Spurred by Chirag Jani's a five-wicket haul, defending champions Saurashtra scripted their first knockout win of the season with a 238-run thrashing of Vidarbha on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match in Nagpur on Sunday.
Underdogs Nagaland showed they are made of sterner stuff as their batters fought tooth and nail all day to score 365/5 and frustrate Tamil Nadu who would be fancying their chances of enforcing a follow-on after a mammoth 512-run first-innings total in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Bengaluru on Monday.
Making his Test debut against Australia in 2010, Cheteshwar Pujara went on to represent India in 103 Tests, amassing 7195 runs at an average of 43.60, including 19 centuries.
Kuldeep Sen blew away the last two batters with scorching pace and steep bounce to finish with a match haul of eight wickets as Rest of India won their 29th Irani Trophy with a walk-in-the-park eight-wicket victory over Saurashtra.
'If the BJP seriously addresses employment, examination integrity and systemic corruption, they might salvage their position. Otherwise, they are heading toward serious trouble in 2027.'
Bengal pacer Akash Deep bowled a game-changing spell on Friday
A red-hot Bengal will have a chance to win their first Ranji Trophy title in 33 years when they face Saurashtra, bolstered by the return of pacer and domestic game heavyweight Jaydev Unadkat, in the summit clash in Kolkata from Thursday.
'I knew the finger was broken but I told the physio that I don't want to take any painkillers.' 'I was in very good rhythm and I just wanted to carry on.'
A summary of Thursday's action in the Ranji Trophy group stage matches.
Having bid adieu to his stellar Test career a content man, Indian Test batting great Cheteshwar Pujara wouldn't mind a coaching stint or a role at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in the next stage of his cricketing journey.
A summary of Friday's action in the Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Saurashtra batter Avi Barot, a former India Under-19 captain and a member of the Ranji Trophy winning team in the 2019-20 season, has died after suffering a cardiac arrest at a shockingly young age of 29, the Saurashtra Cricket Association said.
A woman's desperate pleas for help went unanswered as her husband and two children drowned after a bridge collapsed in Gujarat, India, claiming 10 lives.
A summary of Ranji Trophy matches played on Tuesday
Kerala pacer Nidheesh takes fifer to reduce J&K to 228 for 8
IMD data shows in the 24 hours between September 1 and 2, Haryana received 806 per cent more rainfall than normal, Punjab 759 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 510 per cent, Delhi 740 per cent, Chandigarh a staggering 1,638 per cent, and Rajasthan 193 per cent.
Rest of India remained firm favourites to win the Irani Cup match in Rajkot
Defending champions Saurashtra will start their Ranji Trophy preparations with a training camp in Rajkot from the first week of November by strictly following all the state government and BCCI guidelines on COVID-19 pandemic.
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak is expecting the pitch for the Lord's Test to be much more challenging for the batters
'The Diary of a Cricketer's Wife' penned by Puja Pujara, capturing the journey of her husband Cheteshwar, found a hallowed introduction place at the Lord's Cricket Ground library and the author termed the book as "something for everyone."
Former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi is the frontrunner to become the spin bowling coach at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence.
Prolific batsman Sheldon Jackson, who played a pivotal role in Saurashtra's maiden Ranji Trophy triumph in the season gone by, will compete for Puducherry in the domestic circuit this season, a decision which the cricketer said was "not easy".
The Delhi and Districts Cricket Association sacked its senior selection committee, comprising former National selector Gagan Khoda, Mayank Sidhana and Anil Bhardwaj, on Thursday after the state team was decimated by Saurashtra in a Ranji Trophy group league game.
Ravindra Jadeja produced an excellent all-round performance, taking 5 wickets and scoring 38 runs, to help Saurashtra gain a commanding position against Delhi on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match.
'I wanted a player of his calibre to take on one of the strongest sides in the country.' 'However, he stuck to his guns, and we had an argument.'
Eight persons were killed and five others rescued after several vehicles fell into a river following the collapse of a portion of a four-decade-old bridge in Gujarat's Vadodara district on Wednesday morning, police said.
Three national highways in Kutch, Navsari and Dang districts were blocked due to damage caused by rains. Fifty one state highways and over 400 panchayat roads have also been damaged, state Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi told reporters.
The declared incomes of registered unrecognised political parties witnessed a 223 per cent spike in 2022-23 and more than 73 per cent of these parties failed to publicly disclose their financial records, according to poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Skipper Ankit Kumar's brilliant century put defending champions Mumbai on the back foot as Haryana reached 263 for five at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final.
'All I remember is that when I used to go to the ground, when I was 14-years-old, and when I came back in the evening, the colour of my face would be completely different.'
'He is +10 in the field, also bowls well and bats in pressure situations as well.'
For Saurashtra, the star performers were Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, and of course, their captain Jaydev Unadkat.
This is the first time DRS will be implemented in a Ranji Trophy final and both teams will get three reviews in each innings. This comes after last season's final between Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai was mired in controversy.
Karun Nair's struggles at the crucial No. 3 position is a big headache for Team India.
Punjab's Abhishek Sharma hammered a 96-ball 170 against Saurashtra, while Jharkhand's Utkarsh Singh's 91 fired his team to a big win against Odisha
The early onset of the southwest monsoon brought continuous rainfall across southern and eastern India, contributing to this record.
But they seemed to learn nothing from their past mistakes.
Ravindra Jadeja starred with a 12-wicket haul for Saurashtra, but India's top stars, including Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, failed to impress in the Ranji Trophy.
Saurashtra, led by the inspirational Jaydev Unadkat, will back themselves to win an elusive Ranji Trophy title at home but a buoyant Bengal will be no pushovers in what promises to be an absorbing final beginning, in Rajkot, on Monday. Both the teams are desperate to go all the way with Saurashtra reaching their fourth final in eight seasons while Bengal has not tasted success in the premier domestic event since the 1989-90 triumph.
