The second round of the 2026-27 Ranji Trophy season got over on Wednesday, and quite a few memorable performances came to pass across four Elite groups and one Plate group. Let’s take a look at some of the high-quality performances that came from not-so-celebrated players in Indian domestic cricket.
Manvanth Kumar
Playing his only second first-class game, Manvanth Kumar of Karnataka impressed not a little against Saurashtra in their Group B Elite Ranji Trophy game at Alur. The hosts, after being put into bat, were totally down in the dumps at 187/7 when Manvanth joined Karun Nair at the crease. Seven runs later, Nair was gone too. The 22-year-old left-hander took control of the innings thereafter and got up an important partnership of 146 runs with Abhilash Shetty for the ninth wicket. Manvanth contributed 135 in that stand. He consumed 214 balls and hit 11 boundaries and six sixes. Although Karnataka got one point from the match, having fallen behind on first-innings scores, things could have been much worse for them if not for Manvanth’s effort.
Chinmay Sutar
The Mizoram batsman became the second batter ever in the history of the Ranji Trophy to score a quadruple century. The 29-year-old Sutar scored 400 not out off 517 balls in Mizoram’s total of 581/9d against Nagaland in their Plate Group match. He hit 46 fours and seven sixes. Since BB Nimbalkar’s 443 not out in the 1948-49 Ranji Season, it was the first time that a quadruple century was scored in India’s premium red-ball tournament. The match at Sovima ended in a draw, but Mizoram picked up three points on the basis of their first innings lead of 65 runs. Sutar, who moved to the north-eastern side from Mumbai ahead of the season, also picked up two wickets with his leg-breaks. Nagaland had earlier won the toss and put the visitors into bat.
Uday Saharan
Ahead of this Group B Elite match between Punjab and Chhattisgarh at New Chandigarh, all eyes were on Indian Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill. Ahead of the upcoming ODIs and Tests in New Zealand, the 22-year-old Punjab batter was looking to get some nice practice. However, it was Punjab captain Uday Saharan, a former India under-19 captain, who stole Gill’s thunder with a fantastic 161 off 299 balls, adorned with 15 fours. Gill disappointed his fans as he scored just 1. Saharan, who had won the toss and decided to bat, continued his impressive show in the second innings as he scored 40 not out to help Punjab chase down 86 for a seven-wicket win.
Kartik Yadav
The 19-year-old Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner inspired his team to a 68-run win in their Group A Elite match against Goa at Kanpur. After Rinku Singh’s 118 not out took UP to 202, Yadav picked up 2/34 in the first innings as Goa conceded a 38-run first-innings lead. On a bowler-friendly pitch, UP could only get 197 runs in their second inning and set the visitors a target of 236 to win. Yadav really upped the ante and returned figures of 5/37 to secure an outright win for his team. This was his second five-for in first-class cricket. Earlier, UP had won the toss and decided to bat.
Bhargav Bhatt
Bhargav Bhatt was another left-spinner who made a mark in the second round of the Ranji Trophy. Almost double the age of Kartik Yadav, 36-year-old Bhatt picked up eight wickets to help Baroda beat Bihar by 10 wickets in their Group A Elite game at Vadodara. For figures of 2/17 and 6/53, he was chosen Man of the Match. The match was also memorable for him as it was his 100th first-class game. Representing Baroda since 2009, he is now 10 wickets away from reaching the milestone of 400 wickets. Earlier, Bihar had decided to bat after winning the toss.
