Hello Yellow Army!
So, Round 2 of the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 is over with a day 4, and wow, what a round it was for our CSK boys! Two hundreds, a Player of the Match award, two big innings wins for Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, and then a whole lot of draws and heartbreak for a few of our batters. If you missed our Round 1 wrap up or the daily reports, here are Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.
Day 4? Honestly, it was bone dry. Rain in Puducherry, most matches slowly headed for draws, and hardly any action from our CSK players. So let's put it all together!
Round 2 report card
| Player | Match | Result | How he fared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarfaraz Khan | Mumbai vs Himachal Pradesh | Won by an innings and 97 runs | 154, Player of the Match |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | Maharashtra vs Jharkhand | Drawn | 101*, his 10th first-class century |
| Gurjapneet Singh | Tamil Nadu vs Uttarakhand | Won by an innings and 66 runs | 4/34 and 0/13, 7 with the bat |
| Urvil Patel | Gujarat vs Delhi | Drawn | 23, no second turn |
| Kartik Sharma | Rajasthan vs Railways | Drawn | 4, no second turn |
| Shreyas Gopal | Karnataka vs Saurashtra | Drawn | 3 and 1, 1/55 and 1/42 |
| Aman Khan | Puducherry vs Madhya Pradesh | Drawn, rain | 6, 0/10 in 1 over, no second turn |
| Kuldip Yadav | Mizoram vs Nagaland | Drawn | 5 with a bat, 2/114 in 36 overs |
Sarfaraz Khan: Player of the Match, and he is BACK!
Okay, let's start with the big one, because Sarfaraz was the hero of this round, no doubt about it! After a decent 45 off 97 in the Irani Cup and a sad 1 off 6 in Round 1, I was a little worried, and then boom, he is back to his big-innings ways!
He brought up his 18th first-class century on day 2, finishing on 139 not out with a 176-run partnership with Akash Anand, and then added 15 more before getting out for 154 on day 3.
Mumbai declared on 528/8, bowled Himachal Pradesh out for 140 and 291 and won by an innings and 97 runs. And of course, Player of the Match for Sarfaraz! This is exactly the form we want to see from him, and I can't wait for the next rounds.
Ruturaj Gaikwad: the wait was worth it, 10th first-class century!
Ruturaj missed Round 1 because of India A duty, and then in Round 2 we all had to wait and wait for him, as he came in very late and down the order. But when he did, wow!
He ended day 2 on a good 35 not out and then on day 3 he went and brought up his 10th first-class century, batting at number 7! He was unbeaten on 101 as Maharashtra declared on 527/5, a lead of 358 over Jharkhand (169 all out).
He did not bat again after that, and Jharkhand were 330/6 in their second innings in the third session of day 4, still trailing by 14 runs, and the match ended in a draw. What a comeback to red-ball cricket just before the New Zealand tour, I am so happy for our captain - Good luck to their trollers!
Gurjapneet Singh: a winning return and what a start
Remember I told you Gurjapneet would be a bright spot? He came back from India A and straight away did what he does best! He took 4/34 in 13 overs on day 1, including a ridiculous 3/19 in the first session, as Uttarakhand were bowled out for just 134.
He added 7 runs with the bat as Tamil Nadu made 313, and in the second innings he bowled 5 overs for 13 runs as his partners did the work. Tamil Nadu won by an innings and 66 runs!
Performances like this keep him in the race with Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Choudhary and Anshul Kamboj for a place in CSK's playing XI, and I love such competition.
Urvil Patel and Kartik Sharma: so close, yet so far
Honestly, this one hurts a bit. Not the round these two batters would have wanted at all.
Urvil waited and waited for his turn, and when it finally came he was out for 23 before lunch as Gujarat made 479 against Delhi's 648/6 declared. Then Gujarat followed on, the match was drawn with Gujarat on 15/1, and he did not get another turn. After his 85 off 67 in Round 1, this was a big chance missed.
Kartik, as captain, could add only 4 runs after coming in at 445/5 as Rajasthan were bowled out for 497, even with that massive base. Railways made 338, followed on, and were 176/2 when the match ended in a draw. He did not bat again, so it was another first innings where he could not add much, after his 1 off 5 and 42 in Round 1. Come on, Kartik, we know you have a big one in you! Let's show it before someone starts pointing at that 14 crore price tag in CSK again.
Shreyas Gopal: a captain's draw
It was a quiet game with the bat for our captain Gopal, but he kept working hard with the ball. He was out for 3 on day 1 as Karnataka were 187/7, before Manvanth Kumar's century from number 9 took them to 342.
Then he bowled a tight 7 overs for 26 on day 2 and finished with 1/55 in 19.3 overs as Saurashtra recovered from 173/5 to 349 and took a 7-run lead.
In the second innings he added 1 run with the bat as Karnataka declared on 243/7, and then bowled 12 overs for 42 runs and took 1 wicket as Saurashtra ended on 137/2. The match was drawn, with Saurashtra taking the first innings lead. After missing the opener with dehydration, it was good to see him play a full match as captain, with 2 wickets in the game.
Aman Khan: rain ends another tough match
Not good going for Aman in Ranji up until now. After 1 and 4 against Vidarbha in Round 1, he was stumped for 6 on day 1 as Puducherry made 177, and he bowled 1 over for 10 runs as Madhya Pradesh made 345 for a lead of 168.
Puducherry were 98/1 at the end of day 3, trailing by 70 runs, and he was yet to bat in the second innings. This was his chance! But on day 4, rain and a wet outfield stopped the game, and the match ended in a draw, so he never got that chance. Really tough luck. I hope he gets a big one in Round 3.
Kuldip Yadav: a long grind and a draw
Tough and long workload for Kuldip! After his 26 off 15 and 3 wickets in Round 1, he made 5 and went wicketless in 3 overs for 19 on day 2 as Mizoram declared on 581/9 with Chinmay Sutar unbeaten on 400 (yes, 400!).
Then he took 1/67 in 19 overs on day 3 as Nagaland batted really well and reached 324/3, and finished with 2/114 in 36 overs as Nagaland were bowled out for 516. The match ended in a draw, with Mizoram taking the first innings lead. 36 overs in one innings, that is a serious spell from him!
Who did not play
- Ayush Mhatre is out with a Grade 4 hamstring tear and will miss at least the next three games for Mumbai. Missing him badly, get well soon!
- Mukesh Choudhary missed Maharashtra's game as he has joined India A for the New Zealand tour.
- Anshul Kamboj was not in Haryana's playing XI, maybe to keep him fresh for the New Zealand tour.
- Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube are with the Indian T20I squad for the New Zealand tour, where the five T20Is start on 22 October.
- Ramakrishna Ghosh is still recovering from his foot injury, and Prashant Veer was not in Uttar Pradesh's XI.
- Rahul Chahar was not in Rajasthan's XI, and he is reportedly set to join Jammu and Kashmir as a guest player, though there is no official announcement yet.
My take
Well, from batting perspective, a great round for few CSK boys especially Sarfaraz Khan player of the match century and our captain Ruturaj Gaikwad century right in his first Ranji match. Though tough days still going on for others - Aman Khan, Urvil Patel, and Kartik Sharma who needs to up their game.
Also, in bowling apart from Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal and Kuldip Yadav needs a fresh breathe of air after decent not that good outings. As I said in our Round 1 wrap up, it is still early in the season, and many of these players will be on the radar for the IPL 2027 squad, so every game counts to show their form.
I will keep adding every update on the Super Kings Player Tracker, so keep an eye on it.
Stay healthy stay yellow.