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Rajasthan batter Deepak Hooda continued his fine form in the Ranji Trophy and went on to smack a double-hundred against Mumbai in the third round. After Rajasthan had restricted the opposition to a total of 254 in their first innings, they were provided with a strong start by the duo of Sachin Yadav and skipper Mahipal Lomror. Despite losing opener Abhijeet Tomar early, a 96-run partnership for the second wicket saw the team get into a good position.
Eventually, Lomror lost his wicket for 41 and out came Hooda. The latter, who had f eatured for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025, first formed a big 92-run stand with Sachin, taking Rajasthan over the 200-run mark for the loss of only two wickets. After his batting partner was dismissed for 92, Hooda took matters into his own hands and slammed the opposing bowlers for fun at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur.
Mumbai's bowling attack consisted of quality bowlers like Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Shams Mulani and more, but they totally failed to stop Hooda and the run-flow. He soon went on to reach a well-deserved hundred, carrying Rajasthan's innings forward.
It was Hooda's humongous partnership with Kartik Sharma that propelled Rajasthan to take an enormous lead in the match. The duo joined the crease after the fall of Kunal Singh Rathore's wicket and proved to be too good for Mumbai's bowling attack.
Hooda and Karthik's enormous partnership
They formed a 265-run stand that saw Kartik move into triple figures and Hooda reach his double-century. Both of them played incredible knocks, carrying Rajasthan over the 500-run mark in style. While Kartik lost his wicket for 139, Hooda went on to form another key stand, this time with Kukna Ajay Singh. The duo helped Rajasthan take over a 300-run lead in the match before Mumbai finally managed to dismiss Hooda on 248 through an unlikely source in Yashasvi Jaiswal. This would be the final action of the innings as Rajasthan declared on 617/6.
Mumbai end the day strong
In reply, Mumbai also made a solid start thanks to openers Jaiswal and Musheer Khan. Both of them remained unbeaten on 56 and 32 respectively as Shardul Thakur & Co. wrapped up Day 3 on 89/0, trailing Rajasthan by 274 runs. It remains to be seen how things develop on Day 4.
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