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Saurashtra allrounder Ravindra Jadeja proved too hot to handle for Delhi as he took 12 wickets on his Ranji Trophy return in a big win.
Ravindra Jadeja (left) took 12 wickets in the match. (Pic Credit: PTI/IG/royalnavghan)
Even as other India Test stars struggled, Ravindra Jadeja made a sparkling return to Ranji Trophy playing the starring role in his team Saurashtra’s 10-wicket thrashing of a Delhi team that also included wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. Jadeja finished with a match haul of 12/104 which included the prized scalp of Pant as Saurashtra outclassed Delhi in Rajkot.
Jadeja, playing in his first Ranji Trophy match since January 2023, made it a memorable outing as he raised his tally to 36 five-wicket hauls in first-class cricket.
Jadeja took 5/66 from 17.4 overs in Delhi’s first innings to help Saurashtra bowl them out for 188. In reply, the hosts made 271 to take 83-run lead thanks to opener Harvik Desai’s 93, Arpit Vasavada’s 68 and Jadeja’s 38.
Delhi fared worse in their second dig with Jadeja running through their batting line-up like a hot knife through butter. He finished with excellent bowling figures of 7/38 as the visitor’s folded for 94 leaving Saurashtra 12 runs to win.
Jadeja won player of the match award.
Even as Jadeja dazzled on domestic return, his other India teammates continued to have a torrid time. Pant followed his 1 run in the first innings with a slightly better 17 in the second while in Mumbai, Test captain Rohit Sharma played a few delightful strokes before being dismissed on 28 by Jammu and Kashmir pacer Yudhvir Singh.
Yashasvi Jaiswal got the start as well, but Yudhvir accounted for him in his following over on 26. Captain Ajinkya Rahane made 16 while Shreyas Iyer was given out caught-behind in controversial fashion when he was on 17.
Allrounder Shivam Dube recorded another duck.
At 101/7 and a lead of just 15, Mumbai were staring down the barrel before Shardul Thakur joined forces with Tanush Kotian to revive the innings.
Thakur had also given some respectability to Mumbai’s total in the first innings with a fighting half-century before taking two wickets. He repeated his heroics with the bat in the second innings and scored another half-century.
