The 2026-27 Ranji Trophy got underway with several notable individual performances across the country. Experienced batters, in particular, made their mark in the opening round of the season.
Three senior players stood out with significant contributions at the batting crease. Here is a look at each of them and what they produced in their respective matches.
Here are 3 experienced players who impressed with the bat in Round 1 of Ranji Trophy 2026-27:
3. Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja delivered an impressive all-round performance for Saurashtra against Chhattisgarh in their opening-round Ranji Trophy 2026-27 encounter at Rajkot. Batting at No. 5, Jadeja scored 102 off 209 balls, hitting seven fours, while sharing a 205-run partnership with Prerak Mankad, who contributed 129 runs. Their stand helped Saurashtra recover from 151/4 and post 392 in their first innings.
Jadeja continued his impact with the ball, claiming three wickets for 40 runs as Chhattisgarh were bowled out for 312 in 121.5 overs. He was also named Player of the Match for his century and three-wicket haul
2. Rinku Singh
Rinku Singh played a key innings for Uttar Pradesh against Bihar at Rajgir. He came to the crease with UP placed at 85/3 and went on to score 112 runs, sharing a partnership of more than 200 with Madhav Kaushik, who contributed 150. The pair helped UP recover from a precarious position to 286/3 on Day 1.
UP eventually posted a total of 540 in their first innings, with Amdo Yadav taking 4/91 for Bihar. Bihar were then bowled out for 141 and 132 in their two innings, with Karan Sharma taking seven wickets in the match and Zeeshan Ansari claiming 4/40 in Bihar's second innings. UP won by an innings and 267 runs.
1. Karun Nair
Karun Nair, 34, represented Karnataka against Andhra at Vijayawada in the opening round. Andhra posted 418 in their first innings, leaving Karnataka with a 144-run first-innings deficit. Senior Karnataka batters KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal struggled, with Rahul scoring 4 and 1 across the two innings and Agarwal contributing 18 and 5.
Against that backdrop, Nair's innings provided Karnataka with their most substantial batting contribution of the match. His performance stood out at a time when several of his more prominent teammates were unable to make an impact against Andhra's first-innings total.
