Round 2 of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 season – which got underway on Tuesday – has some very intriguing storylines and subplots to follow with the return of Suryakumar Yadav to first-class cricket for Mumbai and legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s availability for Haryana against Baroda being talked about the most. While Yadav did not disappoint, Chahal had a tough outing. Young turk, Yashasvi Jaiswal, continued his terrific form and experienced hands Dhruv Shorey and Siddarth Kaul shone through with their performances.
Here’s a look at headline-grabbers from Day 1:
Tough outing for Yuzvendra Chahal
Having game time is certainly the best drill that keeps a player in the groove and it’s even better if it is red-ball format. Chahal did exactly that turning up for Haryana against Baroda in Vadodra – his first FC match in almost four years.
However, the tweaker didn’t really have the greatest of outing as he gave away 90 runs in 16 overs. The Baroda batters thoroughly dominated Haryana as they posted 370/2 on Day 1 with openers Jyotsnil Singh and Pratyush Kumar scoring individual tons for their team. While Singh was eventually out for 110, Kumar remained unbeaten at 186 on the first day.
Skipper Vishnu Solanki also made a valuable contribution chipping in with an unbeaten 60, before the stumps were called on Day 1.
Suryakumar Yadav dominates
To say Suryakumar Yadav has been in the form of his life would be an understatement and the buzz around the No.1 batter in the ICC T20I rankings turning up for Mumbai in whites was understandable. And after stamping his authority in the white-ball format Yadav, with an eye on the Indian Test jersey, SKY was at it!
After being put into bat by Hyderabad, Mumbai lost Prithvi Shaw early in the innings but Jaiswal and Yadav stitched together a breezy stand of 153 runs for the second wicket. Kumar eventually missed out on a hundred getting out for 90 off 80 deliveries – a knock comprising 15 fours and a maximum.
A look at Yadav’s wagon wheel suggests how he exploited the off side pretty efficiently scoring 59% of his runs there, but didn’t shy away from getting boundaries on the on side too.
Apart from Yadav, Jaiswal and Ajinkya Rahane were also among runs on Day 1 as both the batters notched up hundreds. Jaiswal was eventually out for 162 while Rahane remained not out at 139 and with him was in-form Sarfaraz Khan at 40* when the day’s proceedings concluded. Mumbai have posted 457/3.
Dhruv Shorey Rescues Delhi
Delhi were pushed on the back foot by Assam after getting reduced to 77/4, but it was opener Shorey who was Delhi’s Man Friday helping the side get back on track.
Shorey, who ran out of partners as Delhi lost wickets at regular intervals, kept his team afloat and remained unbeaten at 139 on the first day in Guwahati and took Delhi to 271/7 at Stumps.
Punjab Have Railways Reeling
The Railways bowling unit rattled the Punjab batting line up on the first day at the Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi and bundled them out for 162 with Adarsh Singh returning with a fifer. But their joy was short-lived as Punjab bowlers put in a fine display with the ball and had the hosts in tatters at 77/7.
Baltej Singh bagged a four wickets, while Siddharth Kaul had a couple of wickets to his name. Railways are trailing Punjab by 85 runs.
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