Ranji Trophy 2025-26: Shaw, Gaikwad score half-centuries as Maharashtra-Kerala peters out to draw

With rain slicing a large chunk of game time on the first three days, the only academic interest on the final day was whether Prithvi Shaw could replicate his Ranji Trophy debut century for Mumbai for his new team Maharashtra at the Greenfield Stadium on Saturday.

The conditions were far from imposing as the pitch had eased out and was favouring the batters. The stars also aligned in Prithvi’s favour as he got a life off the first ball of the day with B. Aparajith dropping a sitter at point off M.D. Nidheesh. 

Prithvi showed restraint by keeping out the big shots and worked the ball around for his runs. But his intention to attack left-arm spinner Akshay Chandran brought his downfall as he edged a catch to wicketkeeper Azharuddeen and was dismissed for 75.

The attention then centered around Ruturaj Gaikwad who played fluently to reach his second half-century of the match, an unbeaten 55. Siddhesh Veer, who was dropped by Sanju Samson on three at slips off Ankit Sharma, compiled an unbeaten 55. Gaikwad and Veer added 104 runs for the third wicket when both captains agreed to a draw at the end of the post-lunch session.

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Kerala captain Mohammed Azharuddeen rued the missed opportunity and blamed the senior batters for not converting their starts into big scores, saying, “The senior batters should have converted their starts into big knocks. We had the better of the conditions on the first day and on the third day. There was help for the bowlers in the opening first hour and we reduced them to 18 for five.”

“But Ruturaj and Jalaj batted very well. When we batted on the third day, the pitch had eased out. But we couldn’t convert it to our advantage. Jalaj’s presence also made a difference for Maharashtra. He knew Salman Nizar would attack the spinners and advised Ankit Bawne to spread the field and persist with pace,’‘ he said. 

Published on Oct 18, 2025