Ranji Trophy Round 6, Day 1 Roundup: Rohit Sharma responds to Test squad drop with excellent century
Rohit Sharma, who was not picked up for the first Test between India and South Africa, responded by scoring a brilliant unbeaten century for Mumbai on Day One of the round six Ranji Trophy match. Rohit was unbeaten on 110 off 128 balls which included 13 fours and one six as Mumbai finished the day on 407/4 against Uttar Pradesh.
Mumbai was powered to the mammoth total because of centuries by Rohit and 20-year-old Shreyas Iyer. Iyer scored 137 runs off 110 balls as he smashed 14 fours and five sixes. Rohit and Iyer were involved in a 98-run partnership for the third wicket.
All Mumbai batsmen batted well on what seemed like a good batting pitch at the Wankhede Stadium as everyone got off to good starts. Opener Akhil Herwadkar and middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav both scored 58 each to assist Mumbai's batting onslaught.
Rohit and Siddhesh Lad were at the crease at the end of day's play, as Mumbai finished the day with a run rate of 4.62 runs per over. Rohit's century will now give some food for thought to the national team selectors as he has made a case for his recall to the Test squad.
Mumbai 407/4, 88 overs (Iyer 137, Rohit 110*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/97) vs Uttar Pradesh.
Defending champions Karnataka came up with a good bowling performance on the first day as they bowled out Odisha for 232 runs, despite Govinda Poddar's 153. The spinners did most of the damage for Karnataka as Shreyas Gopal and Jagadeesha Suchith picked four wickets and three wickets respectively.
Karnataka 16/0, 7 overs (Agarwal 13*) vs Odisha 232, 84.1 overs (Poddar 153; Gopal 4/75, Suchith 3/56).
Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi bowled Maharashtra out for just 80 runs with medium-pacer Navdeep Saini picking up six wickets for 32 runs. In reply, Delhi finished the day on 157/4 at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Delhi 157/4, 52 overs (Nitish Rana 59; Mundhe 2/48) vs Maharashtra 80, 25.4 overs (Khadiwale 21; Saini 6/32).
A Haryana squad missing captain Virender Sehwag, who has gone to attend the Cricket All-Stars in the USA, felt his absence as they ended Day One on 140/7 on a rain-affected day against Assam at Lahli.
Haryana 140/7, 60 overs (Himanshu Rana 56; Krishna Das 4/44) vs Assam.
Himachal Pradesh were again powered by middle-order batsman Paras Dogra's batting performance as he remained unbeated on 174 at the end of the day to take his team to a commanding posititon on 352/4 against Services. Dogra had made a double century in the previous round of Ranji matches.
Himachal Pradesh 352/4, 90 overs (Dogra 174*, Gangta 93*; Pathania 3/66) vs Services.
Day One round-up of other matches in the Ranji Trophy Round Six:
Bengal 217/7, 82 overs (Easwaran 58; Wakhare 4/40) vs Vidarbha.
Tamil Nadu 0/0, 1 over vs Andhra 203, 77.2 overs (Pradeep 78; Chandrasekar 4/41).
Jharkhand 304/3, 90 overs (Anand Singh 124, Kishan 109; Rohit Sharma 1/40) vs Jammu & Kashmir.
Madhya Pradesh 7/2, 8 overs (Saxena 5; Anureet Singh 1/2) vs Railways 256, 82.4 overs (Wakaskar 73; Saxena 8/96).
Gujarat 281/4, 85 overs (Panchal 128; Irfan Pathan 2/30) vs Baroda.
Saurashtra 4/0, 1 over (Dodia 4*) vs Goa 239, 84 overs (Misal 106; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 3/41).
Kerala 223/4, 90 overs (Prem 90*, Sachin Baby 70; Swapan Das 2/71) vs Tripura.