J&K stun Delhi in Ranji Trophy for the first time in 65 years
Jammu and Kashmir’s progress in Indian domestic cricket makes another take-off. The team achieved another rare milestone on Tuesday, securing their first-ever triumph against fancied Delhi by seven wickets at their home. Chasing 179, Jammu and Kashmir was steered by an unbeaten 133 from opener Qamran Iqbal that anchored a composed chase. It was Qamaran’s career-best knock in domestic cricket so far. The groundwork of the victory was laid by a familiar cast of heroes. Auqib Nabi ripped through Delhi’s first innings with a fiery 5 for 35. The team’s captain Paras Dogra led by example with a composed 106. Abdul Samad added a brisk 86 to keep the momentum alive. And when Delhi tried to claw back, young Vanshaj Sharma delivered a telling spell of 6 for 68, sealing the visitors’ grip on the match. This was J&K’s second outright win of the season. In recent years, the team has stunned several heavyweight sides, including Mumbai, Baroda, Rajasthan, and Vidarbha. This win also pushes Jammu and Kashmir to second in the Elite Group D points table, just behind leader Mumbai. However, Bengal secured a humiliating triumph agaist railways with an innings and 120 runs in their Group-C league match on Tuesday. Bengal pacer Shahbaz Ahmed demonstrated a devastated performance with seven for 56 runs. Railways innings collasped to 132 only in 55.5 overs.
Services bowlers create history in Ranji trophy: make two hat-tricks in the same innings as Assam face a tough outing!
The Tinsukia District Sports Association Ground hosted its first Ranji Trophy match in 24 years, witnessing both a remarkable performance and history as Services bowlers made history on the first day of the second round of the Ranji Trophy, achieving two hat-tricks. Assam were reduced to 45 for the loss of five wickets in a flash. Captain Riyan Parag was the first victim of Services left-arm spinner Arjun Sharma before he proceeded to take out wicket-keeper Sumit Ghadigaonkar and Sibsankar Roy and record the first Ranji Trophy hat-trick of the season. Assam’s decision to bat first after winning the toss grew murkier after lunch in the North-Eastern town when Arjun’s teammate and left-arm pacer Mohit Jangra bagged the second hat-trick of the innings. Jangra cleaned up opener Pradyun Saikia, who waged a lone battle with his quick-fire 52 off 42 laced with two fours and six sixes, off the final delivery of the 15th over. He returned to dismiss Assam No. 9 Mukhtar Hussain and No. 10 Bhargab Lakhar to claim his maiden First-Class hat-trick before Arjun returned to claim his five-wicket haul (5/46). It is the first instance in Ranji Trophy history where two bowlers have bagged hat-tricks in the same innings of a match. Previously, Joginder Singh Rao, a former player for Services nearly five decades ago, had recorded two hat-tricks in the same innings of a match. Rao remains the only Indian to have bagged multiple hat-tricks in the same First-Class innings, having achieved the feat in a game against Northern Punjab in Amritsar in 1963. Assam were finally folded for only 103 in 17.3 overs before skipper Parag opened the bowling and racked up two wickets in the first over.
BCCI scorers mix up Musheer Khan with brother Sarfaraz on the opening day of Ranji Trophy!
The opening day of the Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Jammu & Kashmir at Srinagar took off with an uncertain start as the BCCI scorers had reportedly mixed up the names of Mumbai batsmen and brothers Sarfaraz Khan and Musheer Khan. The scorers apparently mistook Musheer for Sarfaraz and recorded his score as 0 at the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, 15th October. According to social media posts, the official scorecard on the BCCI website initially showed Sarfaraz Khan opening the batting for Mumbai and being dismissed for a duck by Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Auqib Nabi. However, it later emerged that it was actually Musheer who had opened the batting and was dismissed as early as the third delivery on the opening day of the contest. The BCCI quickly realised the error and corrected the scorecard, replacing Sarfaraz’s name with Musheer’s. Nevertheless, the slip-up led many on social media to wonder why Mumbai would send Sarfaraz to open the batting when the talented batter is seeking a return to the Indian Test team as a middle-order player. While Musheer fell early, young Ayush Mhatre and former captain Ajinkya Rahane steadied the innings with a 61-run stand. However, their partnership did not flourish further, as Yudhvir Singh dismissed Mhatre in the 19th over before striking again in the 23rd to remove Rahane for 27. Eventually, Sarfaraz walked out to bat at No. 5 and struck three boundaries early in his innings, transferring the pressure back onto Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir will be looking to make an impact in the Ranji Trophy season opener, buoyed by their victory over Mumbai late last season. J&K had defeated a star-studded Mumbai side at the BKC ground in a match that saw Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal feature for the Ranji powerhouses. Mumbai, however, will be aiming to regain their lost glory this season. Having released opener Prithvi Shaw to Maharashtra, the 42-time champions are being led by all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
SRH ropes in ‘history-maker’ in Ranji Trophy as a replacement of Smaran Ravichandran
Vidarbha all-rounder Harsh Dubey has joined the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The 22-year-old replaced Smaran Ravichandran, who is already ruled out of the injury. Dubey will join the Sunrizers at Rs 30 lakhs. Earlier, Ravichandran was roped in as a replacement for Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who played two games before missing out due to injury. Dubey represents Vidarbha in domestic cricket, having taken 127 wickets and scored 941 runs across 16 T-20s, 20 List-A, and 18 first-class matches. Dubey scripted history after setting the record for most wickets in a single edition of the Ranji Trophy. In the 2024-25 edition of the first-class tournament, Dubey took 69 wickets from 10 matches at an economy rate of 2.66 with seven five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket hauls to show for his efforts. Based on his stupendous performance, Vidarbha went on to become the Ranji champions for the third time. They won the final against Kerala in February at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. In the previous edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Dubey took only four wickets from six games at an economy rate of 7.50. The Maharashtra-born Dubey also has nine half-centuries to his name in first-class and List-A cricket with a top score of 76 to his name.