Vaibhav Suryavanshi disappoints again in red-ball cricket, Shami picks three

October 15 saw the start of the first round of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy at different locations across the country, and one commonality between them was that it was a tough day of batting for all the teams. Yes, there were some notable individual scores, but there was a lack of a collective effort from the bat. On the other hand, the bowlers enjoyed their outing.

Insidesport looks back at all the major events taking place from the first day of competition.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s FC struggle

When you have the opportunity, at 14, to become vice-captain of your team, you don’t waste your chance. But that’s what Vaibhav Suryavanshi did. After Bihar bowled out Arunachal Pradesh for just 105, Suryavanshi scored 14 for 5 and then departed. It was a round that made almost no sense. But nevertheless, the team is still in a strong position at 186/2.

Indian stars under surveillance

Devdutt Padikkal was outstanding against Saurashtra and scored 96, missing out by a ton. His innings included 11 fours, while returning to Karnataka after a few years, Karun Nair scored 73. In another match, Bengal were on top in the match against Uttarakhand, with Mohammed Shami returning with figures of 3/37. After making a bold statement against the selectors a day earlier, he followed it up by making the ball talk.

Unfortunately, it was not the expected result for skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran. He started his season with a golden duck. The batting woes also extended to the Maharashtra camp against Kerala. Prithvi Shaw, in his very first innings for the team, was chasing a duck. At stumps, his team was in shock at 179/7.

Ishan Kishan, who has made strides in the red ball over the past few months, playing county cricket, scored a ton on day one for Jharkhand against a strong Tamil Nadu bowling line-up. It was only his 9th FC ton.

Ruturaj Gaikwad saves the day

There was a time when Maharashtra were 5/4, then 18/5 at the start of the day. But then Ruturaj Gaikwad put his foot down – scored 91 in 151 deliveries and forged a 122-run partnership with Jalaj Saxena (49). MD Nidheesh was the pick of the Kerala bowlers who picked up four wickets.

Shams Mulani makes a statement

Mumbai were expected to do well, and they certainly did against J&K. Siddhesh Lad went on to score yet another ton for his state, Sarfaraz Khan scored 42, Ajinkya Rahane 27 and Ayush Mhatre 27. But the story of the day was Shams Mulani, who scored an unbeaten 59. The 28-year-old averages 31 with the bat and 24 with the ball.

Brief Scores Ranji Trophy, Round 1 Day 1

Odisha 205/5 against Baroda in Cuttack; Uttarakhand 213 against Bengal 8/1 in Calcutta; Goa263/3 against Chandigarh in Goa; Mumbai 335/5 against Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar; Andhra 289/2 against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur; Benefits 191/6 against Tripura in Delhi; Vidarbha 232/3 against Nagaland in Bangalore; Haryana 171 v Railways 30/4 in the surah; Punjab 232 against Madhya Pradesh 6/0 in Indore; Chhattisgarh 271/7 against Rajasthan in Rajsamand; Jharkhand 284/6 against Tamil Nadu in Coimbatore; Assam 199/5 against Gujarat in Ahmedabad; Maharashtra179/7 against Kerala in Trivandrum; Himachal Pradesh 168/4.vs Pondicherry in Pondicherry; Karnataka 295/5 against Saurashtra at Rajkot; Delhi 255/3 against Hyderabad in Hyderabad.