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The Ranji Trophy 2022 quarter-final round got off to a disappointing start for many star Indian batters as they failed to make a mark. Batters like Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw could not make their presence felt in the middle. On the other hand, debutant Suved Parkar scored a century on debut in the absence of an injured Ajinkya Rahane in Mumbai squad. The clash between Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh was the only one where bowlers dominated.
Agarwal fails, Mavi shines
After a delayed start due to wet outfield, the Karnataka batters were troubled by Shivam Mavi and Saurabh Kumar. Opener Ravikumar Samarth top-scored with 81-ball 57 while other batters failed to impress. After a disappointing Indian Premier League (IPL) season, Agarwal got out to Mavi for a score of 10. Karun Nair got off to a decent start but managed 29 runs. Similarly, Manish Pandey got out after scoring 27 runs. Krishnappa Gowtham did not impress either with his short stay at the crease.
At one point, it looked like Karnataka will get bundled out below 200 but Shreyas Gopal (26) and Vijaykumar Vyshak (12) helped them avoid the collapse. At the end of the day, Karnataka were 213/7 from 72 overs. Mavi took three wickets whereas Saurabh bagged four wickets on the opening day of the quarter-final clash.
Maiden century for Gharami
Jharkhand skipper Saurabh Tiwary's decision to opt to field first did not turn out to be a good idea. Jharkhand new-ball bowlers did not get a single wicket. Abhishek Raman and Abhimanyu Easwaran dominated the proceedings in the first session. But, Raman got retired hurt after scoring 41 runs. In the second session, skipper Easwaran got out after scoring 65 runs. Sushant Mishra turned out to be the only successful bowler in the day.
Sudip Kumar Gharami and Anustup Majumdar made Jharkhand bowlers and fielders toil hard in the middle. After a string of unimpressive performances, Gharami scored his maiden First-Class century. Majumdar batted slightly faster than Gharami as well and scored 85 runs from 139 deliveries. Gharami remained unbeaten for 106 off 204 deliveries. The unbeaten 178-run partnership for the second wicket helped Bengal post 310 on the board.
Rahane’s replacement makes it count
After winning the toss and opting to bat first against Uttarakhand, Mumbai openers got good starts but could not convert it into a big score. Skipper Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal got out after scoring 21 and 35 respectively. Armaan Jaffer and Suved Parkar did not let more wickets fall in the first session. Injured Ajinkya Rahane's replacement, Parkar dazzled on debut with his maiden Ranji Trophy century.
Parkar remained unbeaten for 104 from 218 deliveries including eight fours and two sixes. Jaffer contributed with 60 runs, sharing a 112-run partnership for the third-wicket with Parkar. Sarfaraz Khan continued to do well in the red-ball format as well. Sarfaraz remained unbeaten for 69 off 104 deliveries. At the end of Day 1, Mumbai had 304/3 on the board. For Uttarakhand, Deepak Dhapola turned out to be the only successful bowler as he took all three wickets.
Gill fails, Punjab in trouble
In the Punjab vs Madhya Pradesh clash, Abhishek Sharma's decision to bat first at KSCA Cricket Ground, Alur did not work in their favour. Abhishek lost his batting partner Gill for a single-digit score. Abhishek and Anmolpreet Singh shared an 81-run partnership for the second wicket but both of them departed after scoring 47 runs each.
Middle-order batters Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh disappointed and got out cheaply. After losing half the side for 126, Sanvir Singh’s 41-run knock and contributions from wicketkeeper batter Anmol Malhotra (24) and Mayank Markande (14) helped Punjab post 219 in the first innings.
For Madhya Pradesh, Puneet Datey and Anubhav Agarwal took three wickets each. Madhya Pradesh openers batted for just one over and scored five runs. They still trail by 214 runs.
