Mumbai’s spinners and some excellent fielding by their close-in fielders highlighted the proceedings against Chhattisgarh on a rain-affected Day Three of the Elite Ranji Trophy Group ‘D’ encounter at the MCA-BKC ground on Monday. Only 64 overs could be completed due to heavy showers and the visitors were at 175-6, still trailing by 241 runs, when the umpires decided to call off play.
In reply to Mumbai’s first innings total of 416, Chhattisgarh’s opening pair of Aayush Pandey (50, 7×4) and wicketkeeper-batter Shashank Chandrakar (43, 5×4, 1×6), stitched an 85-run opening stand. However, off-spinner Himanshu Singh (2-33) gave the hosts their first two breakthroughs by dismissing Pandey and then Chandrakar.
Veteran left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (2-41), who claimed nine wickets to help Mumbai outclass Jammu & Kashmir in the first game, lived up to his reputation again. Angkrish Rahguvanshi showed good anticipation and reflexes to hold on to Ashutosh Singh’s (34) sharp low catch at silly point off Mulani. The Mulani-Raghuvanshi pair struck again when the latter grabbed another sharp catch to dismiss Ajay Mandal for a duck.
Mumbai’s opening batter and left-arm spinner Musheer (2-29) built further pressure on the opposition batters. First, he trapped No. 4 Sanjeet Desai (15) LBW and then scalped Chhattisgarh skipper Amandeep Khare (1) in his next over thanks to some sharp turn — first-slip fielder Ajinkya Rahane made no mistake, taking a low catch.
T20 specialist Shashank Singh (20 not out, 2×4, 1×6) opened his account by dispatching Mulani for a big six off his very second ball. He remained unbeaten with Aditya Sarwate (three) at stumps.
Earlier, veteran left-arm spinner Sarwate (5-103) picked up a five-wicket haul, cleaning up Tushar Deshpande (9) and bowling out the hosts for 416. It was Sarwate’s 22nd fifer in his 72nd first-class game.
Meanwhile, an MCA official has confirmed that Test batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal, who last represented Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy against J&K in 2024-25, will play the next fixture against Rajasthan at Jaipur from November 1.
Brief scores
Mumbai 416 (A Rahane 159, S Lad 80, A Anand 61; A Sarwate 5-103, R Kiran 3-53, A Mandal 2-102) vs Chhattisgarh 175-6 (A Pandey 50, S Chandrakar 43; M Khan 2-29, H Singh 2-33, S Mulani 2-41)