 "From Kohli's heroic welcome in Delhi to Rahane and Pujara's fifties, how Indian stars fared in Ranji Trophy")
Virat Kohli was at his animated best for Delhi as he received a hero’s welcome in his first domestic appearance in 12 years while KL Rahul failed to convert a promising start into a bigger score for Karnataka. Meanwhile, senior batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane slammed fifties to put Saurashtra and Mumbai respectively in a dominant position. And among the bowlers Mohammed Siraj was among the wicket-takers for Hyderabad while bowling out a tidy spell while Shardul Thakur was among the standout performers with a sensational hat-trick.
With Day 1 of the final round of group matches in the ongoing season of the Ranji Trophy coming to an end, we take a look at how some of the key players, including Kohli, performed:
Virat Kohli, Delhi vs Railways in Delhi
Though he did not bat or bowl, there is little doubt over the fact that Kohli was the centre of attraction at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday . Witnessing a packed venue for a domestic game in India, even if it is the prestigious Ranji Trophy, is as rare a sight as it can get and only someone of Kohli’s star power can draw such massive numbers.
The fans have come out in huge numbers for the Delhi vs Railways match 👌👌
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 30, 2025
The Arun Jaitley Stadium is buzzing 🔥#RanjiTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/IhwXam3F5T pic.twitter.com/ATCyjCAX1Y
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe dramatic opening day between Delhi and Railways also witnessed a spectator rush to the playing area in an attempt to touch Kohli's feet and security personnel even had to resort to lathi-charge at one point to prevent chaos from breaking out.
Buoyed by the support of the home crowd, with Kohli doing his bit to raise the decibel levels at the iconic venue that led to chants of “RCB! RCB!”, Delhi bowled Railways out for 241 before ending the day on 41/1, trailing exactly by 200 runs.
KL Rahul, Karnataka vs Haryana in Bengaluru
Both Kohli and Rahul had missed the previous Ranji fixtures that had taken place between 23 and 26 January due to fitness concerns and made themselves available for the final round of group matches that got underway on Thursday. While Kohli largely spent the day interacting with the crowd, Rahul was dismissed for 26 off 37 balls after getting off to a promising start with the help of four boundaries. This was after he was dropped on 9 by Haryana captain Ankit Sharma in the slips.
Karnataka, however, rode on captain Mayank Agarawal’s sparkling 91 that contained eight fours and three sixes along with Devdutt Padikkal’s patient 43 to end the day on 267/5 after 89 overs against the current leaders of Group C.
Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur, Mumbai vs Meghalaya in Mumbai
Rohit Sharma's first appearance in domestic cricket since 2016 as well as the availability of in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal did not help Mumbai’s cause in the previous round as they succumbed to a five-wicket loss against Jammu and Kashmir at home. Needing at least a victory to keep their Ranji title defence alive, Mumbai were off to a roaring start on Day 1 of their final Group A fixture – against Meghalaya at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC in ‘Maximum City’.
Balchander Anirudh ✅
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 30, 2025
Sumit Kumar ✅
Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva ✅
Shardul Thakur is on fire 🔥
He's picked up a 𝗵𝗮𝘁-𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 to help Mumbai bowl out Meghalaya for 86 👌👌#RanjiTrophy | @imShard | @MumbaiCricAssoc | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/9ApJe0CgxG pic.twitter.com/B9azjgx1JB
Thakur was among the stand-out performers of the day as his figures of 4/43, which included a hat-trick, as well as valuable contributions from Mohit Avasthi (3/27) and Sylvester D’Souza (2/14), helped Mumbai bowl Meghalaya out for a paltry 86 after opting to bat. Around the time of the seam-bowling all-rounder’s hat-trick, Meghala had lost six wickets for just two runs and were in danger of getting bundled out for a record low score before contributions from the lower order helped them finish with 14 runs of the century mark.
Rahane then led from the front with an unbeaten 83, stitching an unbroken 170-run stand for the third wicket with Siddhesh Lad (89 not out) to put the 42-time Ranji champions in pole position.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Saurashtra vs Assam in Rajkot
Like Rahane, long-time India teammate and fellow Test specialist Pujara too ended the day within touching distance of a century. Pujara, who had struck 234 against Chhattisgarh in October, remained unbeaten on 95 against Assam after Harvik Desai (130) brought up his seventh First-Class century and Chirag Jani scored 80 at a pace faster than run-a-ball (78 deliveries).
Pujara joined Desai after Jani’s dismissal ended an opening partnership that was worth 146 runs and stitched back-to-back partnerships that were just shy of the century mark, the second one with Sheldon Jackson (48).
As a result of the solid performance by the top-order batters, Saurashtra ended the day with 361 runs on the board for the loss of just three wickets after electing to bat.
Mohammed Siraj, Vidarbha vs Hyderabad in Nagpur
‘DSP’ Siraj didn’t quite set the stage on fire as Thakur did in the Mumbai-Meghalaya game, but did his part to build pressure on Vidarbha and ensure that Hyderabad stood a chance of dismissing the home team for a sub-200 total and remained in the hunt for a first-innings lead. Siraj ended the day with figures of 1/47 from 18 overs, which included seven maidens, and was the most economical of the Hyderabad bowlers as Vidarbha were bundled out for 190 after they were put in to bat by the Chama Milind-led side.
Rakshan Readdi (3/29) and Anikethreddy (3/54) were the pick of the bowlers while skipper Milind (2/46) and Tanay Thyagarajan (1/3) were also among the wickets. Hyderabad, in reply, reached 90/2 at stumps, trailing by a hundred runs with plenty of wickets in hand.
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