Jadeja, Shami in focus as Ranji Trophy second round begins

Ravindra Jadeja’s return for Saurashtra and Mohammed Shami’s outing for Bengal headline the Ranji Trophy second round beginning Saturday, featuring 19 matches across Elite and Plate Divisions nationwide

New Delhi: With the second round of the Ranji Trophy 2025–26 set to commence on Saturday, left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will feature for Saurashtra in their Elite Group B match at Rajkot, emerging as one of the Indian team stars to watch this week.

In the previous fixture at the venue, spinners accounted for 31 of the 35 wickets to fall in the drawn encounter at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, where Saurashtra secured three points via a first-innings lead. Jadeja, who had recently featured in India’s 2–0 home Test Series win over the West Indies, was rested for the ongoing ODI Series in Australia.

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He now rejoins fellow left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who claimed a match haul of 10–203 against Karnataka. The senior Jadeja’s return is expected to strengthen Saurashtra’s bowling unit with added experience and balance.

Another major clash in the round will feature Bengal taking on Gujarat at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, where Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep, and Abhimanyu Easwaran will be in action. Shami, who took a match-winning seven-wicket haul in Bengal’s win over Uttarakhand, will face a strong Gujarat attack in what promises to be an engaging contest.

The second round will comprise 19 matches across the Elite and Plate Divisions. Mumbai, fresh from their away win against Jammu & Kashmir in Srinagar, will host Chhattisgarh in an Elite Group D match at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy, BKC, Mumbai. Defending champions Vidarbha face Jharkhand at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur.

The Bengal–Gujarat match will be telecast on Star Sports Khel and streamed live on JioHotstar. The Saurashtra–Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai–Chhattisgarh games will also be available for streaming, while the remaining fixtures can be tracked on the bcci.tv scoreboard.