The second round of Ranji Trophy 2025/26 ended with top performances from a number of high-profile names. Here are the major talking points from the latest round of matches.
Shami. Is. Back.
Shami has not played a Test match since the 2021-2023 World Test Championship final, and had missed international cricket throughout the entirety of 2024. He did return for the Champions Trophy, but was visibly below par in the IPL, and was not at his best in his only Duleep Trophy outing.
But just when he seemed to be fading away from international cricket, a 35-year-old Shami roared back in the Ranji Trophy. True, six of his seven wickets against Uttarakhand were of tail-enders, but he came to his elements against Gujarat. First, he made early inroads in the Gujarat line-up to finish with 3-44.
Then, in the fourth innings, he struck with the first ball of the innings, and was instrumental in Gujarat’s collapse from 153-3 to 185 all out. He finished with 5-38, his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket in four years. “My rhythm is back to where it was before. I can clearly feel there’s still a lot of cricket left in me,” he announced. A comeback for the ages? Ajit Agarkar has not ruled it out.
Shaw likes his new home
The focus was on Prithvi Shaw when he moved from Mumbai to Maharashtra ahead of the season. He started well, with a hundred in the Buchi Babu Trophy, then another against his own team in a warm-up game. Now, in his second game of this Ranji Trophy, he blasted the third-fastest double hundred in the history of the tournament and finished with a 159-ball 222 against Chandigarh.
The way back will be long and steep, and amidst fierce competition, but Shaw seems to have found a new home.
Hundreds for discarded veterans
Playing for the Shaw’s old team was former India captain Ajinkya Rahane, who has not played Test cricket since 2023. Batting at No.3, he carved out a sublime hundred before retiring hurt on 118. He returned after the next wicket fell to extend that to 159, and held four catches as Mumbai made Chhattisgarh follow-on..
“After playing so much cricket, when experienced players like me were dropped, I got a sense that there’s something different,” he said after the match. “I feel an experienced player like me should get more chances when he makes a comeback. But there was no communication.”
Rahane was not the only veteran to get a hundred in the second round. Earlier this year, Karun Nair had returned to the Test side after eight years and played all five Tests in England, but has been out of the reckoning since.
Here, he lifted Karnataka from 65-4 to 371, remaining unbeaten with 174. Like Mumbai, Karnataka enforced the follow-on as well – but Goa held on. “After the last two years I’ve had, I think I deserved a lot better, more than a series,” he admitted.
Will Auqib Nabi play for India?
Nabi will turn 29 next week and is not exactly express, but he has several things going in his favour. One, unlike some frontline Indian fast bowlers, he can bat a bit. Two, he averages 20 with the ball (and bat) in first-class cricket. And three, he is in form in both departments.
Jammu & Kashmir lost their first game of the season, but not before pushing Mumbai until then end. With 2-54, 21, 5-52, and 37 not out, Nabi had played a part in his team’s resistance. His wickets included Rahane and the Khan brothers.
In the second round, J&K routed Rajasthan by an innings. After taking 3-29 in the first innings, Nabi smashed a 55 in 65 balls to secure a 130-run lead for his team. Then he finished with 7-24 to skittle out Rajasthan for 89. These were his maiden fifty, best innings figures, and best match figures in first-class cricket.
Nabi is not been of the India A squad against South Africa A, but he has made his case.
Nagaland make a point
Nagaland were inducted into the Ranji Trophy as recently as in 2018/19. That enabled Hokaito Zhimoni, who had to remain content with playing for Assam (and a Kolkata Knight Riders call-up), to finally represent his state of birth.
The induction of several new sides raised a few eyebrows in the Indian cricket fraternity. Records were considered being “diluted”. Nagaland is yet to beat any side outside the other new inductees. They had drawn against Odisha and Himachal Pradesh, but neither side is a Ranji powerhouse.
Their recent game seemed to be headed for a crash as well after Tamil Nadu amassed 512-3 and Gurjapneet Singh’s hat-trick left Nagaland reeling at 31-4. But then came the resistance. Having lost four partners at the other end, Dega Nischal added 129 with Yugandhar Singh and another 230 with Imliwati Lemtur.
Nischal’s 376-ball resistance yielded 175 runs. At 390-5, Nagaland threatened to take the first-innings lead, but it was not to be. Having run out of partners, Lemtur was last out for a 287-ball 146. They fell 66 runs short to complete their best performance against any top-tier Ranji team.
Acknowledgement came from Pradosh Ranjan Paul, who was named the Player of the Match for his double ton: he handed over his award and prize money to Lemtur.
