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The Ranji Trophy is up and running across the country and as usual, our boys have been setting the stage on fire. Here’s a rolling report of how the Paltan superstars have been faring [updated at the end of each round]. Read along, cheer along...

Semi-finals | February 8-12, 2023

Kumar Kartikeya: A fine Ranji Trophy season came to a close for MP’s mystery spinner. Despite his team's defeat to Bengal, the 25-year-old star was at his absolute best with the ball again as he grabbed three wickets in either innings. If anything, Kartikeya has made us proud with his all-round stats through the season - 33 wickets, 145 runs, and key roles in a number of victories for his side - and we can't wait to see him in action again.

Quarter-finals | January 31 – February 4, 2023

Kumar Kartikeya: A complete all-round show! Kumar Kartikeya continued his purple patch, picking up a couple of wickets across both innings, including that of the dangerous-looking Ashwin Hebbar in the second innings to help MP snatch a win despite conceding a first innings lead. With the bat, he came in at number 10 and wagged around for a useful 24.

Nehal Wadhera: Not the best of games for Nehal Wadhera, ending up with single-digit scores in both innings. Nevertheless, although Punjab have crashed out of this year’s Ranji season, it was an impressive overall debut year for the 22-year-old.

Group stages | Round 7 - December January 24-27, 2023

Shams Mulani: A disappointing end to a memorable campaign for Mumbai, but our very own Shams Mulani turned up in every match for the side. With seven more wickets in the match against Maharashtra, the left-arm spinner now has 46 wickets in this year’s Ranji Trophy.  

Arjun Tendulkar: This time, Arjun Tendulkar turned up with the bat for Goa. He scored 32 crucial runs with the bat, nearly helping Goa avoid a follow-on. 

Hrithik Shokeen: His impressive run continues! His off-breaks did some crucial damage against Hyderabad, returning with two wickets in the first innings. Our all-rounder finished the match in style in the run chase, smashing three boundaries in the seven deliveries he faced. 

Nehal Wadheera: The man in red-hot form with the bat had nearly nothing to do against Vidarbha, with over three days of play getting lost due to adverse playing conditions. He finished with 370 runs in four matches. Mind you, he just made his First-Class debut. A real future talent! 

Kumar Kartikeya: Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Kartikeya turned up with a sensational half-century for Madhya Pradesh coming in at number 10. His 61 off 110 balls nearly saw MP take the first innings lead. An innings to savour, though!

Group stages | Round 6 - January 17-20, 2023

Shams Mulani: He is on a roll! Mulani established a 144-run partnership with Sarfaraz Khan in the first innings, scoring 39 runs himself after Mumbai lost their first five wickets early and were in serious trouble. He also picked up four wickets in the match, taking his wicket tally to 39 in this season. 

Nehal Wadhera: A century on debut, a double century in his third match - Nehal Wadhera is making First Class cricket look a little too easy. His 214 off 333 deliveries propelled Punjab to an innings victory against Punjab,and won him the Player of the Match award as well. 

Arjun Tendulkar: A decent outing for our stylish left-arm seamer, who returned with three wickets in the match against Services, including the crucial wicket of skipper Rajat Paliwal in the first innings. His knock of 27 with the bat also furthered Goa’s dominance in the game, helping them win by an innings. 

Kumar Kartikeya: A rare lackluster outing with the ball for our mystery spinner, but he made up for it with the willow. His cameo (21 off 28 balls) in the second innings nearly saw Madhya Pradesh avoid an innings defeat, but alas, he ran out of partners. 

Hrithik Shokeen: Okay, this isn’t white-ball cricket, but it hardly mattered to young Hrithik. He solidified his number three spot in the lineup, following up his quickfire 45 in the first innings with a 39-ball 36 in the chase, helping Delhi beat Mumbai by eight wickets. He also picked up three wickets with the ball, including the wicket of Shams Mulani in the second innings to turn

Group stages | Round 5 - January 10-13, 2023

Shams Mulani: Another round of cricket, another terrific show with the ball from Shams Mulani. Why are we even surprised? He now has 35 wickets in five matches having added five more to his tally as Mumbai registered a comprehensive victory against Assam, making him one of the four bowlers with 30 or more wickets this edition. 

Arjun Tendulkar: A tight spell in the first innings for the left-arm pacer saw him return with figures of 1/62. And he followed it up with another economical spell in the second innings. 

Kumar Kartikeya: The spin wiz continues to unfurl his magic! He returned with three wickets in the match against Gujarat, taking his wicket-tally for this season to 22. 

Nehal Wadhera: Not quite the century-on-debut replication in his second outing, but a decent enough game for the Punjab youngster. He scored a 47-ball 25, which included a solid stand with skipper Mandeep Singh. 

Hrithik Shokeen: A promotion to number three in the batting order, and a solid-looking 45 to help Delhi amass a big first innings total, and subsequently three points with a lead.

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Group stages | Round 4 - January 03-06, 2023

Shams Mulani: Everything Mulani touches, turns to gold! The spinner added six more wickets to his tally against Tamil Nadu (three in each innings), which now makes him the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 30 scalps in four matches.

Arjun Tendulkar: A decent outing for the speedster, who picked up two crucial wickets against Kerala in the first innings, including the wicket of their skipper Sijomon Joseph, and then didn’t have much to do in the second innings, bowling just the three overs as Goa’s spinner spun them to win.

