Amidst much hype and fanfare, the stars of Indian cricket returned to domestic cricket, but none of them barring Ravindra Jadeja could offer any substantial contribution to the team. All eyes were on Virat Kohli, who hadn't played Ranji Trophy since 2012, but he didn't turn up for the preliminary round of the tournament. KL Rahul, after having a great outing in Australia, is back in contention for the Indian team. But he too didn't play the match for Karnataka. Both Kohli and Rahul, however, have joined their respective teams for the next round of the tournament, which starts tomorrow. We look at the stars of the Indian Test team who turned up for their respective teams in the Ranji Trophy.
Rohit Sharma
Scores: 3 & 28
It was the classic pull shot that once defined the beauty and ease of Rohit Sharma's batting. The stroke that shot him to stardom has now become one of his major weaknesses, as it was evident in his latest outing for Mumbai. Against Jammu and Kashmir at the Sharad Pawar Academy, Rohit's stay on the crease was cut short by an ill-attempted full that fell in the safe hands of Paras Dogra.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Scores: 4 & 26
Before Rohit, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal who fell cheaply, at a score of 4, getting pinned lbw by Auqib Navi. In the second innings, Jaiswal looked great in the beginning, smashing four boundaries, and moving towards a big innings before he holed out to Yawer Hassan off Yudhvir Singh's bowling.
Shreyas Iyer
Scores: 11 & 17
Shreyas Iyer is back in the Indian squad after being selected for the upcoming Champions Trophy. However, he continues to struggle in red-ball cricket, falling cheaply twice in his latest outing for Mumbai. In both innings, he started with a flurry of boundaries but failed to convert into something substantial.
Shubman Gill
Score: 4 & 102
Shubman Gill's lean patch continued in domestic cricket, as he could only manage 4 before falling prey to Karnataka's pacer Abhilash Shetty. Punjab fell to their lowest total in their last 46 years in the Ranji Trophy. However, in the second innings, he scored a classic century to take Punjab to a respectable total though it was not enough to avert defeat. Shubman was recently named as the vice-captain for the Champions Trophy, and he would like to build some momentum by playing a good knock before he departs to UAE for the ultimate event.
Rishabh Pant
Scores: 1 & 17
Rishabh Pant failed to exert any influence on his Ranji Trophy comeback, managing just 18 runs across two innings as his team Delhi suffered a humiliating ten-wicket defeat. Pant was dismissed by Dharmendarsinh Jadeja in the first innnings, and Ravindra Jadeja in the second.
Ravindra Jadeja
Scores: 38 & 12 wickets
Ravindra Jadeja proved to be too hot to handle for Delhi batters at the spin-friendly surface of Niranjan Shah Stadium, as picked up five wickets in the first innings and followed up with a seven-wicket haul. Additionally, he also scored 38 in the first innings. Saurashtra won the match by ten wickets.
