India stars disappoint on Ranji return

MUMBAI: The high-profile comeback of India's stars in Ranji Trophy ended in a whimper with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill falling cheaply for their respective teams in the penultimate round of the premier red-ball event on Thursday.

Following a dismal run in Australia, Rohit returned to Ranji Trophy after a decade to get some runs under his belt ahead of the Champions Trophy but it was not to be at least in Mumbai's first innings against Jammu and Kashmir.

Going for his trademark pull off Umar Nazir, Rohit (3) got a leading edge which was caught by J&K skipper Paras Dogra at mid-off.

His India opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) too fell cheaply for Mumbai.

The southpaw was pinned in front of the wicket by Auqib Nabi, who made the most of the fresh wicket to move the new ball dangerously off the surface here at the BKC Ground.

Named in the squad for the Champions Trophy, Shreyas Iyer (11) was caught at mid on off pacer Yudhvir Singh.

While the turnout to watch the India cricketing stars at the stadium was low, those in nearby buildings, who were watching the action from their office floors, returned to work soon after the 37-year-old Rohit was dismissed.

In Rajkot, Pant turned up for Delhi in a first-class game for the first time since the 2017-2018 season and his stay in the middle did not last long. The flamboyant left-hander was dismissed for 1 off 10 balls by veteran Saurashtra left-arm spinner Dharmendrasingh Jadeja.

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also part of the Saurashtra playing eleven.

In Bengaluru, Shubman Gill (4) was caught behind in the game between Punjab and Karnataka. He fell to Abhilash Shetty in the fourth over of the innings.

The India stars have made themselves available for Ranji Trophy after the BCCI made the contracted players' participation in domestic cricket mandatory, following the series loss in Australia.