The first round of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season came to an end on Monday (October 14). Here are the hits and flops from round one.
For the full scorecards of all Ranji Trophy matches, click here.
Hits
Abhimanyu Easwaran (Bengal)
Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran has been in stunning form of late, and continued to make his case to be India's backup opener in red-ball cricket. There were fears he may have shot himself in the foot after scoring just five in the first innings against Uttar Pradesh, but he responded with a superb unbeaten 127 to help his side declare in the third innings.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (Maharashtra)
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been in the conversation as India's backup opener for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but did not have a good Duleep Trophy with the bat. He did return to form here though with a breezy 86 against Jammu & Kashmir, (perhaps curiously) batting at No.4. The slightly harsher evaluators would say he should have converted this knock into a century.
Tanush Kotian (Mumbai)
Tanush Kotian was last season's MVP, and performed well in both the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup. His good form with the ball continued, with 4-61 & 5-61 against Baroda. He was unable to contribute with the bat, though, scoring 1 & 1 as Mumbai lost by 84 runs.
Jayant Yadav (Haryana)
Haryana secured an innings victory over Bihar inside two days in round one of the competition, and one-time Test centurion Jayant Yadav was a key part of the win. He chipped in with two wickets to bowl the opposition out for 78, before scoring the only half-century of the match with a knock of 55 from No.9. He then stepped up with the ball in the second innings, taking 5-57 and accounting for four of Bihar's five middle-order batters.
Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra)
Saurashtra may have had a torrid time of it against Tamil Nadu, but skipper Jaydev Unadkat emerged with some credit in the bowling department. He picked up 6-61, helping to limit a score which could have been much higher.
Gurjapneet Singh (Tamil Nadu)
Born in Haryana, Gurjapneet moved to Tamil Nadu at the age of 17, and made his Ranji debut for the state against Saurashtra. The left-arm pacer was economical but wicketless in the first innings, but ripped through the opposition on day three.
He removed Chirag Jani, Parswaraj Rana, Cheteshwar Pujara and Prerak Mankad to leave them 35-5 in the third innings. On day four, he returned to pick up two more wickets, taking 6-22 to help secure an innings win for his team.
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Shubham Khajuria (Jammu & Kashmir)
J&K opener Shubham Khajuria is nowhere near an India spot, but his performance against Maharashtra was crucial in helping his side secure the first-innings lead as he scored a mammoth 255 to become the team's first double-centurion in 22 years.
Flops
Prithvi Shaw (Mumbai)
Still just 24 years old, Prithvi Shaw did himself no favours as far as adding to his five Test caps for India goes. He scored 7 & 12 against Baroda, as opening partner Ayush Mhatre outshone him with a first-innings fifty.
Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai)
Shreyas Iyer played for India in the England home series earlier this year, but his iffy form in domestic red-ball cricket continued here. After an eight-ball duck in the first innings, he made it to 30 before being dismissed in the second.
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Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai)
Rahane had a poor Ranji Trophy campaign with the bat last year, even as he led Mumbai to the title. His start this season was also indifferent, with 29 & 12 as his team sank to an 84-run loss.
Cheteshwar Pujara (Saurashtra)
Cheteshwar Pujara has not played for India since the World Test Championship final last year, but had an excellent Ranji Trophy last year. He failed to make an impact in Coimbatore in the first match of this season, though, scoring 16 & 0 as Saurashtra lost to Tamil Nadu by an innings.
Ishan Kishan (Jharkhand)
Named Jharkhand's skipper for this season, Kishan had a good opportunity (on paper at least) to score against a relatively weak Assam lineup. But he made just 21, batting at No.6 in the first innings. He promoted himself to open as Jharkhand chased 175 for victory in the final session, making it to 16 off 12 balls before being dismissed.
Hanuma Vihari (Andhra Pradesh)
Hanuma Vihari opened the batting for Andhra Pradesh against Vidarbha, but perhaps the position is not for him. He scored 1 & 22 as Andhra ended up losing by 74 runs.
Rajat Patidar (Madhya Pradesh)
In a rain-affected match, Rajat Patidar failed to make an impact, scoring 31 as MP batted first and declared at 425-8.
Mayank Agarwal (Karnataka)
Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal did not last long in Indore as he fell to Kumar Kartikeya Singh in the very first over of Karnataka's first innings. His opening partner, Nikin Jose, went on to score 99.
Devdutt Padikkal (Karnataka)
Devdutt Padikkal is fairly low down the Indian pecking order but did impress on debut against England in Dharamsala in March. But batting at No.3 for Karnataka, he was dismissed by off-spinner Saransh Jain for 16.
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