Kumar Kartikeya: After a few impressive performances with the ball, it was Kumar Kartikeya – the batter – who turned up for Madhya Pradesh this time around against a pretty strong Vidarbha unit. He smashed a quickfire 26 that helped his side breach the 300-mark batting first and later picked up a crucial wicket of opener Sanjay Raghunath.

Nehal Wadhera: Make way for Paltan’s new star, Nehal Wadhera! The 22-year-old announced his arrival on the big stage in style, with a century on First-Class debut against Gujarat. The stylish left-handed batter scored 123 in 255 deliveries, helping Punjab win the match by 380 runs.

Hrithik Shokeen: Delhi were reduced to 10/7 (yes, not a typo!) and were staring at embarrassment when Hrithik Shokeen entered the fray to save the day. The 22-year-old scored 68 runs off 90 deliveries, which included nine fours and three sixes. Shokeen now has two fifties in two FC appearances. *clap, clap*

Akash Madhwal: The Uttarakhand pacer took the new ball and bagged a crucial wicket for his side, who continue to sit on top of the Elite Group A table despite taking just one point against Bengal.

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Group stages | Round 3 - December 27-30, 2022

Shams Mulani: Back-to-back 10-wicket hauls for Shams Mulani has taken his wicket tally to 24 in the competition this season, making him the joint second-highest wicket-taker thus far. Although Mumbai couldn’t get a result in their favour, Mulani registered figures of 4/109 in the first innings and followed it up with 6/65 in the second.

Suryakumar Yadav: In his last outing before joining the national setup, SKY once again produced a top knock against Saurashtra, but alas, fell short of a century again. In the first innings, his quickfire 95 off 107 deliveries helped Mumbai get past the 200-run mark.

Arjun Tendulkar: Not an outing to remember for Goa against Karnataka, but the dazzling left-arm pacer picked up two crucial wickets in the first innings, including that of centurion Ravikumar Samarth.

Kumar Kartikeya: Madhya Pradesh pulled off a thrilling two-wicket win against Railways and Kumar Kartikeya was at it with the ball, again. Although Railways had a first innings lead, Kartikeya’s fifer brought his side back in the game and took them past the finish line (Quintessential Paltan spirit!).

Ramandeep Singh: His first match of the season did not go as per plan with the bat, getting dismissed early, and with the ball, Ramandeep Singh chipped in seven quiet overs against Tripura in a drawn game hampered by bad light.

Ishan Kishan: In a bid to score quickly, Ishan Kishan was dismissed for twin scores of 13 in either innings. But Jharkhand were impressive on all fronts against Services and won the match by nine wickets.

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Group stages | Round 2 - December 20-23, 2022

Suryakumar Yadav: The new “Shehenshah” of T20 cricket was in an explosive mood against Hyderabad. He made 90 runs in 80 balls with 12 fours and a six, driving Mumbai to a total of 651-6 in their first innings Aala SKY bhau!

Shams Mulani: Local lad Shams Mulani was Mumbai’s stand-out bowler in this second round. Against Hyderabad, the left-arm spinner picked up seven wickets in the first innings and after enforcing the follow-on, picked up four more to end up with match figures of 11/176. ** clap, calp **

Kumar Kartikeya: There is no better feeling than a promotion and Kartikeya would vouch for it, having taken up captaincy in the second match against Chandigarh. The skipper led by example, returning with 10 wickets in the match (6/20, 4/44) and was named the Player of the Match (sleeps with a gigantic smile).

Hrithik Shokeen: The 22-year-old did not feature in the first match against Maharashtra but made a decent impression with the bat in the second, scoring 29 off 55 balls, which included a couple of big hits out of the park.

Akash Madhwal: Odisha skipper Subhranshu Senapati fell to Akash Madhwal’s brilliance in both innings. The 29-year-old returned with three wickets in the match, helping Uttarakhand register their second win on the trot.

Arjun Tendulkar: In a stalemate against Jharkhand, Arjun Tendulkar finished with a tidy spell in the first innings with figures of 1/90 in 26 overs.

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Group stages | Round 1 - December 13-16, 2022

Ishan Kishan: After a breathtaking double-ton for the national side in Chattogram, our pocket dynamo blazed his way through the Kerala bowling attack en route to his sixth First Class century. The southpaw made 132 runs in 195 balls and smashed eight sixes and nine boundaries in the process.

Arjun Tendulkar: In his much-awaited Ranji debut, Arjun Tendulkar tilted all the limelight towards himself with a century against Rajasthan. He made 120 off 207 deliveries, which included 16 fours and two sixes as Goa made 547/9 batting first.

Sachin Tendulkar, had scored a century on his Ranji debut on December 11, 1988. Arjun Tendulkar scored a century in Ranji debut on December 14, 2022. Quite the poetic touch. Runs run in the family!

Kumar Kartikeya: Despite going wicketless in the first innings against J&K, KK kept things very tight with the new ball (0/14 in nine overs). He got the crucial wicket of Sahil Lotra in the second innings to seal a narrow innings victory for MP.

Akash Madhwal: Not a lot was there for Akash Madhwal to do in Sovima as the rest of the Uttarakhand bowlers just ran through Nagaland’s batting order, so much so that Nagaland were bowled out for just 25 runs in the fourth innings, the seventh lowest total in Ranji history.

Shams Mulani: A fine outing with the ball against Andhra for the street smart left-arm spinner, who picked up three wickets across both innings as Mumbai won their opening match by nine wickets.