Day two of the third round of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy was full of action. The day belonged to three batters who scored double-centuries (200+ runs) in the Elite Group games.
First, Karun Nair of Karnataka sent a strong message from this Ranji match to the Indian team selectors. He had been left out of the main India and India A teams. The chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, had said they “expected a little bit more” from Nair.
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In reply, Nair played against Kerala in Ranji and scored a huge 233 runs. This was his second big score in a row. He told reporters he “deserves a lot better” and should be on the Test team.
Nair got great support from 22-year-old R Smaran, who scored his own double-century. Smaran finished with a career-best 220 not out in a Ranji Match.
The two players batted together for a long time, adding 343 runs for the fourth wicket. They almost broke Karnataka’s record (354 runs) for that wicket. Thanks to their big scores, Karnataka is now in a strong position to win its first match of this Ranji season.
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In another match in Ranchi, Jharkhand’s new opening batter, Shikhar Mohan, also hit a double-century. He scored 207 runs against Nagaland. This was only his third first-class game. After Jharkhand lost two early wickets, Mohan stepped up. He built a 253-run partnership with the stand-in captain, Virat Singh (who was playing because Ishan Kishan was with the India A team).
Mohan later batted with Kumar Kushagra (58) to help Jharkhand get past 400 runs. Jharkhand finally declared at 510 for 8. They are now in a great position to beat Nagaland by an innings. Elsewhere, Shubham Khajuria of Jammu and Kashmir came very close to a double-hundred but got out for 190.