Rahul stayed at the crease for 56 minutes and forged a 54-run partnership with Mayank Agarawal
Top-order batter KL Rahul followed most of the India regulars on his return to the Ranji Trophy as he was dismissed for 26 in Karnataka’s round 7 clash against Haryana.
Rahul, who missed Karnataka’s previous game against Punjab due to a niggle, returned to Ranji Trophy after last playing in the 2019-20 season semifinal against Bengal.
The 32-year-old was slotted in at No.3 in the must-win clash against Haryana in Bengaluru and forged a 54-run partnership with captain Mayank Agarawal before being dismissed by new Chennai Super Kings recruit Anshul Kamboj.
Rahul batted for 56 minutes before getting a faint edge off Kamboj’s 34th over which was caught by wicket keeper Rohit Sharma.
Karnataka are currently batting at 120/2 after 39 overs with Agarawal on 62 not out and Devdutt Padikkal on 9 not out.
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Kamboj has been in excellent form this season, claiming 23 wickets from nine innings in the Ranji Trophy which included a 10-wicket haul in a single innings against Kerala. The 24-year-old, who played three matches in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, has been bought by CSK for INR 3.4 crore.
The pacer also played a crucial role in Haryana keeping their top position in the Elite Group C with 5-82 in their previous match against Bengal which they won by 283 runs.
Rahul had opted out of Karnataka’s Vijay Hazare Trophy knockouts phase after returning from the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia and was out of Karnataka’s win over Punjab by a difference of innings and 207 runs. He needs to play a big knock in the second innings if Karnataka are to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Currently, Haryana are on 26 points and only need a draw against Karnataka to qualify for the quarterfinals. Karnataka need a win by an innings or a 10-wicket victory to equal Haryana on the points and pip Kerala to a quarterfinal spot. If Kerala win their ongoing final round game against Bihar and Karnataka draws or loses, they will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Besides Rahul, Virat Kohli has also taken to the pitch for Delhi against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, while Mohammed Siraj has so far bowled more than 12 overs without wickets for Hyderabad in their clash against Vidarbha. The last rounds saw the return of Rohit Sharma (3 & 28 for Mumbai), Yashasvi Jaiswal (4 & 26 for Mumbai), Rishabh Pant (1 & 17 for Delhi) and Ravindra Jadeja (12-104 & 38 for Saurashtra).
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