Follow UsTushar Deshpande was making a comeback to red-ball cricket’s greatest domestic tournament in India – the Ranji Trophy, after a gap of 18 months. However, before he could make an impact for his home team Mumbai, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) pacer had a sudden rush of bronchitis.
This led to him being rushed to a local stadium in Srinagar. After a few hours, he was back on the ground. And not only was he able to bowl, but he turned out to be the most effective bowler in the first innings for the visitors against Jammu and Kashmir, picking up 3/57 in his spell of 19 overs.
It was courtesy of his bowling that Mumbai were able to take a slender first innings lead of 61 runs.
Talking about the game, Deshpande, as quoted by TOI, told Rajasthan Royals’ official website, “This was a crucial game for us and for me personally too. Jammu and Kashmir had defeated us last season, and we wanted to start this campaign on the right note.”
“It was also big for me because I was returning to Ranji after a year and a half. I blanked out for 10 seconds during warm-up but the will to do it for my team greatly helped me get over my discomfort,” Deshpande told rajasthanroyals.com after the match,” he added.
Deshpande, who got into the limelight with a brilliant season with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2023, has played two T20Is for India so far. He will once again be key when the Mumbai side take on Chhattisgarh in their second round fixture of the tournament.