official, as Sundaram Ravi is already in the ICC Elite Panel.
Suspensions on Pandya, Rahul lifted with immediate effect: CoA
Displaying steely resolve, Dhruv Shorey stood out with an unbeaten century and steered Delhi to 271 for six, but Vidarbha did just enough to share honours on day one of the Ranji Trophy final in Indore.
Saini was summoned to bowl at the India nets during Sri Lanka series in December 2017 as the net bowler but it was Gambhir who told him to concentrate on Ranji Trophy final.
Saurashtra were best chasers during the knockout stage but their reliable batsmen came a cropper in the most-important clash.
It proved to be a good toss to lose for Saurashtra, who succeeded in removing the most impactful Vidarbha batsmen -- Jaffer (23) and captain Faiz Fazal (16) -- cheaply.
'He is like a pillar and the whole team bats around him.' 'In today's world, everyone likes to play their strokes while Pujara is someone who will tire out the bowlers.' 'If you have one batsman who can play out the new ball or play out a spell from a good bowler, then it helps the whole team, it helps the other batsmen.'
Prithvi Shaw hit a century on debut as Mumbai crushed Tamil Nadu by six wickets to storm into the final of the Ranji Trophy, in Rajkot, on Thursday.
'We have been following our routine and that's the best part, we have done. All credit goes to the players as they have put in the hard work. I am very happy with the way they have respected me, and the players have never ignored the system we have followed.
Umesh Yadav starred with a match haul of 12/79 as defending champion Vidarbha routed Kerala by an innings and 11 runs shortly after lunch on Day 2 to storm into the Ranji Trophy final for the second year in a row.
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.
"The ebbs and flows of the game made it such a good one for the spectators. It was just unfortunate we came out on the other side of it."
Gambhir might be out of national reckoning, but he has been in ominous form this season and that is precisely one of the reasons behind Delhi's success.
A round-up of Ranji semi-finals played on Tuesday
Having spent considerable time under Rahul Dravid's tutelage in Rajasthan Royals as well as the India 'A' set-up, talented Karun Nair is grateful to the Karnataka legend for giving him the "right confidence" which has gone a long way in him earning a call-up to the Test squad.
While 41 times champions Mumbai are expected to last the distance, it will be a stern test of character for Gujarat who are in their first final in 66 years with the baggage of never winning the prestigious domestic trophy.
The IPL auctions are known to spring surprises with little known players hitting a jackpot to become millionaires. Here's a look at some buys that left most people surprised. Carlos Brathwaite (Rs 4.2 cr): Inarguably the biggest surprise buys of 2016 IPL auctions. The Caribbean all-rounder has shown his hitting talent during his heroics against Sri Lanka, lower down the order. But not many would have expected Delhi to roll out a whopping 4.2 crore, which is 14 times his base price Pawan Negi (Rs 8.5 cr) : The new million dollar man! After his selection for the World T20 squad, here came another good news for Pawan Negi. It was Delhi again, that snapped the all-rounder for a monstrous Rs 8.5 crore.
Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul gave the selectors food for thought before the upcoming Australia tour, scoring a classy century which gave South Zone a vital first innings lead against Central Zone on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy final, in Delhi, on Thursday. Replying to Central's first innings total of 276, South rode the opener's unbeaten 168 to end the day on 308 for three, a lead of 32 runs, at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
The 41-time Ranji Trophy winners will be playing their 500th encounter in the National championship against Baroda at the Wankhede Stadium to become first among the equals.
'By God's grace, everything is okay and we are back as friends.'
Delhi team management's lack of communication with the establishment again came into the fore on Sunday when Feroze Shah Kotla curator Venkat Sundaram accused skipper Gautam Gambhir of "interfering into his job" ahead of their Ranji Trophy final group league encounter against Karnataka on Monday.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah produced his career-best spell in first-class cricket as Gujarat staged a sensational comeback to beat Jharkhand by 123 runs and reach their second ever final of the Ranji Trophy cricket Tournament. Bumrah finished with figures of six for 29 and alongside veteran pacer R P Singh plotted the downfall of Jharkhand, who were skittled out for 111 in their second innings after being set a target of 235 runs on day four of the semifinal.
Kedar Jadhav continued his glorious form in the Ranji Trophy with a sparkling century as Karnataka maintained their upper hand despite a spirited fightback by Maharashtra on Day 4 of their Ranji Trophy final in Hyderabad.
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.
Half-centuries from Ankit Bawne and Chirag Khurana frustrated Karnataka and helped Maharashtra finish the opening day on a respectable 272 for five in the Ranji Trophy final in Hyderabad.
'Playing with international stalwarts in the IPL makes a big, positive, difference.'
'A player need to have T20 skills otherwise he is not going to survive.'
'No matter how much runs you score in the Ranji Trophy or Duleep Trophy or Irani Trophy, if you don't have T20 skills in batting or bowling you are not going to go too far.'
Karnataka youngster K L Rahul on his elation at being selected for the upcoming Test series against Australia and how he worked on his technique to improve his batting skills.
A near-perfect series for Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
'Syed Mushtaq Ali was like a lion, not a labourer, at the crease. Attack was his defence and he would show no mercy on the bowlers'