Shardul Thakur makes IPL teams regret, Virat Kohli lets fans down & Rajat Patidar fails

It was an anti-climatic return for Virat Kohli in the Ranji Trophy. The modern-day master once again forced the fans to throng outside stadiums hours before the first match was bowled. His chance didn’t come yesterday but on Day 2, he was brought up after Yash Dhull lost his wicket. Unfortunately for fans, Kohli’s stumps were castled by Railways’ Himanshu Sangwan. Meanwhile, Mumbai continued their dominance over Meghalaya, giving themselves every chance to qualify for the knockouts. Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, put the UP bowlers to the sword, hammering almost 700 runs with Harsh Gawali and Shubham Sharma scoring double centuries each.

Shardul Thakur, take a bow!

Shardul Thakur is having a dream run in the ongoing 2024-25 Ranji Trophy, proving his worth as a genuine all-rounder for Mumbai. After registering a sensational hat-trick on Day 1 against Meghalaya, the seasoned pacer turned heads with the bat, hammering a whirlwind 42-ball 84 at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC in Mumbai. His explosive knock featured nine boundaries and five towering sixes.

Walking in at No. 8, Thakur wasted no time, launching a brutal assault on the opposition bowlers. He stitched a crucial 156-run partnership with Shams Mulani for the seventh wicket, propelling Mumbai past the 650-run mark. Mulani, meanwhile, scored his maiden FC hundred. Right after the innings, Thakur took two wickets and Meghalaya, at 27/2, now stare down a defeat. It was quite bewildering how Thakur went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction.

Virat Kohli saddens Delhi crowd!

Virat Kohli’s much-anticipated return to domestic cricket ended in disappointment as the Indian batting maestro fell for just six runs in Delhi’s first innings against Railways. Fans, who had lined up outside the Arun Jaitley Stadium as early as 3 AM to witness their hero in action, were left stunned when Kohli was clean-bowled by pacer Himanshu Sangwan.

The former Indian captain had shown glimpses of his class with a sublime straight drive for four but fell victim to a clever change in length by Sangwan, who rattled his stumps on the very next delivery. The stadium, once buzzing with excitement, fell silent, and many fans began leaving in disappointment. Sangwan, who sent Kohli’s stumps cartwheeling, was seen taking selfies from Delhi crowd. Kohli, after the match, was facilitated by the DDCA for becoming only one of the three Delhi players to play 100 or more Tests.

Rajat Patidar fails despite MP’s dominance

It was a dream day for Madhya Pradesh. Their batters made merry at the batting-friendly Holkar Stadium, with MP hammering down 670 runs before declaring out. Uttar Pradesh bowlers, including returning Kuldeep Yadav, had to dig in for over 5 sessions (including Day 1). Captain Shubham Sharma hammered a double century, and opener Harsh Gawali also slammed 258 runs. However, when every batter at their day out, Rajat Patidar failed. Batting at four, he made 10 runs off 5 balls before getting castled by Vijay Kumar. Even in his last game, Patidar was out for a duck.

Ranji Trophy Brief Scores after Day 2