As Tamil Nadu reached 183/4 against Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy match in Chennai on Tuesday, India’s top all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who had not played competitive cricket in over six months, failed to pick up a wicket in his 17 overs on a slow Chepauk track.
The star left-arm spinner’s fitness was put to the test in front of national selector Sridharan Sharath, who was seen speaking with Jadeja following the first day of play.
He had zero for the day at the end.
With Cheteshwar Pujara and usual captain Jaydev Unadkat rested ahead of the championship four-match series, beginning in Nagpur on February 9, Jadeja is in command for Saurashtra in their last group league encounter.
The all-rounder, who withdrew from the Asia Cup in September after sustaining a knee injury, is also a member of the Indian team for the first two Test matches, but his place in the 17-man squad is contingent on his level of health.
In the second over of the day after deciding to bat, Tamil Nadu lost the wicket of Narayan Jagadeesan. Sai Sudharsan, the game’s first player, and the twins Baba Aparajith and Baba Indrajith then stabilised the situation with identical scores of 45.
With Vijay Shankar joining him on 11, Indrajith continued to be unbeaten.
At CCI, Maharashtra overcame an early scare and posted 314 for six against Mumbai because to Kedar Jadhav’s second century in five innings.
Before they could open their account, Maharashtra lost Pavan Shah, and their No. 3 Naushad Shaikh also fell cheaply for 12, bringing the team’s score to 23/2. However, Jadhav saved his team by scoring 128 off 168 balls (18×4, 1×6) and partnering with Siddhesh Veer for 105 runs (48).
However, Veer was unable to reach his fifty and was bowled out by Shams Mulani before Ankit Bawne was lost for the addition of just one run. Jadhav, though, persisted vehemently at the opposite end.
Saurabh Nawale, who was batting at number seven after Jadhav left, put up a strong rearguard effort and finished with a tenacious 56 not out.
