Jharkhand create history in Ranji Trophy with sensational win against Tripura

Saurabh Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi were the stars for Jharkhand as they beat Tripura by 54 runs and bagged six points.

The Ranji Trophy season is back and we have witnessed a number of closely-fought matches in the first round. One such match took place between Jharkhand and Tripura Agartala, which was a group C encounter.

File image of Ishank Jaggi (Twitter)

Tripura batted first and scored 289. In response, Jharkhand were bundled out for 136 which prompted Tripura to enforce a follow on. Jharkhand were in trouble again as they were reduced to 138 for 5. However, then Ishank Jaggi and Saurabh Tiwary stepped up and conjured the spirit of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman of 2001. They forged a magical double-century stand, Jharkhand crept past the deficit and then declared at 418 for 8.

The bowlers then took matters in their own hands, Tripura were on the match at 48 for 5 at lunch. However, there was resistance from the lower order and they were within striking distance of the target, but then Jharkhand did just enough to bag the match by 54 runs. In the process, history was made as this was just the first instance in Ranji Trophy when a side won the match after being asked to follow-on.

This Ranji Season is important owing to the fact that the BCCI has started scheduling A tours and performances in this tournament get a lot of attention. Also, since, the Indian test side is fairly settled, the players would want to make headlines with their performances and stay in contention. As such, the performance of Ishank Jaggi and Saurabh Tiwary will be talked about as it was a proper back to the wall innings.

The format is similar to last year - the five teams from Groups A and B combined - consisting nine teams each - will qualify for the knockouts. And then, we will have two teams making the cut from the 10-pool Group C and the one team from Plate Group, also consisting of 10 teams.