Rohit Sharma’s Brief Innings in Ranji Trophy Return

Rohit Sharma’s return to the Ranji Trophy proved to be a short one, as he scored just three runs off 19 balls in Mumbai’s Group A match against Jammu and Kashmir. The match took place at the Sharad Pawar Academy in BKC, Mumbai.

Rohit, who captains India in both Test and ODI formats, has been experiencing a slump in form. His presence in the game drew considerable attention after he confirmed his participation at the Champions Trophy squad announcement. Before the match, Rohit appeared relaxed, joking with teammates during warm-ups.

Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane chose to bat, and Rohit opened the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal. To accommodate both Rohit and Jaiswal, Ayush Mhatre, who had been performing well in his debut season with 408 runs in nine innings, was left out.

The weather in Mumbai was cool, a welcome change after a week of high temperatures. Jammu and Kashmir’s opening bowlers took advantage of the morning conditions.

Auqib Nabi conceded a four early in the first over but quickly tightened his line. Rohit scored his first run with a single. However, Umar Nazir Mir put Rohit under pressure, bowling two consecutive maiden overs. Mir consistently bowled outside off stump, varying his lengths to prevent Rohit from settling in.

Rohit managed to drive a delivery from Nabi through the covers for two runs in the following over but continued to struggle against Mir. Eventually, Mir dismissed Rohit with a length ball on the fifth stump that moved slightly away. Rohit attempted his signature pick-up shot over midwicket but only managed to edge the ball to Paras Dogra, who took the catch at extra cover.

This brief innings extends Rohit’s poor run in red-ball cricket. In the previous year, across five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand, he had only one half-century, which was against New Zealand in Bengaluru. He also had four single-digit scores across ten innings. In Australia, he played in three of the five Test matches, scoring only one double-digit score in five innings. He finished the 2024-25 Test season with a batting average of 10.93.

Rohit’s first-class batting average of 10.43 across 16 innings in the 2024-25 season is the second-lowest for any batter since 2006, considering a minimum of 15 innings while batting in the top six. Haseeb Hameed of England averaged 9.44 across 18 innings in the 2018 season.

Jaiswal’s Early Dismissal and Other Match Highlights

Before Rohit’s dismissal, Yashasvi Jaiswal was also dismissed early. Nabi managed to find his line against Jaiswal, getting a couple of balls to move away. One delivery narrowly missed Jaiswal’s outside edge. On the next ball, Nabi bowled a length ball that jagged back sharply, hitting Jaiswal on the back leg in front of middle and leg. Jaiswal, who had been a successful batter in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, departed with just 4 runs.

At the end of the day’s play, Nazir, who took 4 for 41, called Rohit’s wicket a “prized” one. He stated that dismissing an international player is always significant. Nazir was part of the Jammu and Kashmir team that defeated Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium in 2014, where he took four wickets in the second innings.

Day 1 Summary

Mumbai won the toss and chose to bat. Jaiswal was dismissed for 4, LBW to Auqib Nabi. Sharma followed soon after, scoring only 3 before being caught out. Umar Nazir further hampered Mumbai’s progress by dismissing captain Ajinkya Rahane for 12. Jammu and Kashmir scored 174/7 in 42 overs. Shubham Khajuria scored 53 runs, while Abid Mushtaq added 44. Mohit Avasthi took 3 wickets, and Shams Mulani took 2 for Mumbai. Paras Dogra remained at the crease with 19, and Yudhvir Singh with 2 at stumps on Day 1, with J&K leading by 54 runs. The match took place at Bandra Kurla Complex Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy, Mumbai. Navdeep Singh and Sundaram Ravi were the umpires.