Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Jharkhand Review

Jharkhand finished 6th in the Group in a season which started with a bang and then got derailed. There was the stunning come from behind opening game against Tripura where Jharkhand became the first team in the history of Ranji Trophy to win the game after following on. However, as the season progressed, the Saurabh Tiwary lead side saw more downs than ups and eventually ended 6th in the group.

Highs & Lows

• The opening encounter against Tripura, which got its own separate post
• Kumar Suraj’s good start to his first-class career. 
• Missing senior players like Nadeem, Ishan & Aaron on account of India A duties and injuries.

And I ran into the team at Hyderabad airport!

Season Summary Game by Game

Game 1: Tripura (289 & 211) lost to Jharkhand (136 & 418/8d (f/o)) by 54 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 6, Tripura 0

• First-Class Debut: Arnav Sinha, Vivekanand Tiwari
• First-Class Century #18 for Saurabh Tiwary 
• First-Class Century #19 for Ishank Jaggi 
• 1000 First-Class runs for Virat Singh & Nazim Siddiqui 
• Ashish Kumar – 2nd 5-wicket haul, Career - Best Innings & match figures

Game 2: Assam (162 & 186) lost to Jharkhand (415/9d) by innings & 67 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 7, Assam 0 

• First-Class Debut: Pankaj Kumar, the wicket-keeper 
• First-Class Century #3 for Nazim Siddiqui & Career-best 173

Game 3: Haryana (371) drew with Jharkhand (408/5) 

Points: Jharkhand 3, Haryana 1 

• First-Class Century #2 for Kumar Deobrat & Career-best 161 
• First-Class Century #19 for Saurabh Tiwary

Game 4: Jharkhand (259 & 155) lost to Jammu & Kashmir (441) by an innings & 27 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 0, Jammu & Kashmir 7 

Game 5: Maharashtra (434 & 48/2) beat Jharkhand (170 & 311 (f/o)) by 8 wickets 

Points: Jharkhand 0, Maharashtra 6 

• First-Class Debut – Kumar Suraj 
• 5-Wicket Haul #1 – Utkarsh Singh

Game 6: Uttarakhand (227 & 273) lost to Jharkhand (298 & 203/4) by 6 wickets 

Points: Jharkhand 6, Uttarakhand 0 

• 2000 First-Class Runs for Kumar Deobrat 
• 50 Catches for Sumit Kumar 
• 100 First-Class Wickets, 3rd 5-wicket haul & best match-figures for Ashish Kumar 
• 5-wicket haul #6 for Ajay Yadav 

Game 7: Services (279 & 259/8d) beat Jharkhand (153 & 267) by 118 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 0, Services 6 

• First-Class Debut for Sahil Raj 
• First-Class Century #1 for Kumar Suraj 
• 100 First-Class wickets for Rahul Shukla, 5th 5-wicket haul & best innings performance 

Game 8: Chhattisgarh (559) drew with Jharkhand (242 & 51/0) 

Points: Chhattisgarh 3, Jharkhand 1 

• First-Class Century #3 for Virat Singh & highest score 

Game 9: Odisha (436 & 187/1) drew with Jharkhand (356) 

Points: Odisha 3, Jharkhand 1 

• 100th First-Class Match for Saurabh Tiwary 
• First-Class Century #2 for Kumar Suraj 
• 5-wicket Haul #4 for Ashish Kumar 

Season Stats 

Most Runs:

1. Saurabh Tiwary – 641 @58.27, 2x100s & 3x50s
2. Kumar Deobrat – 515 @39.62, 1x100s & 2x50s
3. Kumar Suraj – 457 @57.13, 2x100 & 2x50s

Highest Score – Nazim Siddiqui – 173 vs Assam

Most Wickets

1. Ashish Kumar – 37 @221.78, 3x5s 
2. Rahul Shukla – 19 @34.42, 1x5s
3. Utkarsh Singh – 16 @40.44, 1x5s

Best Bowling – Rahul Shukla – 7/106 vs Services

Player Count: 21

First-Class Debuts: 5

Till next season! However there is the small matter of IPL in between, where the likes of Tiwary, Virat Singh, Ishan, Nadeem, Aaron and Monu would look to put in performances worth of the highlights reel. And maybe consolidate an A Spot.

