As the Ranji Trophy enters the business end of the league phase, defending champions Mumbai remain at No 1 in Group A, while Karnataka and Andhra are leading in Group B and C respectively at the end of Round 6.
While a consistent Akhil Herwadkar has held Mumbai’s batting line-up together, Surya Kumar Yadav has also been among the runs. Tushar Deshpande has been the leading wicket-taker for the side with 19 wickets so far in his debut season.
Former champions Karnataka have made a strong comeback in the ongoing season after a forgettable 2015-16 season. The Vinay Kumar-led team, who won the Trophy in successive seasons- 2013-14 and 2014-15 - have won already four of their five matches.
Under the guidance of Sanath Kumar and leadership of Hanuma Vihari, Andhra are leading the Group C table. The coach, who has been credited for the success of Assam in the last two seasons is building the Andhra team this season. While his team is struggling to pull off wins, Team Rajasthan skipper Pankaj Singh is leading the bowling charts with 31 wickets followed by Jharkhand’s Shahbaz Nadeem with 29.
Delhi’s Rishabh Pant is currently topping the batting list with 799 runs at an average of 114.14. He is followed by Goa’s Sagun Kamat with 723 runs.
With three rounds left, the teams will have to punch above their weights in an effort to qualify for the knock-out phase. Three teams each from Group A and B will qualify for the next phase while the top two sides from group C will make it to the next phase of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17.
Here’s how the teams are stacked ahead of the seventh round:
Group A:
Mumbai continue to top the table with 25 points from five matches. The Aditya Tare-led team beat Railways and Uttar Pradesh in the second quarter of the league phase to take their tally of outright wins to three.
In the match against Railways, Akhil Herwadkar missed out on what would have been his third century of the season while Surya Kumar Yadav posted his first ton of the season as they set up the game for Mumbai. Playing in their first first-class season, Tushar Deshapnde and Vijay Gohil were among wickets as they picked five-wicket hauls to bowl the opposition out.
While Surya Kumar Yadav led the batting with a 99 and 90-run knocks in both innings against UP, left-arm spinner Aditya Dhumal starred with the ball on debut. With a maiden five-for in the second innings to bowl the side to a comprehensive win, he finished with seven wickets in the game. With Gujarat’s match being cancelled due to smog in Delhi, they have played only four games at the end of Round 6 and were displaced by Tamil Nadu from the No 2 position. Only two points separate the two teams as they head into the business end of the league phase. Tamil Nadu have 20 points from six games while Gujarat have 18 from four.
Skipper Abhinav Mukund scored a century in Tamil Nadu’s comprehensive win against Baroda, and the team took first innings lead in their matches against Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. While Gujarat beat Uttar Pradesh they secured a first innings lead against Madhya Pradesh.
Punjab and Bengal have 16 points each from five and four matches respectively. However, the Manoj Tiwary-led team are at five on net run rate. They are followed by Madhya Pradesh, Railways, Uttar Pradesh and Baroda.
Group B:
Karnataka displaced Jharkhand from the pole position in the second quarter of the league phase. The former champions posted three successive wins to take the points tally to 29. Having beaten Assam, Vidarbha and Team Rajasthan they now have four wins from five games. Stand-in captain, Karun Nair led the team to victory in Mumbai against Assam which witnessed the middle-order bat along with Robin Uthappa and Stuart Binny post centuries to tip the balance in the side’s favour. Sreenath Arvind continued to be among wickets, while skipper Vinay Kumar took seven and nine wickets against Vidarbha and Team Rajasthan. The all-rounder took his tally of first-class wickets past 400 as he played a vital role in leading the team to thumping wins.
With 26 points from six games, Jharkhand are comfortably placed at No 2. While they beat Saurashtra, Jharkhand picked a first innings lead against Vidarbha and Delhi.
At No 3 are Maharashtra with 16 points from five matches. Delhi, Odisha and Team Rajasthan have 12 points each but are at No 4, 5 and 6 respectively due to net run rate. The Pankaj Singh-led Team Rajasthan have played six games while the other two have played five. At No 7, Assam has eight points from six games while Vidarbha at No 8 and Saurashtra at No 9 have seven and six points respectively from five matches each.
Group C:
The top three teams – Andhra, Haryana and Himachal - have played six matches each and are separated by a narrow margin. Hanuma Vihari-led Andhra are at the top of the table with 22 points while Mohit Sharma’s Haryana have 19 points and Rishi Dhawan-led Himachal have 18 points.
With an unbeaten 233-run knock, Vihari helped Andhra register their third win of the season in Round 6 game. They had also beaten Haryana earlier. After losing to Andhra in Mumbai, Haryana secured first innings lead against Kerala and J & K to strengthen their position in the points table in the race for qualification to the quarter-finals.
Hyderabad, Kerala and Tripura are at Nos 4, 5 and 6 with 17, 15 and 12 points respectively. While Goa are at No 7, Chhattisgarh, who got off to a good start to the season are at No 8 and J & K at 9. All three have 11 points each from six games apiece and are ranked on their net run-rate. Services are at the bottom of the table with six points.
