RANJI TROPHY | Punjab should relish opening its campaign against Assam

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:27:00 +0000

Southpaw opener had a fruitful debut last season against Kerala, at the PCA New Cricket Stadium Ground B, Mullanpur in New Chandigarh on October 26, 2025, and should be in the mix again for Punjab in this edition.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

In a group that features Saurashtra, Andhra, and Karnataka, a revamped Punjab will have no qualms in kicking off its Ranji Trophy 2026-27 season against Assam at the New PCA Stadium here, starting Sunday.

Assam picked just three points last season and barely avoided a drop to the Plate division, making it the ideal team to face for a newly-assembled unit.

Besides roping in a new head coach in Amit Uniyal, Punjab has placed its bets on a young batting core. International commitments keep Prabhsimran Singh and Naman Dhir out of the first two rounds, and their absence will be another chance for Harnoor Singh Pannu to establish his credentials. The southpaw opener struck 170 against Kerala on his Punjab debut last season but ended with a slew of middling scores.

The new additions have not come at the expense of Punjab’s trademark attacking flair, as IPL stars Ramandeep Singh and Salil Arora have retained their spots.

Emanjot Singh Chahal, who was the Under-23 captain last season, takes a leap into First-Class this year. He joins the senior side on the back of a 10-for for Rest of India against Tamil Nadu U-23 last week.

In the two games played at the venue last year, pacers returned better yields, averaging 27, than the tweakers, who averaged close to 37, making Punjab’s pace salvo of Umesh Yadav and Gurnoor Brar an enticing prospect to watch out for.

While Punjab has dared to change, Assam begins its new season with its core intact. Its top four run-getters last season — Sibsankar Das, Swarupam Purkayastha, Sumit Ghadigaonkar and captain Denish Das — all retain their places.

Pacer Mukhtar Hussain had replaced Akash Deep in the Duleep Trophy in 2025, but has since faded from memory. He had just 11 wickets at an average of 56 last season, and needs a drastic upturn to be in the reckoning again, even at the zonal level.

Published – October 10, 2026 08:57 pm IST

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Irani Cup | Dogra and Nasir dig in to help J&K take the lead

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 14:16:00 +0000

By the middle of the afternoon session on day two of the Irani Cup fixture at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, the faces in the Jammu & Kashmir dugout appeared to have turned glum. The spectators, barring a few quips towards Rest of India skipper Rishabh Pant, had also fallen silent.

It reflected J&K’s plight, having been reduced to 166 for eight. It was still 71 runs adrift of RoI’s first-innings total of 237 with just two wickets in hand.

Barely an hour later, the mood swayed. The smiles in the J&K camp returned. So did the cheers of the sparse crowd. It was all thanks to a rearguard 64-run partnership between Paras Dogra (75, 143b, 6×4, 1×6) and Lone Nasir (64, 58b, 8×4, 3×6) for the ninth wicket, enabling J&K, which was 21 for two overnight, to finish its first innings on 278 and secure a 41-run lead.

Choudhary scalps five

The recovery ended up overshadowing left-arm pacer Mukesh Choudhary’s figures of 19-2-78-5 for the visitors. The day drew to a close with RoI reaching 24 for one in its second essay.

Dogra had been gritty until the fall of the host’s eighth wicket, accumulating his runs quietly and letting Abdul Samad (57, 88b, 5×4, 1×6) hog the limelight in a fifth-wicket stand of 101. But once the 41-year-old was confronted with the threat of running out of partners, he acted with greater intent.

As runs started to flow more frequently, Pant started feeling the pinch. He resorted to a barrage of short balls from his quicks, but Dogra and Nasir, aware of what was coming given the field set, rocked back and feasted with a flurry of boundaries.

Dogra eventually pulled Choudhary awkwardly to Mukesh Kumar at fine-leg. Even then, Nasir, who struck thrice on the opening day, maintained the onslaught with a 48-run partnership alongside Sunil Kumar for the last wicket. Nasir treated Mukesh with special disdain, smashing his half-trackers for three maximums.

The scores:

Rest of India — 1st innings: 237.

Jammu & Kashmir — 1st innings: Qamran Iqbal c Pant b Choudhary 24, Shubham Pundir c Pant b Choudhary 1, Umar Nazir c Pant b Akash 4, Shubham Khajuria b Choudhary 4, Paras Dogra c Mukesh b Choudhary 75, Abdul Samad c Sangwan b Mukesh 57, Kanhaiya Wadhawan c Smaran b Choudhary 12, Abid Mushtaq lbw b Mukesh 0, Sahil Lotra c Sangwan b Akash 2, Lone Nasir lbw b Akash 64, Sunil Kumar (not out) 2; Extras (b-12, lb-3, w-12, nb-6): 33; Total (in 64.2 overs): 278.

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-21, 3-36, 4-37, 5-138, 6-156, 7-157, 8-166, 9-230.

RoI bowling: Mukesh 17-2-84-2, Choudhary 19-2-78-5, Akash 14.2-3-43-3, Manav 9-1-32-0, Saransh 5-0-26-0.

RoI — 2nd innings: Shikhar Mohan c Wadhawan b Sunil 2, Sanat Sangwan (batting) 10, Sudip Gharami (batting) 10; Extras (b-1, nb-1): 2; Total (for one wkt. in 15 overs): 24

Fall of wicket: 1-8.

J&K bowling: Umar 6-2-10-0, Sunil 7-3-9-1, Nasir 2-0-4-0.

Published – October 02, 2026 07:42 pm IST

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Rest of India – Artifex.News

RANJI TROPHY | Punjab should relish opening its campaign against Assam

Irani Cup | Dogra and Nasir dig in to help J&K take the lead

Choudhary scalps five