Gill falls for two-ball duck as Punjab, Saurashtra struggle
Shubman Gill’s return to Ranji Trophy ended in a two-ball duck as Saurashtra and Punjab batters struggled on a rank turner during the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match here on Thursday. Gill was trapped in front of the wicket by left-arm spinner Parth Bhut and other Punjab batters too did not fare better against tweakers.
Apart from Bhut, who took five wickets for 33 runs, veteran India spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2/48) and seasoned Dharmendra Jadeja (2/36) joined to wreck Punjab’s innings, dismissing them for 139. The visitors conceded a first-innings lead of 33 runs after earlier bowling out Saurashtra for 172.
For Punjab, left-arm spinners Harpreet Brar (6/38) and Prerit Dutta (1/32) combined well with off-spinner Jass Inder (2/71) to rock the Saurashtra line-up. However, Gill might have been highly disappointed after missing out on a good chance to reverse his recent trend of middling scores — just two fifties in the last 10 innings across Test, ODI, T20I and List A formats.
His India teammate Ravindra Jadeja too had an unhappy outing with the bat, falling for a six-ball seven to Inder. Jay Gohil was the only batter on the day who showed some gumption to stand up to the spinners, making 82 off 117 balls (9x4, 3x6).
He played a rather aggressive knock, realising the folly of trying to defend and survive against slow bowlers on this pitch. Saurashtra again fumbled in their second innings, losing three wickets for just 24 runs in six overs at stumps.
The home side now leads by 57 runs and it would not be a big surprise if the match ends on Day 2 itself, considering the nature of the track here. Saurashtra are currently fourth on the table with 13 points from five matches while Punjab are on sixth with 11 points from five matches.
