Ranji Review: Harbhajan takes nine wickets; Zol makes spectacular debut

Every week Firstpost will bring you the highlights and key performances from the week’s round of Ranji Trophy matches. The first week of the 2013-14 Ranji Trophy season was dominated by Sachin Tendulkar’s winning hand for Mumbai in Rohtak, but there were plenty of other star turns by players experienced and new alike. Harbhajan Singh – 9 for 137 for Punjab against Odisha Harbhjan Singh is fighting to reclaim his place in the Indian side and his performance against Odisha in Punjab’s Ranji opener would have done his cause a world of good. Punjab chose to field first and Odisha looked to be steady at 139 for 3 when Harbhajan, who already had one wicket, went to work. He had Biplab Samantray caught behind for 30 to break a 59-run paternship and then ended Govind Podder’s two-and –three quarter vigil to leave Odisha struggling at 177 for 5. [caption id=“attachment_1207005” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Harbhajan Singh needs wickets if he is going to get back in the India side. PTI[/caption] The rest of the team then folded for a further 28 runs, with Harbhajan picked up three more wickets to finish with 6 for 54, his best bowling performance in the competition, beating the 6 got 69 he took back in the 1998-99 season. He added three more wickets in the second innings, including the final wicket of No 9 Basant Mohanty that gave Punjab an innings victory to start their campaign for the second year in a row. Vijay Zol - 200* for Maharashtra v Tripura It is hard to believe this season is Zol’s Ranji Trophy debut since he has already played for India A after producing a number of outstanding performances for India Under-19s over the last couple of years, including leading India to the U-19 World Cup title in 2012. After Tripura had made 304, the 18-year-old Zol came out to bat with his side 40 for 1 and proceeded to add 199 with Harshad Khadiwale, who made 122. The loss of Khadiwale did not bother Zol, who added 110 with Kedar Jhadav (57) and 111 with Ankit Bawne (54*) as he made his way remorselessly towards a double-hundred in just his third first-class innings. Maharashtra declared when Zol reached 200. It had taken him 324 balls and included 19 fours and a six. Maharashtra won the game by nine wickets. Zol, who seems to make big scores almost every time he picks up the bat, also made 110 against New Zealand A earlier this year in his first-class debut. Ishwar Pandey takes 11 for 120 for Madhya Pradesh against Railways Given the troubles India’s seamers have been having against Australia, Ishwar Pandey might be worth a look. Pandey posed plenty of problems for Railways in taking 8 for 84 in the first innings, with four of his victims being bowler and another two trapped leg-before. The other two batsmen whom he dismissed were both caught behind, so a grand total of two people were involved in all eight wickets. Pandey added three more wickets in Railways’ second innings as MP pushed for the win but in the end had to settle for a draw. Baba Aparjith - 203 for Tamil Nadu against Services Aparjith continued his reach vein of form with his second double-century in a month. He made 212 and 109 in two matches for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy and began the Ranji season in style by making 203 out of Tamil Nadu’s total of 456/7 declared. Tamil Nadu were in some trouble at 16 for 2 when Aparjith joined S Badrinath but the pair added 168 to steer their side out of danger. It was the first of three century partnerships for Aparjith, who struck 19 fours and a six in his 395-ball knock. Having started his first-class career with 52 runs from five innings at an average of 17.33 in back in 2011-12, the 19-year-old Aparjith now averages 58.35 from 23 innings in first-class cricket.