2018-19 Ranji Trophy: Bihar Review

On their return to first-class cricket, Bihar had a decent outing finishing 2nd in the group. However, their fate was effectively sealed in the first game itself against Uttarakhand, or to be more precise when they were shot out for 60 in the very first innings. There were more early jitters as the game against Puducherry was washed out, leaving them with a mountain to climb. This proved to be too big an ask for Bihar as they finished 4 points of adrift of Group winners Uttarakhand and missed a knock-out berth. 

Ashutosh Aman was the stand-out performer with 68 wickets at an average of 6.49. He broke Bishan Singh Bedi’s record for most wickets in a single Ranji season. Picked up nine 5-wicket hauls and five 10-wicket match hauls in just 8 games, including one wash-out. And also scored a century to finish the season with a batting average of 48+. Rewarded with captaincy by the time the season ended. 

Samar Quadri had a good season after shifting to Bihar from Jharkhand ably supporting Ashutosh Aman with 35 wickets. 

Bihar lost captain Pragyan Ojha due to injury quite early in the season and had Babul Kumar and Ashutosh Aman leading the side as the season progressed. 

Round 1: Bihar (60 & 169) lost to Uttarakhand (227 & 4/0) by 10 wickets: Bihar 0 Points. Effectively the game which decided the group topper. 

First Class Debut: Vikash Ranjan, Kumar Rajnish, Vivek Mohan, MD Rahmatullah, Ashutosh Aman, Anunay Singh, Himanshu Hari 

Round 2: Bihar had a break 

Round 3: Bihar vs Puducherry: Abandoned after toss: Bihar 1 Point 

First Class Debut: Harsh Singh, Indrajit Kumar, Vishal Das, Vivek Kumar 

Round 4: Bihar (288 & 296/7d) beat Sikkim (81 & 108) by 395 runs: Bihar 6 Points. 

First Class Debut: Utkarsh Bhaskar 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (89 in 1st, 5/19 & 5/22), Samar Quadri (5/32 in 2nd) 

Round 5: Arunachal Pradesh (84 & 135) lost to Bihar (536/5d) by an innings & 317 runs: Bihar 7 Points. 

First Class Debut: Rehan Khan 

Player of the Match: Indrajit Kumar 

Highlights: Indrajit Kumar (222), Ashutosh Aman (4/26 & 7/14) 

Round 6: Meghalaya (125 & 46) lost to Bihar (242) by an innings & 71 runs: Bihar 7 Points. 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (8/51 & 6/17) 

Round 7: Bihar (150 & 2504/8d) beat Nagaland (209 & 173) by 273 runs: Bihar 6 Points. 

First Class Debut: Mangal Mahrour 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (7/47 & 5/49), Mangal Mahrour (177 in 2nd), Rahmatullah (107 in 2nd) 

Round 8: Bihar (440/97d) beat Mizoram (77 & 147) by innings & 216 runs: Bihar 7 Points. 

First Class Debut: Anshuman Gautam, Abhijeet Saket 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (111, 1/20 & 5/28), Vivek Kumar (102) Samar Quadri (6/19 & 4/50) 

Round 9: Manipur (156 & 238) lost to Bihar (257 & 140/7) by 3 wickets: Bihar 6 Points. 

First Class Debut: Aditya Kumar, Kundan Gupta 

Player of the Match: Indrajit Kumar 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (4/39 & 7/71), Samar Quadri (5/49 & 3/93) 

Season Stats 

Top Scorers: 

1. MD Rahmatullah – 375 @34.09
2.  Ashutosh Aman – 337 @48.14 
3. Indrajit Kumar– 307 @43.86 

Highest Score – Indrajit Kumar 222 vs Arunachal Pradesh

Most Wickets 

1. Ashutosh Aman – 68 @6.49 
2. Samar Quadri– 35@15.54
3. Vivek Kumar– 15@26.20 

Best Bowling – Ashutosh Aman – 8/51 vs Meghalaya 

Player Count: 23

Debutantes: 18

Captain Count: 3 , Pragyan Ojha, Babul Kumar, Ashutosh Aman

Coming Up Next: Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy