India has been the most successful team in the Men’s Under-19 World Cups, winning the title on five occasions. This success has helped India unearth plenty of promising batters such as Mandeep Singh, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill, who have gone on to represent the senior team. Mandeep Singh is a right-handed batter hailing from Jalandhar in Punjab. He started his professional career by representing his state at the age-group level.
He was one of the stars of the 2009 Under-19 tour to Australia where he scored a crackling 151 and caught public attention. Indian selectors took notice of his performances at the junior level and named him the vice-captain of the Indian team for the 2010 Under-19 World Cup. After returning from the Under-19 World Cup, Mandeep went on to make his debut for Punjab at the senior level. Within two months, he made his List A and T20 debuts for Punjab. In the same year, he was selected by the Kolkata franchise for the 2010 Indian T20 League season.
His first-class debut came towards the end of 2010 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he played an impressive knock and got a half-century. He was also part of the North Zone team that won the Deodhar Trophy in the same year. After grinding for years in the domestic circuit and the Indian T20 League, Mandeep received his maiden India call-up in 2016 when he was named in the T20I squad for the series in Zimbabwe. He made his T20I debut in that series and was impressive as well.
Other than the Kolkata franchise, he has also plied his trade for the Delhi, Punjab, and Bangalore franchises in the Indian T20 League. He will appear for the Kolkata franchise in the 2023 Indian T20 League season after he was bought at the base price in the auction. Mandeep Singh bats in the middle order for Punjab in all three formats. He can play pace and spin well and is a very reliable batter. He can also roll his arm over with his medium pace. However, he has been off the radar when it comes to international reckoning in recent times.

Mandeep Singh

With the Indian Premier League governing council mandating November 15 as the last date of declaring the list of released players for the upcoming season, Cricbuzz has reported that Delhi Capitals have zeroed in on letting <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63345/shardul-thakur/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shardul Thakur</a>, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/60173/srikar-bharat/articles" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KS Bharat</a>, and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10114/mandeep-singh/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mandeep Singh</a> go from their roster. Thakur, who cost Delhi Capitals a whopping sum of 10.75 Cr, failed to replicate his performances of Chennai Super Kings with Delhi in IPL 2022.The Mumbaikar could only score 120 runs with the bat while picking 15 wickets at an economy rate of over 10 runs per over and average of 31.5. Releasing him will open up a huge budget for the Capitals, who despite their strong performances in the last few seasons, haven&#39;t been able to cross the final hurdle.The report further states that wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat and batter Mandeep Singh are also in the plans to be laid off from the franchise&#39;s plans and that would open up another 3.10 Crore for the GMR-JSW-owned franchise. Bharat didn&#39;t get a game last season while Mandeep could only muster 18 runs from three innings.The Indian Premier League auction is scheduled to take place on December 16 but the venue hasn&#39;t been decided yet. While regular host Bengaluru is the front-runner, there are discussion to host it in Turkish capital Istanbul as well.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Thakur could only score 120 runs while picking 15 wickets at an economy rate of over 10 runs per over and average of 31.5

Shardul Thakur

Srikar Bharat

Delhi Capitals

Thakur, Bharat, Mandeep in line to be released by Delhi Capitals : Reports

The Indian Domestic Cricket is back! After a gap of two years, the prestigious Duleep Trophy makes its return and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahW0DMryxE4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">will mark the start of a full-fledged season</a>. The Duleep Trophy, which is named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar, has been organised from the 1961&ndash;62 season, and the tournament has seen multiple changes in formats over the years. This one will get underway on September 8 and will run until September 25, with matches set to be played in Chennai, Puducherry, Salem and Coimbatore.&nbsp;FORMATThe Duleep Trophy is back to its old zonal format, which was abandoned following Lodha committee recommendations five years ago. This competition was not held in 2015-16 but returned to the calendar in 2016&ndash;17 with a new format. The BCCI selectors would pick three teams - India Blue, India Green and India Red, who would then be involved in a round-robin tournament.<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/indian-domestic-cricket-2022-23-a-low-down-1662271784342" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Also read - Indian Domestic Cricket 2022-23: A low-down</a>However, the national selectors were not involved this time around. The six zonal selection committees - comprising chief selectors of each of the teams in its respective zone - were the ones to pick their respective squads. This will also be the first time a team from the Northeast would be making an appearance in the Duleep Trophy.&nbsp;The competition will be played in a knockout format. West Zone will face North East Zone in the first quarter-final at the Chepauk, while North Zone will take on East Zone in the second quarter-final in Puducherry. The winners will then go on to face Central Zone and South Zone in the semis.&nbsp;WEST ZONEAjinkya Rahane will lead West Zone&rsquo;s star-studded line-up. Apart from him, there are three more players in the squad - &nbsp;Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Jaydev Unadkat - who have already played Test cricket for India. Rahane, who injured his hamstring in May during the Indian Premier League, hasn&#39;t played any competitive cricket for more than three months. The 34-year-old is no more part of the Indian Test set-up and has been replaced by Iyer, who is also part of this squad.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1662521479820-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The likes of Priyank Panchal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sarfaraz Khan and Arzan Nagwaswalla are currently playing for India A and weren&rsquo;t considered for selection. Shardul Thakur was in the team but had to replace injured Prasidh Krishna in the India A squad. Meanwhile, Shaw didn&rsquo;t have a great Ranji Trophy 2021-22 and would be eager to do well in this tournament. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal slammed close to 500 runs in just three games and could use this opportunity to further his red-ball credentials.&nbsp;Left-arm seamer Unadkat and spin-bowling all-rounder Shams Mulani have been two of the most prolific wicket-takers in the Indian domestic circuit over the last few years, while Rahul Tripathi has been travelling with India&rsquo;s limited-overs setup for a while now. A lot of eyes will also be on young Mumbai all-rounder Tanush Kotian, who averaged 37.42 with the bat last season and also scalped 17 wickets in six matches at 27.61. In total, West Zone have eight players from Mumbai.&nbsp;Squad: Ajinkya Rahane &copy;, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Chirag Jani, Het Patel, Hardik Tamore, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Atit Seth, Chintan Gaja, Chetan Sakariya, Jaydev Unadkat, Satyajeet Bachhav.NORTHEAST ZONEPlaying the Duleep Trophy for the first time as a zone, the Northeast selectors have taken a brave call of not picking a single guest player and have just gone with home-grown talents. They might struggle big time against West Zone but the experience of playing against quality players could prove to be very fruitful. Lobzang Tenzing, the convenor of the Northeast selection committee, called it a &quot;matured decision&quot; and it completely makes sense.Sikkim&#39;s Ashish Thapa, who scored 151* against Bihar in the last Ranji Trophy, will captain the side. However, the limelight is going to be on Nagaland&#39;s Jonathan Rongsen, who averages 40.07 in first-class cricket, and Manipur&#39;s left-arm seamer Rajkumar Rex Singh, who has 46 wickets at an average of 22.80. Manipur&#39;s tall paceman Bishworjit Singh Konthoujam and Sikkim&#39;s 18-year-old batter Ankur Malik also have impressive numbers in red-ball cricket.Squad: Ashish Thapa &copy;, Techi Neri, Jonathan Rongsen, Kishan Lyngdoh, Ankur Malik, Bishworjit Singh Konthoujam, G Lalbiakvela, Rajkumar Rex Singh, Khrievitso Kense, Techi Doria, Dippu Sangma, Hokaito Zhimomi, L Kishan Singha, Bobby Zothansanga, Al Bashid Muhammed.NORTH ZONE<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1662521327339-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">North Zone, who will be led by Mandeep Singh, have got some exciting young talents in their arsenal. The right-handed batter operated at an average of 94 and was Punjab&rsquo;s highest run-getter in the last edition of the Ranji Trophy. Wicketkeeper-batter Anmol Malhotra and Siddharth Kaul are the two players from Punjab. Navdeep Saini, who has featured in all three formats for India, will lead the pace attack. Himachal Pradesh&rsquo;s Akash Vashisht, Mayank Dagar, Manan Vohra and Haryana&rsquo;s Himanshu Rana were all rewarded for their consistency.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/enjoy-the-ride-because-yash-dhull-is-here-to-stay-1645420954683" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Also read - Enjoy the ride, because Yash Dhull is here to stay</a>India Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull of Delhi and vice-captain from Nishant Sindhu from Haryana are also part of the team. Dhull had a stellar debut season, scoring 479 runs in six innings, studded with three centuries. Sindhu too managed 248 runs at an average of 62 and also picked up four wickets. Jammu and Kashmir will only have one representative in 20-year-old opener Qamran Iqbal. North Zone&rsquo;s bowling might not look very threatening but they have got some quality young batters and all-rounders. &nbsp;Squad: Mandeep Singh &copy;, Dhruv Shorey, Yash Dhull, Manan Vohra, Himanshu Rana, Akash Vashisht, Anmol Malhotra, Mayank Dagar, Pulkit Narang, Navdeep Saini, Siddharth Kaul, Jagjit Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Qamran Iqbal, Vikas Mishra.EAST ZONEEast Zone have seven players from Bengal and four from Jharkhand, while the likes of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Mukesh Kumar are currently playing for India A. Former Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary will lead the side, while Jharkhand&rsquo;s Virat Singh has been named his deputy. Nazim Siddique, Kumar Kushagra and Shahbaz Nadeem were all impressive in the last season but the focus is largely going to be on Shahbaz Ahmed.<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/shahbaz-ahmed-on-the-expressway-to-success-in-cricket-and-life-1655723386248" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Also read - Shahbaz Ahmed, on the expressway to success in cricket and life</a>The left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder from Bengal, who was named Washington Sundar&rsquo;s replacement during the ODI tour of Zimbabwe, was Bengal&rsquo;s leading run-getter and joint-highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22. The left-hander slammed 482 runs at 60.25 and also scalped 20 wickets at an average of 22.10. Meanwhile, in the pace department, East Zone have Ishan Porel, Akash Deep and Mukhtar Hussain. Tripura&rsquo;s fast-bowling all-rounder Manisankar Murasingh is another one to watch out for.Squad: Manoj Tiwary &copy;, Virat Singh, Nazim Siddique, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Shantanu Mishra, Anustup Majumdar, Riyan Parag, Kumar Kushagra, Abishek Porel, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ishan Porel, Akash Deep, Mukhtar Hussain, Manishankar Murasingh.CENTRAL ZONE<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1662521238850-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Rajat Patidar might not be available but the other three prolific run-scorers - Shubham Sharma (608 runs at 76), Himanshu Mantri (375 runs at 62.50) and Yash Dubey (614 runs at 76.75) - who helped Madhya Pradesh win their maiden Ranji Trophy title are all part of the Central Zone squad. A left-armer who has all the variations, Kumar Kartikeya is also in the team and will have Vidarbha&rsquo;s offspinner Aditya Sarwate for company.Venkatesh Iyer and wicketkeeper-batter Akshay Wadkar will provide Central Zone more depth in the batting order. The latter doesn&rsquo;t get much recognition but averages 57.36 with the bat after having played 34 first-class games. Karan Sharma, who led Uttar Pradesh to the semis, will captain the side and also have his state-mates Priyam Garg, Rinku Singh and Ankit Rajput. The experience of 31-year-old all-rounder Ashok Menaria and 32-year-old pacer Aniket Chaudhary is also going to come in handy.Squad: Karan Sharma &copy;, Shubham Sharma, Himanshu Mantri (wk), Yash Dubey, Priyam Garg, Rinku Singh, Ashok Menaria, Akshay Wadkar, Gaurav Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Dhopola, Aniket Chaudhary, Kumar Kartikeya, Aditya Sarwate, Ankit Rajput.SOUTH ZONEIn skipper Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, &nbsp;Manish Pandey, Devdutt Paddikal and Baba Indrajith, South Zone has got a decorated batting line-up. Vihari is starting to become a regular member of the Indian Test side, while opener Agarwal has been in and out of the team. Meanwhile, Pandey and Indrajith haven&rsquo;t played Test cricket but average over 50 in first-class cricket.Kerala&#39;s Rohan Kunnummal (425 runs in five innings at 106.25) and Goa&#39;s Eknath Kerkar (344 runs in nine innings at 49.14) haven&#39;t played much cricket at this level but are two exciting options. R Sai Kishore and K Gowtham are the two premier spinners in the team and could also contribute with the bat, while the pace department will be taken care by Basil Thampi, Ravi Teja, Lakshay Garg and Cheepurapalli Stephen.Squad: Hanuma Vihari &copy;, Mayank Agarwal, Rohan Kunnummal, Manish Pandey, Devdutt Paddikal, Baba Indrajith, Eknath Kerkar, Ricky Bhui, Sai Kishore, K Gowtham, Basil Thampi, Ravi Teja, Cheepurapalli Stephen, Tanay Thyagarajan, Lakshay Garg.(Last two images are from PTI)Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The prestigious tournament is back to its old zonal format and will mark the start of a full-fledged Indian domestic season

Ajinkya Rahane

Hanuma Vihari

Mayank Agarwal

Yash Dhull

Shahbaz Nadeem

Manoj Tiwary

Shreyas Iyer

Shahbaz Ahmed

Shubham Sharma

Ashish Thapa

Rongsen Jonathan

Duleep Trophy, 2022

East Zone

North Zone

Central Zone

West Zone

North East Zone

South Zone

Duleep Trophy 2022-23: Some playing for survival, some for recognition

Punjab&#39;s hard-hitting top-order batter Mandeep Singh was on Thursday appointed captain of the North Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy.The tournament is scheduled to be played in Tamil Nadu from September 8 to 25. Experienced Delhi batter Dhruv Shorey will be Mandeep&#39;s deputy in the premier zonal event.Bengal&#39;s seasoned run-machine Manoj Tiwary will lead the East Zone team, and he will be assisted by Jharkhand&#39;s Virat Singh. Meanwhile, veteran India pacer Ishant Sharma has made himself available for the Ranji Trophy.Among others, the North Zone side also comprises India pacer Navdeep Saini, Punjab seamer Siddharth Kaul and India U-19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull of Delhi.North Zone squad: Yash Dhull, Dhruv Shorey (vice-captain), Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh (Captain), Himanshu Rana, Akash Vashisht, Anmol Malhotra (wk), Mayank Dagar, Pulkit Narang, Navdeep Saini, Siddharth Kaul, Jagjit Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Qamran Iqbal, Vikas Mishra.East Zone squad: Manoj Tiwary (Captain), Sudip Kr Gharami, Anushtup Majumdar, Abhishek Porel (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Ishan Porel, Akash Deep, Virat Singh (vice-captain), Nazim Siddiqui, Kumar Kushagra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mukhtar Hussain, Riyan Parag, Mani Shankar Mura Singh, Shantanu Mishra.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Meanwhile, East Zone will be led by veteran Bengal batter Manoj Tiwary

Duleep Trophy: Mandeep Singh appointed North Zone captain

The Ranji Trophy 2021-22 is back after a break of almost three months, with the knockouts set to be played across Bangalore from Monday (June 6). The BCCI made a call to conduct the latest edition of the Ranji Trophy in two different phases because of Covid-19 and that also gave them ample time to organise an entire IPL season. The group phase was conducted in February-March and we are now left with only eight teams - Mumbai, Karnataka, Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. Here, we look at how these teams fared in the group stage and analyse their strengths and weaknesses.Quarter-Final 1 - Bengal vs JharkhandThe availability of Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Shami was the biggest point of discussion ahead of Bengal&rsquo;s quarter-final against Jharkhand, and neither of these two will feature in the all-important clash. Shami&rsquo;s non-participation is completely a &ldquo;workload management&rdquo; thing but the relationship between Saha and the Cricket Association of Bengal has been a total mess. The out-of-favour wicketkeeper-batter missed the group stage due to &ldquo;personal reasons&rdquo; and was surprised to see his name in the squad for the knockouts. The 37-year-old had made it clear that he is &ldquo;not willing to play&rdquo; for Bengal and has asked for a no-objection certificate to continue his domestic career elsewhere.To be honest, Bengal did pretty well in the first round without these two experienced campaigners. Amongst all the remaining eight teams, Abhimanyu Easwaran and his men were the only side to win all their three group-phase encounters. And, they have enough quality in their squad to topple Jharkhand. If you look at the top run-scorers and wicket-takers lists, there&rsquo;s no one from Bengal in the top-15, but they have done well as a unit, defeating the likes of Hyderbad, Baroda, and Chandigarh. Their batting has blown hot and cold but Bengal have a formidable pace attack, comprising Mukesh Kumar, Ishan Porel, and Akash Deep. No other fast-bowling unit picked up more wickets than Bengal&rsquo;s in the first round (48 wickets at an average of 19.8). Their average was the third-best after Hyderabad (18.4) and Rajasthan (19.5).&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1654397244436-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">However, Bengal will need their batting unit to come good in the knockouts. Easwaran was the only one who scored a hundred in the first round, while Jharkhand have six centurions. This is the first time they have made it through to the QFs since 2016-17. Saurabh Tiwary and Co. have had a weird season so far. They lost to Chhattisgarh in their first fixture and then defeated the heavyweights - Delhi and Tamil Nadu - by very close margins.&nbsp;Then came THAT pre-quarter-final in which Jharkhand annihilated Nagaland. They amassed 880 in their first innings - the tournament&#39;s fourth-highest score - and then later humiliated Nagaland in the second essay by extending the lead to 1008, the biggest in the history of first-class cricket. In Tiwary, Virat Singh, Kumar Kushagra, Kumar Suraj, and Nazim Siddiqui, Jharkhand have a solid batting line-up. They do have a couple of quality seamers, but unlike Bengal, Jharkhand will rely more on their two left-arm spinners - Shahbaz Nadeem and Anukul Roy.Quarter-Final 2 - Mumbai vs UttarakhandMumbai will be without Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Ajinkya Rahane but you would still expect the 41-time champions to get the better of Uttarakhand. They will be led by dashing opener Prithvi Shaw, who is yet to set the stage on first this season. Despite Shaw not firing, Mumbai had the best average (46.7) among the eight quarter-finalists in the group stage, thanks to the likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Arman Jaffer, and Tanush Kotian. Sarfaraz, who has been dominating red-ball cricket for the last two editions, has slammed 551 runs in four innings at an average of 137.75. He is currently the third-highest run-getter in this tournament and the Mumbai team management would want him to carry forward his dream run.His younger brother Musheer Khan, who was phenomenal in the Cooch Behar Trophy (670 runs in nine games - two centuries, five fifties), has also been included in the squad. