Mohammed Siraj came back with a storm as he led the way for Hyderabad as captain with four wickets to rally Chhattisgarh on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group D tournament at the Gymkhana Ground on Thursday 29 January.
With Hyderabad, he was asked to bite first, Siraj led to get the initial flurry of wickets, with the Indian pacer getting rid of Anuj Tiwary and Sanjeet Desai in his first spell.
After Siraj’s opening spell, Chhattisgarh managed to claw their way back into the game with middle order batsmen Vikalp Tiwari and Prateek Yadav hitting 94 and 106 respectively.
But Siraj made another breakthrough by denying Vikalp his century and followed it up with the wicket of Aditya Sarwate as Hyderabad bundled out Chhattisgarh for 283 in less than 73 overs.
Siraj finished as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/56 in his 17 overs which included three maidens.
Hyderabad may already be out of knockout contention, but that does not deter their belief. Chhattisgarh, on the other hand, have slim chances of qualifying if they secure a bonus point win.
Siraj endured a tough outing on his debut as captain in Hyderabad against Mumbai in the previous match, where the Siddesh Lad-led team posted a whopping 560, their first innings total.
Sarfaraz Khan went on to smash the double hundred while the skipper also had a century to his credit. Middle-order Suved Prakar also chipped in with a fifty as Mumbai won by 9 wickets.
With India not playing any more Tests or ODIs for some time now, the Ranji Trophy has become an important avenue for players like Siraj to keep them up to speed in terms of fitness and awareness of the game. The Indian selectors would keep a close eye on his performances for the games that would require him in the future.
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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
January 29, 2026
