Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Anshul Kamboj's 10-49 vs Kerala and Ayush Mhatre's 117 vs Maharastra are among the top five performances from Phase 1.
Phase 1 of the 2024/25 Ranji trophy season has concluded with each of the Elite teams playing five games. Baroda (27 points with 4 wins), Vidarbha (26 points with 4 wins), Haryana (20 points with 2 wins), and Chandigarh (19 points with 3 wins) are leading the respective elite groups and are closely followed by the other teams in what is shaping out to be a cracking tourney already.
While Hyderabad’s Tanmay Agarwal leads the run tally with 615 runs in nine outings, Harsh Dubey of Vidarbha is the highest wicket-taker with 37 scalps. There have been some superlative individual performances that have lighted up the tournament.
Here are the top 5 individual performances by players in the first phase of Ranji Trophy 2024/25.
Anshul Kamboj’s 10/49 vs Kerala
The first phase of Ranji Trophy 2024-25 witnessed a rare and significant moment in its history when Anshul Kambhoj picked all ten wickets to fall in an innings. The Haryana pacer took all the 10 wickets (10/49) in the team’s group fixture against Kerala, played at Rohtak.
He became just the sixth bowler from India to achieve this feat and the first since Anil Kumble, who did it in a Test match against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999. This Ranji fixture was a weather-interrupted game, with only 110 overs being bowled in the first two days. Kamboj starred in all eight Kerala first-innings wickets to fall before scalping two more early in the third day. He ended with spectacular figures of 10/49.
One of the best things about this display was that the majority of dismissals were in classic Test match mode (LBW, bowled, and caught-behind). Despite the match ending in a draw, Kamboj's performance will forever be etched in the annals of Indian cricket as one of the best bowling spells.
Ayush Mhatre’s 176 vs Maharashtra
After suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Baroda in the Ranji opener, Mumbai required a strong show in their next game against Maharashtra. As most champion sides do, Mumbai made a tremendous comeback, winning three of their next four. A significant catalyst for the defending champions’ good run was the young opener Ayush Mhtare.
The 17-year-old, playing in his first Ranji trophy season, gave a good account of himself by making 52 and 22, albeit in a losing cause against Baroda. In the very next game, which was just his third FC game, the youngster showed a glimpse of his talent scoring a stroke-filled 232-ball 176 in the first innings. This propelled Mumbai to a dominating win over their neighbors. Overall, he has amassed 408 runs in the ongoing season after five matches.
Shahbaz Ahmed’s 92 & 4-48 vs Madhya Pradesh
Shahbaz Ahmed played a stellar part in what was arguably the most thrilling game of this Ranji tourney yet. His all-round efforts of 92 with the bat in the first innings and 4/48 with the ball in the final innings proved to be decisive as Bengal clinched a close 11-run win over Madhya Pradesh (MP) at Indore.
Coming at a precarious 4/42, Shahbaz stabilised Bengal’s first innings by stitching useful partnerships with Writtick Chatterjee and Anustup Majumdar. The left-hander top-scored with 92 for Bengal in their total of 228 and wasn’t required when it was their time to bowl. Bengal batters showed a much-improved performance in their second essay amassing 276 runs, setting MP a target of 338 runs to win.
In the final innings, where the balance of the game titled both sides on more than one occasion, the efforts of Shahbaz Ahmed proved to be decisive. The left-arm spinner picked 4 wickets including that of the in-form MP skipper Shubham Sharma and all-rounders Aryan Pandey and Saransh Jain.
Rishi Dhawan’s 3-80 & 195 vs Andhra Pradesh
Rishi Dhawan, the veteran all-rounder from Himachal Pradesh (HP) is having a dream season both as a player and skipper of the side. The seasoned campaigner has picked 11 wickets and scored 397 runs in five games this season. He is one of the reasons why HP are comfortably placed in the second position in Group B with three wins.
Perhaps his best efforts yet in the season were against Andhra Pradesh (AP) at Vizag where he picked 3/80 in the first innings and registered his career-best FC score of 195 during their time to bat. This timely knock came when HP were reeling at 124/4 in their pursuit of AP’s 344, helping the visitors amass a strong 500 in reply. This not only gave them a huge first-innings lead but was also enough to secure an innings win by 38 runs.
Atharva Taide’s 118 vs Andhra Pradesh
Atharva Taide, the left-handed opener from Vidarbha, isn’t having the best of times with bat in the current Ranji season, having scored just 208 runs in five games. However, Taide’s only notable innings this season (118) gave Vidarbha a winning start in their opening game against Andhra Pradesh.
This knock came at a crucial juncture after Vidarbha conceded a significant 49-run lead to AP in the first innings. At the top of the order, Taide gave a solid start to Vidarbha by forging strong partnerships with opener Aman Mokhade and Danish Malewar, en-route notching up his fourth first-class century. The opener’s efforts gave his team a massive 317-run lead at Nagpur and the visitors fell short of 74 runs, starting a dominant run for Vidarbha.
After five rounds of games, there will be a 2-month break before the Ranji Trophy resumes on January 23, 2025 for the business end of the tournament.
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