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (29 wickets at 15.62) is currently the leading wicket-taker in the competition but hasn&rsquo;t got much support from the rest of the bowling attack. Mumbai haven&rsquo;t won the Ranji Trophy since 2015-16 and they can&rsquo;t take Uttarakhand lightly.&nbsp;Among these eight teams, Uttarakhand have the worst batting average (26.9) this season but they have been superb in the bowling department. They had the best bowling average (19.2) amongst all teams in the group phase. Left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra (16 wickets at 10.37) has been stunning, while Dikshanshu Negi, Deepak Dhapola, and Swapnil Singh too are averaging way below 20. Uttarakhand skipper Jay Bista, who made his first-class debut for Mumbai, has also been solid up the order and would want to prove a point against his previous team. Mumbai are no more invincible but Uttarakhand will have to punch above their weight if they want to progress further.&nbsp;Quarter-Final 3 - Karnataka vs Uttar Pradesh<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1654397203673-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Karnataka will be slightly thin in the pace department in the absence of Prasidh Krishna. The tall paceman is set to travel to England and will miss the knockouts because of workload management. Ronit More has featured in 31 first-class games but V Koushik, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Vidwath Kaverappa and M Venkatesh have only played five red-ball games between them.&nbsp;The spin department - Shreyas Gopal, K Gowtham and J Suchith - looks more sorted but the onus will largely be on the star-studded batting line-up. Captain Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal, KV Siddharth and R Samarth could easily bat out any opposition. And, they will be up against a bowling attack that had the worst average (39.2) and strike rate (67.7) in the first round.&nbsp;Ankit Rajpoot (27.66) is the only Uttar Pradesh bowler with an average of below 35 in the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy. Left-arm seamers Mohsin Khan and Yash Dayal had pretty good IPL season with Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans respectively but the former wouldn&#39;t be a part of the quarter-finals. &nbsp;The bowlers might not have been at their best but Uttar Pradesh do have some quality young batters in their arsenal. Rinku Singh is averaging 100 in this edition, while Almas Shaukat, Priyam Garg, Akshdeep Nath, and Dhruv Jurel too have been consistent in this format. There is no denying that Karnataka will enter into this contest as the red-hot favourites but it would be a crime to count out Karan Sharma and his team.Quarter-Final 4 - Punjab vs Madhya PradeshPunjab and Madhya Pradesh are two of the most exciting sides in domestic cricket. The latter&rsquo;s road to the quarter-finals was slightly complicated. Madhya Pradesh and Kerala were tied at 13 points going into their final group-stage encounter and coincidentally they were playing each other. MP amassed 585/9 (decl) in their first innings, but due to constant rain interruptions, Kerala&#39;s first innings (432/9) remained incomplete and the former progressed further on the basis of a better quotient.&nbsp;Yash Dubey (422 runs at 140.66) and Shubham Sharma (317 runs at 105.66) were excellent in the first round, while Rajat Patidar and Kumar Kartikeya will be high on confidence after successful IPL stints. They have been very consistent as a bowling unit, with four of their bowlers - Anubhav Agarwal, Gaurav Yadav, Kartikeya and Ishwar Pandey - averaging 20 or below.Meanwhile, Punjab will miss the services of their in-form seamer Arshdeep Singh (IND-SA T20Is) but they have a good blend of youth and experience. Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh and Siddarth Kaul have been around for a while, while Abhishek Sharma and Ramandeep Singh were quite impressive in the IPL. They also have Anmol Malhotra, Anmolpreet Singh and Prabhsimran Singh, making them a solid batting unit. Their batting looks sorted, at least on paper, but the same can&rsquo;t be said about their bowling. Baltej Singh and Kaul are Punjab&rsquo;s two premier seamers but the spin department looks slightly thinner. Mayank Markande is averaging 46.8 and will need as much support as he can get from Abhishek. &nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

