From Padikkal to Mulani: Top batting and bowling performances in third round of Ranji Trophy 2021-22

The group stage of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season ended with a number of fine individual performance as teams scrambled to earn their spot in the knockouts.

In the third round, just two of the 19 matches ended in draws. Jharkhand, Bengal, Hyderabad, Railways, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha, Haryana, Punjab, Services, Andhra, Mumbai and Saurashtra were the teams that registered wins in the Elite division, while Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh notched up victories in the Plate division.

Here’s a look at the top batting and bowling performances in the third round of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season:

Top batters

Saurabh Tiwary: Jharkhand sneaked into the knockouts with a two-wicket win over heavyweights Tamil Nadu and the star for them was captain Tiwary. The 32-year-old left-hander scored 58 runs in the first innings and followed that up with a crucial 93 as Jharkhand chased down a target of 214 runs.

Sarfaraz Khan: After Odisha won the toss and posted a total of 284, Mumbai were in a spot of bother at 76/3 when Ajinkya Rahane departed for a first-ball duck. But Khan took over with Armaan Jaffer (125) and played a counterattacking knock of 165 runs from 181 balls. His effort helped Mumbai win by an innings and qualify for the quarterfinals.

Abhimanyu Easwaran: Bengal maintained their perfect record this season and registered a third straight win to storm into the quarterfinals (they finished with 18 points – the most among all Elite teams). In their 152-run victory against Chandigarh in the third round, it was captain Easwaran who led the way with 114 runs in the first innings. It was the only century scored by any batter in the match.

Yash Dubey: With Gujarat and Meghalaya on zero points in Elite Group A heading into the third round, the match between Madhya Pradesh and Kerala – the other two teams in the group – was a crucial one. Both teams were tied on points and a place in the knockouts was up for grabs. The match ended up being a draw, but MP, coached by Chandrakant Pandit, was the team that advanced due to a superior quotient compared to Kerala. And the star for them in the match was opener Dubey. The 23-year-old right-hander slammed 289 off 591 as MP posted 585/9 batting first. They then restricted Kerala to 432/9.

Devdutt Padikkal: The highly-rated left-hander had failed to get a half-century in his first four innings of the season but he found form in the third round against Puducherry. Padikkal scored 178 off 309 – his first first-class century – at the top of the order to help Karnataka win by an innings and 20 runs and reach the quarterfinals from Group C.

Rinku Singh: Uttar Pradesh edged out Vidarbha in Elite Group G to reach the quarterfinals with a six-wicket win over Maharashtra. They conceded a 145-run first-innings lead but fought back to earn an outright win. Priyam Garg, Almas Shaukat and skipper Karan Sharma hit centuries for UP but it was Singh who made the most crucial contribution with scores of 67 and 78 not-out in the middle order.

Top bowlers

Rahul Shukla: One of the most interesting matches in the third round was between Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, with the former winning by two wickets and entering the knockout stage. And one of the main performers for Jharkhand was 31-year-old Shukla. The right-arm medium-pacer took three wickets in the first innings and bagged a five-for in the second to help his team bowl out a strong Tamil Nadu batting lineup for just 152.

K Gowtham: While Padikkal was the star with the bat for Karnataka in their innings victory against Puducherry, it was Gowtham who picked the most number of wickets (six) in the match. After Karnataka posted a total of 453/8, Puducherry were bowled out for scores of 241 and 192. Gowtham, with his off spin, bagged a five-for in the first innings while leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal picked five wickets for Karnataka in the second innings.

Shams Mulani: While Sarfaraz Khan and Armaan Jaffer did the job with the bat for Mumbai against Odisha, it was Mulani who led the fight with the ball once again. The left-arm spinner is the highest wicket-taker so far this season and picked seven wickets, including a five-for in the second innings, in the match.

Rajneesh Gurbani: Vidarbha missed out on qualifying for the knockouts but they managed to end their season with a five-wicket win against Assam. It was right-arm pacer Gurbani who won the player of the match award for his nine wickets. The 29-year-old claimed a five-for in the first innings and added four more wickets to his tally in the second.

Karn Sharma: Railways notched up an impressive nine-wicket victory against Jammu and Kashmir in Elite Group C. While Yuvraj Singh was declared the player of the match for his 103 batting at No 8, skipper Sharma was the star with the ball for Railways with a match haul of 11 wickets. The 34-year-old leg-spinner bagged a six-for in the first innings and a five-for in the second.

Chetan Sakariya: Defending champions Saurashtra narrowly missed out on the knockouts but they ended their campaign with a 211-run win against Goa. Chirag Jani continued his impressive form with the bat and scored 140, while Sakariya picked three wickets in the first innings and six in the second as Goa were bowled-out for just 130.

Points tables

The format of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season is such that there are eight Elite Groups with four teams each and one Plate Group with six teams.

The top teams from each of the eight Elite Groups qualify for the knockouts. Seven of these teams qualify directly for the quarterfinals while the eighth team – with the least points or lowest quotient – plays the winner of the Plate Group in a one-off pre-quarterfinal.

Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Karnataka, Mumbai, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have qualified for the quarterfinals, while Jharkhand will take on Nagaland in the pre-quarterfinal.

Kerala and reigning champions Saurashtra were the only unfortunate teams that got to 14 points in their respective Elite Groups but still didn’t make it to the knockouts. These two teams finished the group stage with more points than Uttar Pradesh (13), Uttarakhand (12) and Jharkhand (12).

Points tables courtesy BCCI. Read all full scores here.