Rohit Sharma claims two wickets, dismisses Harsh Gawali for 12; J&K elect to bowl in season opener
Srinagar: Defending champions Jammu and Kashmir made three early breakthroughs after winning the toss and electing to bowl against Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy 2026–27 Elite Group A opener at Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar on Sunday.
At the end of 23 overs, Madhya Pradesh were 43 for three with Medium pacer Rohit Sharma claimed two wickets for J&K, including Harsh Gawali, who was caught by Abdul Samad for 12 off 53 balls at 41 for three in 20.5 overs.
Earlier, Rohit dismissed Himanshu Mantri for 17 off 41 balls, with Abdul Samad taking the catch, leaving Madhya Pradesh struggling to build momentum in the opening session.
At the end of 23 overs, captain Shubham Sharma was batting on eight, while Chanchal Rathore was yet to open his account. Madhya Pradesh were scoring at 1.86 runs per over.
J&K, led by Paras Dogra, opted to bowl first in the four-day contest as the defending champions began their title defence at home.
Playing XIs
Jammu and Kashmir: Shubham Khajuria, Qamran Iqbal, Shubham Pundir, Abdul Samad, Paras Dogra (captain), Auqib Nabi, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wicketkeeper), Vanshaj Sharma, Sunil Kumar, Lone Nasir Muzaffar and Rohit Sharma.
Madhya Pradesh: Harsh Gawali, Yash Dubey, Shubham Sharma (captain), Himanshu Mantri (wicketkeeper), Atharv Mahajan, Chanchal Rathore, Saransh Jain, Aryan Pandey, Avesh Khan, Ravi Kiran and Akshay Sharma. (KNO)
The match was underway as this report was being filed.