2019-20 Ranji Season: Bihar Review

After a good run in their comeback/debut season, Bihar entered 2019-20 season riding on a 6-match winning streak with a shot at Mumbai’s overall record of 8 wins in row. Although those were dashed in the very first game itself. Overall, this was an inconsistent season for the Ashutosh Aman lead side and Bihar finished 5th in the Plate league. The Plate League has also got more competitive this year unlike last season when it was a straight contest between Bihar & Uttarakhand for the top slot!

Highs & Lows

• Ashutosh Aman had another great season picking 49 wickets and also getting 3 50s.
• Babul Kumar, Rahmatullah and Vikash Ranjan have formed the core of the batting with each of them scoring over 500 runs in the season.
• The initial form of Yashasvi Rishav looks good. 
• Abhijeet Saket picking up consecutive 7-wicket hauls.
• Meanwhile nepotism rocks – Otherwise how does Lakhan Raja keep playing after getting ducks in his first three innings. 

Here is the Match-by-match season summary:

Game 1: Bihar (173 & 196) lost to Puducherry (300 & 70/0) by 10 wickets

Points: Bihar 0, Puducherry 7

• First-Class Debut: Nishant Kumar, Sabir Khan
• 2nd 5-wicket haul for Vivek Kumar

Game 2: Chandigarh (420) drew with Bihar (115 & 175/6 f/o)

Points: Bihar 1, Chandigarh 3

• First-Class Debut: Shashi Shekhar 
• 10th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman

Game 3: Bihar (326 & 162/1) drew with Goa (470)

Points: Bihar 1, Goa 3

• First-Class Debut: Kumar Mridul
• 11th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman 
•  First-Class Century #1 for Babul Kumar

Game 4: Mizoram (378 & 68) lost to Bihar (262 & 188/4) 

Points: Bihar 6, Mizoram 0 

• First-Class Debut: Lakhan Raja, Shabbir Khan 
• 12th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman 
• 1st 5-wicket haul for Abhijeet Saket 

Game 5: Bihar (431) beat Manipur (94 & 154) by innings & 183 runs 

Points: Bihar 7, Manipur 0 

• First-Class Debut: Atulya Priyankar 
• First-Class Century #2 for Indrajit Kumar 
• Abhijeet Saket: 2nd 5-Wicket haul & 1st 10-wicket haul 

Game 6: Nagaland (166 & 444/4) drew with Bihar (509/7d) 

Points: Bihar 3, Nagaland 1 

• First-Class Century #2 for Rahmatullah 
• First-Class Century #1 for Vikash Ranjan 

Game 7: Bihar (208 & 361/4d) drew with Meghalaya (179 & 138/2) 

Points: Bihar 3, Meghalaya 1 

• First-Class Debut: Basukinath, Yashasvi Rishav, Sarfaraz Ashraf & Amod Yadav 
• First-Class Century #3 for Rahmatullah 
• First-Class Century #1 for Yashasv Rishav 
• 100 First-Class wickets for Ashutosh Aman 

Game 8: Arunachal Pradesh (351 & 163) lost to Bihar (291 & 227/4) by 6 wickets 

Points: Bihar 6, Arunachal Pradesh 0 

• First Class Debut: Nikhil Anand 
• First Class Century #4 & #5 as well as 1000 career runs for Rahmatullah. 
• 5-wicket haul #13 & 10-wicket haul #6 for Ashutosh Aman 

Game 9: Bihar (305 & 417/8d) drew with Sikkim (272 & 69/1) 

Points: Bihar 3, Sikkim 1 

• 1000 First-Class runs for Babul Kumar & Century #2 and Highest score 
• First-Class Century #1 for Shasheem Rathour 
• 14th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman

Season Stats 

Most Runs:

1. Babul Kumar – 822 @54.80, 2x100s & 5x50s
2. Rahmatullah – 695 @63.18, 4x100s & 2x50s
3. Vikash Ranjan – 570 @57.00, 1x100 & 4x50s

Highest Score – Babul Kumar – 195 vs Sikkim

Most Wickets

1. Ashutosh Aman – 49 @18.10, 5x5s 
2. Abhijeet Saket- 26 @15.65, 2x5s
3. Shivam Kumar – 24 @38.75

Best Bowling – Abhijeet Saket – 7/12 vs Mizoram

Player Count: 23

First-Class Debuts: 12 – quite a high number, but expected given that this is just the second season.

Till next season!