The crisis in Jammu and Kashmir cricket deepened on Thursday with senior state team skipper Samiullah Beigh blaming coach Bishan Singh Bedi for 'creating rifts' among players.
Jammu and Kashmir Ranji cricketers had to endure a torrid time on Tuesday when they were woken up in the middle of the night and questioned for hours by the police, which was looking for a suspected militant.
Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh made a superb return to competitive cricket as he smashed 92 off only 80 balls to rescue his team from a precarious position against an impressive Jammu and Kashmir bowling attack on the first day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals.
Central Zone's Madhya Pradesh duo of Jalaj Saxena and wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha took full advantage of dropped catches and took an inexperienced North Zone attack to the cleaners as they posted 344 for three at stumps, on the first day of their Duleep Trophy semi-final, at Mohali, on Wednesday.
In a big setback for North Zone ahead of the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone, captain Harbhajan Singh has been forced to sit out due to viral fever as Gautam Gambhir will step in to lead the team, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
Senior pros Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir failed with the bat as Jammu and Kashmir powered by their skipper Parvez Rasool shocked Delhi by two wickets in the opening match of the North Zone leg of the National One-Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Seamer VRV Singh returned with a five-wicket haul and helped Punjab book a semi-final spot beating Jammu and Kashmir by 100 on the fourth day of their last-eight stage match of their Ranji Trophy tie in Vadodara on Saturday.
Skipper Perveez Rasool led from the front with a scintillating century as Jammu and Kashmir fought back gallantly to leave their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match against strong contenders Punjab evenly poised in Vadodara.
Jammu and Kashmir skipper Parveez Rasool continued his brilliant all-round performance with a five-wicket haul as their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match seemed headed for an exciting finish with Punjab leaving them with a target of 324 for a historic victory in Vadodara.
Shreevats Goswami finally came out of Wriddhiman Saha's shadow to hit a career best 225 which enabled Bengal post a commendable 475 for 9 on the second day of the Group A league encounter against Madhya Pradesh. At stumps, MP were 19 for 1 with Ashok Dinda getting the wicket of Aditya Srivastava. The day belonged to Shreevats, who played 328 balls hitting 25 boundaries and three sixes en route his maiden double hundred in First Class cricket. It was also a match where Bengal's lower order showed exemplary resilience as the last three wickets produced 268 runs after being reduced to 207 for seven.
Riding on Tushar Deshpande's five-wicket haul, defending champions Mumbai registered a comfortable 10-wicket win over Railways and grabbed six points in their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Mysore on Tuesday. On the fourth day, Deshpande snapped three wickets -- Faiz Ahmed (28), Ashish Yadav (26) and DN Bansal (3) -- to go with the two wickets he had taken yesterday, while Shardul Thakur, Vijay Gohil and Balwinder Sandhu picked up one wicket each to dismiss Railways for 208 after they resumed their second innings at an overnight total of 135-4 on Tuesday.
All-rounder Stuart Binny tormented the East Zone batsmen with his controlled swing bowling as they lost as many as 14 wickets with South Zone marching towards a comprehensive innings victory at the end of second day in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy.
Natraj Behera scored his second century of the match as Odisha rallied to earn a draw after being forced to follow on against Mumbai, on the fourth and final day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match, in Mumbai.
When minnows Jammu and Kashmir defeated 40-times Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai on Wednesday, it was perhaps the biggest-ever shock victory in domestic Indian cricket. Rediff.com's Vaihayasi P Daniel and Sonil Dedhia spent time with the J&K team after their stunning triumph to discover the inspiring story of how these fine cricketers turned adversity into advantage.
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country
Round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country.
A round-up of Ranji matches played across India on Saturday
Abhimanyu Easwaran dropped anchor at one end as his 97-run stand with Shreevats Goswami enabled Bengal to reach 185 for four against Madhya Pradesh on the first day of their final group league encounter of the Ranji Trophy, in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Captain Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a gutsy century to lift Delhi to 260 for six at stumps on the first day of their opening Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played across the country on Saturday
Round up of the Ranji Trophy games being played across the country
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played across India on Monday
IPL Action VIII: These players went unsold
Jiwanjot Singh's brilliant century and captain Mandeep Singh's fluent half-century helped Punjab stage a great comeback to gain the upperhand against Delhi, on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match in New Delhi, on Tuesday.