Ranji Trophy 2024-25: How Team India regulars like Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and others performed in 6th round.
The penultimate week of January 2025 was a different experience for the Ranji Trophy followers. Multiple senior India players turned up for the sixth round of the domestic red-ball tournament after the new rules of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made it mandatory for national selection. Most of them struggled, while a few enjoyed their time in the middle.
It was an embarrassing performance for the Blue Brigade in Australia during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. They lost the series after 10 years and couldn’t qualify for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 for the very first time. The pressure was immense on the players to deliver.
Let’s take a look at how the India regulars performed in round 6 of Ranji Trophy 2024-25.
Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal struggle for runs against J&K
There was much anticipation around the India Test captain Rohit Sharma’s return to first-class cricket after nearly a decade. But he couldn’t make it as memorable as he would have hoped. In the first innings, his 19-ball stay brought him just three runs before a rising delivery from Umar Nazir got the better of him. It was a similar dismissal for the veteran as in the MCG against Pat Cummins and the Wankhede Test against Matt Henry.
His international opening partner, Yashasvi Jaiswal, perished for just four runs as Mumbai were bundled out for 120 in the first innings. It was a better opening stand of 54 runs between these two in the second innings. But neither could hold the crease for long. Rohit inserted little excitement among the spectators with a quickfire 28 runs, while Jaiswal got a start for 26.
The stand-out shot for the Nagpur-born was the hook for a six against Umar Nazir. Mumbai were bundled out for 290 in the second innings before J&K chased down the score with five wickets in hand.
Ravindra Jadeja celebrates 12 wickets; Rishabh Pant and Delhi fall in spin trap
Very few teams have enjoyed as much advantage at home as Saurashtra in domestic cricket. They needed two outright victories in successive group-stage encounters for the quarter-final qualification. At the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, they went with the spin trap. Ravindra Jadeja unleashed himself to run through Delhi’s batting line-up in both innings. They were 92/3, after opting to bat, before Rishabh Pant went back to the dressing room for 1. None of the batters could stay for long apart from captain Ayush Badoni who made 60 in 78 balls.
In the first innings, Jadeja picked up five wickets for 66 runs in 17.2 overs. The left-arm spinner bettered the number in the second innings with 7/38 after they enjoyed a lead of 83. Pant started with a reverse sweep to earn a boundary and was the second-highest run-getter (17) for them in the second innings.
Delhi were blown away for just 94 before the home side chased down the target of 15 runs with 10 wickets in hand. Jadeja won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his 12 wickets in the contest.
Shubman Gill and Punjab collapse to Karnataka’s seam and swing
At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the expectation from Shubman Gill was to get some qualified match time and confidence after a dismal tour down under. Punjab, missing opening batter Abhishek Sharma, were bundled out for 55 in the first innings. Gill managed just four before nicking off on the greenish track.
The 25-year-old has struggled outside Asia since the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23, averaging 17.64 in 18 innings. In the recent BGT 2024-25, the right-handed batter cracked just 93 runs in five innings. In the past, there were many instances of Gill losing concentration and getting dismissed.
In the second innings against the Mayank Agarwal-led side, Punjab’s captain smacked 102 runs in 171 balls. The knock was decorated with 14 boundaries and three sixes. However, he wasn’t happy for getting trapped leg before the stumps, as his 14th first-class century couldn’t save Punjab from the innings and 207-run defeat.
“Sometimes, I think with the red ball, in the matches that I play, I tend to get a very good 25-30, and, in those moments, I sometimes tend to put too much pressure on myself to be able to convert those. That is not the way that I have grown up playing my game. I think in those crucial moments, I sometimes lose my focus and concentration.” Gill said in Bengaluru, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
KL Rahul missed the game against Punjab but is set to return for their next Ranji fixture against Haryana. Virat Kohli reportedly informed the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) about his availability for the next game against Railways, starting on January 30.
It will be important for the senior India players to turn up for the domestic fixtures regularly. It just can’t be a one-match activity before an international assignment. Whenever they are available, they should get involved in these games wholeheartedly. It’s always valuable to know the minor issues of the technique and get some game time to gain confidence. There is hardly a better place than the red-ball event for that.
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