The final round of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 helped lock in the knockout line-up, leaving eight of the 32 teams standing. These are the highlights.
TN’s first knockout appearance in six seasons
They opened the season with a crushing away loss to Gujarat, and their dreams of getting full points against Tripura were dashed due to inclement weather. Despite having only one point after two rounds, Tamil Nadu has been an unstoppable force, winning four of their remaining five games to lead Group B.
Their most recent victory against Punjab may not have been enough to secure first place if Karnataka had won their last group match against Chandigarh; Karnataka won the first innings and finished second in the pool. Tamil Nadu will make their first knockout participation since the Ranji Trophy 2016-17, when they lost to Mumbai in the semi-finals.
B Indrajith and Vijay Shankar set the tone for their fourth victory, scoring hundreds in a big first-innings score of 435, before the left-arm spinning combo of S Ajith Ram and Sai Kishore took 15 wickets between them. Set a scant 71 runs, Tamil Nadu reached the target in just seven overs to win by nine wickets.
Nehal Wadhera led Punjab’s comeback in the second innings, scoring a quickfire 107 off 109 balls in an otherwise forgettable batting showing. Overall, their promising season, which included winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, came to an end with a solitary win, placing them sixth in the group.
Veterans Tiwary, Fazal walk into retirement
He unretired after announcing his decision to retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 in order to fulfill a long-held desire of winning the prestigious trophy. There appeared to be some merit in his judgment; Bengal had come close twice in the last three years (2019-20 and 2022-23) before being pipped by Saurashtra. However, Manoj Tiwary, one of Indian domestic cricket’s great war horses, did not have a fairy tale ending as Bengal finished third in Group B, trailing eventual qualifiers Mumbai and Andhra.
The difference between them and Andhra was seven points, which Bengal may have believed they had lost after two of their seven games were badly weather-affected. They finished on a high note, defeating Bihar by an innings and 204 runs, with fast bowler Mukesh Kumar taking six wickets.
Tiwary, who led Bengal all season, made 30 in his farewell innings, capping off a first-class career in which he scored 10,195 runs in 148 matches, including 30 hundreds, at an outstanding average of 47.86. The Cricket Association of Bengal honored him in a ceremony on Sunday evening at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
Unlike Tiwary, Faiz Fazal retires with two Ranji Trophy titles, which he led Vidarbha to in 2017 and 2019 respectively. His final innings in first-class cricket on Sunday ended in a first-ball duck, but Vidarbha defeated Haryana by 115 runs in a winner-take-all match in Nagpur. Fazal ends with 9184 runs in 138 first-class matches, with 24 hundred at an average of 41.
The victory propelled Vidarbha to the top of Group A, with Saurashtra, the defending champions, finishing a close second after a convincing two-day win over Manipur in Rajkot, with Cheteshwar Pujara hitting his third century of the season and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, the left-arm spinner, taking ten wickets in his second consecutive match.
Thakur back in business as Mumbai march on
Shardul Thakur’s match haul of 10 for 52 helped Mumbai win their fifth game of the season, while Assam were thrashed in two days. Assam lasted 65.1 overs in both innings combined. This was Thakur’s second first-class match since the Centurion Test in December. Aside from Thakur, Shivam Dube had a fantastic 2024. He scored a counter-attacking unbroken 121, lifting Mumbai from 110 for 5 in the first innings. It was Dube’s second first-class century of the season.
Delhi end on a high
Three veteran players stepped away, annoyed and hurt by the DDCA’s flawed structure. Following a bad start, the selection panel chief was forced to leave after only two games. Yash Dhull, their teenage captain, was fired after one game, and the possibility of relegation loomed midway through the season. Despite all of the off-field drama, Delhi held their own in the second half of the season, finishing with three wins, all of which came in their last four games, to finish third in the pool.
Dhull’s first-innings 112, his eighth first-class century, helped set up a precarious 11-run advantage before Odisha folded in the second innings for 133. A target of 123 was too low to defend, and Delhi prevailed by seven wickets, with Ayush Badoni and Dhull leading them home.
Railways pull off record heist
Railways completed the most successful chase in Ranji history, capping up their season on a high. The victory was all the more remarkable considering they gave up a first-inning lead that appeared crucial at the time.
Railways were bundled out for 105 in response to Tripura’s 149, leaving them chasing a huge 378 for win. Railways were in grave trouble at 31 for 3, but Mohammad Saif and Pratham Singh reinvigorated their chase with a 175-run fourth-innings stand.
Saif was dismissed for 106, but Pratham went on to score 169, remaining unbeaten. He was ably assisted by the captain, Upendra Yadav, who contributed to the match-winning partnership by scoring 27 not out.
Railways broke Saurashtra’s previous record for the highest chase (372 vs Uttar Pradesh in 2019-20). The win was insufficient to earn a knockout spot for Railways, as all of Karnataka, TN, and Gujarat finished with more points than them in a tight table decided on the penultimate day of play.
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