We look at how the quarter-finalists fared in the group stage and analyse their strengths and weaknesses

Rinku Singh

Saurabh Tiwary

Prithvi Shaw

Devdutt Padikkal

Manish Pandey

Abhishek Sharma

Jay Bista

Abhimanyu Easwaran

Shams Mulani

Mayank Mishra

Rajat Patidar

Yash Dayal

Ranji Trophy, 2022

Mumbai

Madhya Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttarakhand

Jharkhand

Karnataka

Bengal

Punjab

Ranji Trophy knockouts: Two heavyweights await as Jharkhand, Punjab, UP dream big

Rahane falls for a duck as Sarfaraz Khan shines yet againFollowing a century against Saurashtra in his first outing, Ajinkya Rahane&rsquo;s fortunes flipped on Thursday as the veteran perished for a three-ball duck against Goa, trapped LBW by the impressive Lakshay Garg who took a fine six-wicket haul as Goa bowled Mumbai out 163.But while Rahane failed, Sarfaraz Khan continued to pile the runs as the 24-year-old backed up his double-ton against Saurashtra with a fighting 63. Sarfaraz was the only Mumbai batter to cross 50, with no other player managing to score more than 30. It was also back-to-back failures for Prithvi Shaw, who backed up his 1 vs Saurashtra with a 9(13) today, also falling to Lakshay Garg.Cheteshwar Pujara registers another single-digit scorePujara began his Ranji campaign with a duck, but impressed in the second innings against Mumbai, striking a fine 91 off just 83 balls that led many to suspect that the 34-year-old was back in nick. However, Pujara failed to back up his showing in Mumbai as he registered his second single-digit score in three innings, falling for 8 runs against Odisha. However, Chirag Jani, who struck a ton, and Sheldon Jackson and Arpit Vasavada, who both struck fifties, ensured that Saurashtra had a dominant first day after opting to bat first.&nbsp;Yash Dhull endures first failure in first-class cricket; Ishant Sharma goes wicketlessAfter encountering a dream start to his first-class career against Tamil Nadu, striking twin tons, Yash Dhull endured his first failure at the domestic level as the 19-year-old perished for 5 runs late on the first day against Jharkhand, falling to the left-arm spin of Shahbaz Nadeem. But despite Dhull not lighting up the stage, Delhi enjoyed a fine day after losing the toss, as they managed to bowl Jharkhand out for 251. Ishant Sharma did not pick a wicket, but it was a good day at the office for Navdeep Saini, who managed to claim a three-wicket haul. For Jharkhand, skipper Virat Singh struck a fighting ton and waged a lone battle as his side only managed to bat 70 overs.&nbsp;Karun Nair smashes first Ranji Trophy ton since 2017After four long years, Karun Nair finally ended his century drought in the Ranji Trophy as the right-hander smashed an unbeaten 152 on the first day against Jammu and Kashmir to help Karnataka get to stumps on 268-8. After the early wicket of Devdutt Padikkal (8), Nair and Samarth put on a fine 98-run stand, but once Samarth was dismissed for 45, Karnataka started losing wickets at regular intervals. Umran Malik impressed for J&amp;K, claiming two wickets, including that of Karnataka skipper Manish Pandey, but Nair weathered the storm to end the day unbeaten on 152. Nair had last scored a ton in Ranji Trophy way back in 2017 against Vidarbha.Aparajith and Indrajith smash tons for Tamil NaduTamil Nadu were in a slight spot of bother after winning the toss, losing both the openers with the score just 59, but a dominant 206-run stand between Baba Aparajith and Baba Indrajith ensured that the Vijay Shankar-led side ended Day 1 strongly, posting 308/4 against Chhattisgarh. Indrajith&rsquo;s 127 came in no time, off just 141 balls, but he perished in the final session of the day. Skipper Shankar fell for a duck soon after, but Aparajith remained unbeaten on 101 to ensure TN ended Day 1 strongly, with first-round centurion Shahrukh Khan (28*) giving him company at the other end.&nbsp;Sakibul Gani impresses yet again for BiharAfter creating history last week, becoming the first cricketer to score a first-class triple ton on debut, Bihar&rsquo;s Sakibul Gani impressed yet again as the 22-year-old remained unbeaten on 98 at the end of the first day against Sikkim, in the plate division. Gani&rsquo;s 98*, alongside fifties from Bipin Saurabh and Babul Kumar, helped Bihar end the first day strongly on 315/4.&nbsp;Mandeep Singh&rsquo;s 130* helps Punjab dominate Day 1A fine 130* under pressure from the experienced Mandeep Singh put Punjab in a dominant position at the end of the first day, as the Abhishek Sharma-led side piled on 368 runs for the loss of 5 wickets against Haryana. Punjab lost Prabhsimran Singh on the very first ball, and were in a spot of bother at 99/3, but centuries from Mandeep Singh and wicket-keeper Anmol Malhotra took them to 368/5 at the end of the first day.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Baba Aparajith and Indrajith all smashed tons for their respective sides

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Ranji Trophy knockouts: Two heavyweights await as Jharkhand, Punjab, UP dream big

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