The RCB captain Rajat Patidar and Indian batter Sarfaraz Khan have made a strong start to the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 season with impressive centuries for their respective teams.

While Rajat Patidar smashed an unbeaten hundred for Madhya Pradesh against Pondicherry, Sarfaraz Kahn continued his love affair with domestic cricket by smashing another hundred for Mumbai. Earlier, Chinmay Sutar joins Bhausaheb Nimbalkar in elite Ranji Trophy 400 club.

Rajat Patidar kicks off Ranji Trophy 2026-27 season with stunning century

Madhya Pradesh captain Rajat Patidar made the most of his opportunity against Pondicherry in the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 Elite match at the CAP Siechem Ground in Thuthipet.

Batting at No. 6, Patidar completed his century in just 114 balls against the Pondicherry side.

Patidar remained unbeaten on 107 off 118 balls, hitting 13 fours at a strike rate of 90.68. His important knock helped Madhya Pradesh reach 302/5 at the stump against Pondicherry.

Rajat Patidar’s century puts Madhya Pradesh in strong position after Pondicherry collapse

Apart from the RCB captain, Chanchal Rathore (78 runs off 204 balls) and Shubham Sharma (58 off 106 balls) have also smashed brilliant fifties to take Madhya Pradesh to a strong position at the stump on Day 2 of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2026-27 Elite match.

Earlier, Pondicherry was bowled out for just 177 runs, with only Ritesh Ashok Gudge smashing a fifty, while the rest of the team could not even score 25+ runs against Madhya Pradesh.

Ravi Kiran starred with the ball with three scalps, while Aryan Pandey, Saransh Jain, and Kumar Kartikeya each took two wickets against Pondicherry in the ongoing Ranji clash in Thuthipet. Amid this, Aakash Chopra names 3 players Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can replace in India XI ahead of New Zealand tour.

Sarfaraz Khan smashes his 18th First-Class century

Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Khan also made the headlines by scoring his 18th First-Class century for Mumbai against Himachal Pradesh in the 2026-27 Ranji Trophy group-stage match. The right-handed batter reached his hundred in 151 balls at the Luhnu Cricket Stadium in Bilaspur.

Mumbai had a poor start as they lost both of their openers, Divyaansh Saxena (9) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (20), cheaply against the Himachal Pradesh side. However, Musheer Khan and Captain Siddhesh Lad steered the ship by smashing brilliant fifties for the Mumbai side.

Sarfaraz Khan’s 139 puts Mumbai in command after Tushar Deshpande destroys Himachal Pradesh

Later, Sarfaraz Khan went on to score 139* runs off 213 balls, smashing 18 fours, at an impressive strike rate of over 65 at the stump. His knock helped Mumbai to put 398/4 on the board on Day 2 of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2026-27 match at the Luhnu Cricket Stadium.

Earlier, Himachal Pradesh was bowled out for just 140 runs with only captain Pukhraj Mann (35), wicketkeeper-batter Vaibhav Kalta (33), and Akash Vasisht (39) managing to cross the 30-run mark against Mumbai. The rest of the batting lineup was dismissed for the single-digit score.

Tushar Deshpande starred with the ball, taking four wickets for 46 runs in 13.5 overs while Sylvester D’Souza scalped two wickets for Mumbai in the elite game against the Himachal Pradesh side.