Ranji Trophy 2025-26: Jaiswal only bright spot as Rajasthan bundles out Mumbai on Day 1
On a pitch that didn’t have any demons, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s gritty 67 (97b, 8×4, 1×6) was the only saving grace for Mumbai as its batters crumbled and lost the plot against Rajasthan on Day 1 of the Group D Ranji Trophy match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
On Saturday, Rajasthan won the toss and decided to bowl — a decision that didn’t yield the desired results initially as Mumbai rode on a 100-run opening partnership between Jaiswal and Musheer Khan to dominate the opening session.
At that point, not many could have imagined that the domestic giant would lose seven wickets for 79 runs and would eventually fold up for 254.
Fast bowler Ashok Sharma (three for 76), featuring in his second First-Class match, and the seasoned left-arm spinner Kookna Ajay Singh (four for 66) troubled a star-studded Mumbai batting line-up, which folded like a pack of cards in the second session before Shams Mulani and Himanshu Singh forged a 42-run partnership for the eighth wicket to help the visitor breach the 200-run mark.
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Bowling stump-to-stump worked for Ashok as Mumbai batters paid the price for poor shot selection and of the eight, six wickets were caught behind by wicketkeeper Kunal Singh Rathore. While Ashok turned things around for Rajasthan, Kookna tightened the noose further by cleaning up the tail. Fast bowlers Aniket Chaudhary and Akash Singh also chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Rajasthan ended the day at 10 for the loss of no wickets with openers Abhijeet Tomar and Sachin Yadav at the crease.
Before things turned chaotic, a calm Jaiswal stamped his class with some fine boundaries, while Musheer held fort at the other end. A large number of spectators chanted Jaiswal’s name as the India international brought up his 17th First-Class fifty and looked set for a bigger one before he fell to Aniket while attempting a pull.
From cruising at 100 for 0, Mumbai was suddenly languishing at 156 for six as Ajinkya Rahane, Siddhesh Lad and Sarfaraz Khan faltered. Musheer had a reprieve on 32 when he was cleaned up by Ashok, but it turned out to be a no-ball. However, the youngster failed to capitalise and fell a run short of his fifty. With a middle-order collapse, Mumbai’s hopes of putting up a big total went up in the smoke.
Published on Nov 01, 2025
