Ranji Trophy 2026-27 Round 3 Wrap Up: Urvil Patel Misses Ton by 4, Shreyas Gopal Takes Five, Sarfaraz Khan's Mumbai Top Group D

Hello Yellow Army!

The last day of Round 3 of the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 is finally over, and what a day it was, full of action! It ended with just what I was wishing for, three wins for our boys' teams, along with a five-wicket haul, a ton missed by just 4 runs and a lot of draws. If you missed my daily reports, here are Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3, and also our Round 1 and Round 2 wrap ups.

And what a good end to the round it was on day 4! The batters who were silent in the last round, Urvil Patel and Aman Khan, came back with fiery innings, our bowlers kept doing the job in the same way, and Mumbai and Karnataka sealed their wins on the last day as well, with a bonus point each. Now let's put it all together, one by one.

Round 3 report card

Shreyas Gopal: a five-wicket haul and a first win

What a comeback from our captain! After two feeble outings with the ball in the last two rounds, Gopal came up with a five-wicket haul at just the right time. He started with a 1/34 in 18 overs on day 1 to keep the pressure on Tripura, and added 19 with the bat on day 2 as Karnataka built a lead.

Then, in the second innings, he rattled the whole top order with 3/25 on day 3 and finished with 5 wickets for 36 runs in 23.1 overs.

Karnataka beat Tripura by an innings and 116 runs, scoring 490/9 declared against 194 and 180. Finally, a first win of the season for last season's runners-up! And since it came by an innings, they get 7 points instead of the usual 6. What a captain, leading from the front!

Sarfaraz Khan: Mumbai top Group D

As expected, Sarfaraz Khan's Mumbai won again, and they now top Elite Group D with 21 points. That is three wins in three matches, each worth 7 points as they won by an innings twice, and this time by 10 wickets, which also gets the extra point. Haryana made 270 and 256 following on against Mumbai's 430, and Mumbai chased 97 without losing a wicket.

For Sarfaraz it was a quieter round after his Round 2 heroics. He was unbeaten on 21 on day 1 and then out for 40 on day 2, lbw to Nishant Sindhu. As a fan, I would have loved to see him bat in the second innings, but Mumbai have not needed him to for the last three rounds.

Gurjapneet Singh: back-to-back wins for Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu beat Railways by 5 wickets, which means back-to-back wins after the innings win against Uttarakhand in Round 2. Railways were bowled out for 184 and 108, and Tamil Nadu made 165 and 130/5.

Well, for Gurjapneet also it was a little quiet round, but he still did his job. He took 1/27 in 12 overs on day 1 and 1/15 in 4 overs on day 2 before the spinners took over the control, which suited the pitch better, and was 0 not out with the bat. Statistically it may not look outstanding, but it was good enough to help Tamil Nadu stay ahead of the opponents all through. Two matches, two wins, and our boy is in the winning side! Tamil Nadu now have 14 points and are 2nd in Group D, just behind Mumbai.

Urvil Patel: so close, 4 runs short

After 13 on day 1 and two days of waiting, Urvil came out and played another blistering, fiery innings of 96 off 72 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes. But he missed a century again, this time by 4 runs, caught by Digvijay Patil off Tanay Sanghvi.

His runs gave Gujarat (223 and 446/5 declared) the cushion to save the match against Maharashtra (330 and 141/4), but not the points. As it ended in a draw, Maharashtra got 3 points for the first innings lead and Gujarat just 1. Still, after the 23 in Round 2, it is a great sign that the Urvil of Round 1 is back.

Well, it is amazing to see Urvil doing the same thing he normally does in T20, but I would love to see him convert it into a big hundred even more. This is red-ball cricket, where the volume of runs counts and speaks more about you, not one or two fiery innings. Gujarat are currently on 11 points and third in Elite Group C, and the team will need his long innings even more in the coming matches.

Aman Khan: a crucial 62 saves Puducherry

It has been a rollercoaster for Aman. In the first innings he started fiery with 19 off 16 and then got clean bowled, and Puducherry were bundled out for 172 and forced to follow on against Uttar Pradesh's 333.

But then, in the follow-on, he came back with a crucial 62 off 67 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes, and helped save his team from another loss this season. Puducherry finished on 211/8, a lead of 50, and bad light ended the match in a draw. A big moment for Aman after a tough first two rounds, and he also bowled 1 over for 6 on day 2.

But I would suggest the same for Aman as I did for Urvil. It is great to see those fiery starts and a fighting 62, but in red-ball cricket the volume of runs counts and speaks more about you, so I would love to see him turn these starts into a big, long innings. That is what his team will need from him in the coming matches.

Kartik Sharma: a first half century, but no win

Kartik started the round with a lovely 73 on day 1, his first first-class half century after three centuries earlier, and then was bowled for 1 in the second innings by Mayank Mishra.

Still, a 100-plus run partnership between Kunal Rathore and Karan Lamba gave Rajasthan a good lead, and they declared on 290/5 against Uttarakhand (194), but there was not enough time to defend and win. It would have been Kartik's first win as captain, but the match ended in a draw. Rajasthan are still waiting for their first win of the season, with all three matches drawn, and they are on 9 points, 4th in Group D behind Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Haryana.

Kuldip Yadav: a long grind ends in a draw

Kuldip had a hard-working round. He toiled for 1/50 in 15 overs on day 1 and then fought back with 4/62 on day 2, in a match where Meghalaya made a mammoth 562.

On day 4 he added 7 runs with the bat as Mizoram made 430, and the match ended in a draw with few overs left. He did not bowl in the second innings, as Meghalaya were 60/2.

Prashant Veer: CK Nayudu Trophy, still on

Prashant plays for Uttar Pradesh Under-23s in the Col C K Nayudu Trophy (Elite), and his match against Hyderabad is still going on. He made 18 and bowled 8 wicketless overs on day 1, took 3/99 in 29 overs on day 2, and then made 19 and bowled 1 over for 4 on day 3. Hyderabad need 120 more runs to win with 8 wickets left, so a result will most likely come tomorrow.

Who did not play

• Ayush Mhatre is out with a Grade 4 hamstring tear, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi played as his replacement for Mumbai.
• Ruturaj Gaikwad did not play for Maharashtra, most probably because of the ODI series in New Zealand, as he has been named in both ODI squads.
• Mukesh Choudhary and Anshul Kamboj are with India A in New Zealand.
• Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube are with the Indian T20I squad for the New Zealand tour.

Round 3 Review: Shreyas Gopal's Five-Wicket Haul and Fiery Knocks From Urvil Patel and Aman Khan

For me, the highlight of the third round would be Shreyas Gopal, who has finally helped his team as a captain, with Karnataka's first win of the season and a big win at that, with a bonus point, thanks to his 5-wicket haul.

Then obviously there is Urvil Patel with yet another blistering 96, and Aman Khan, who made a late entry to the party. But I would want both of them to convert these into a big one, because that is how you get more limelight in the season and help the team overall as well.

After three rounds of the Ranji Trophy, almost every player now has some good and some bad performances altogether. So what is left? Well, just continuation and consistent grinding to add more impact. There is still more than half of the season's matches left to shine, and as I said in our Round 2 wrap up, many of these players will be on the radar for the IPL 2027 squad, so every game still counts.

I will keep adding every update on the Super Kings Player Tracker, so keep an eye on it.

Stay healthy stay yellow.