The much-awaited return of Indian cricket stars Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill to the Ranji Trophy after their participation in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) turned out to be a disappointing affair. All four players were dismissed for single-digit scores in the first innings of their respective matches. Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer, also part of India’s Test setup, failed to impress in both innings during Mumbai’s clash against Jammu & Kashmir.

While Rohit and Jaiswal started briskly in their second innings, both fell in the 20s, and Rishabh Pant could only manage 17 runs against Saurashtra. However, Shubman Gill broke the trend with a remarkable century for Punjab against Karnataka at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Just days after being appointed India’s vice-captain, Gill also took on the responsibility of leading Punjab in their Ranji fixture, despite being available for only two matches this season. Though his team was heading toward a heavy defeat, the 25-year-old showed his class with a timely century.

Gill was eventually dismissed for 102 runs, with reports suggesting he was controversially given out LBW after edging a delivery. Punjab was bowled out for 213 in their second innings, with no other batter crossing 27 runs. Earlier, in the first innings, Punjab was bowled out for just 55, with Gill managing only 4 runs. Karnataka responded with a mammoth 475, taking a commanding 420-run lead. Smaran Ravichandran continued his dream debut season, scoring a double century.

Apart from Gill, Ravindra Jadeja was the only other Indian regular to shine, taking 12 wickets for Saurashtra against Delhi. He claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings and followed it up with seven wickets in the second innings, in addition to contributing 38 runs with the bat. Shardul Thakur, who last represented India in December 2023, also scored a century for Mumbai against J&K at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).