India Test batters flop on opening day of Ranji Trophy 2026-27 season

KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal fell cheaply on the opening day of the 2026-27 Ranji Trophy season. (BCCI)

The Ranji Trophy 2026-27 season got underway on Sunday across 18 venues in the country, with India’s seasoned Test stars suffering poor starts in their respective matches.

India openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul were dismissed within the opening hour of their respective matches in Mumbai and Mulapadu, respectively. Opening for Mumbai against Chandigarh at the Wankhede Stadium, Jaiswal was dismissed for a 13-ball duck, while Rahul fell for four runs against Andhra as last year’s runners-up Karnataka were jolted with four early wickets by pacers Kavuri Saiteja and KV Sasikanth.

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Jaiswal recently made India’s ODI squad against the West Indies but was benched for all three matches. The 24-year-old last played in India’s two-match Test tour of Sri Lanka, scoring 77 runs in three innings.

Ahead of the Ranji Trophy season opener, Jaiswal was seen taking up wicket-keeping during Mumbai’s practice game.

“He wants to eventually, in future, keep wickets for maybe Mumbai or go on to keep wickets for the Indian team, is what he is aiming for. That is what I feel, but I haven’t got any clarity on that,” Mumbai captain Siddhesh Lad told reporters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Rahul was part of India’s 2-1 ODI series win against the West Indies. In his only innings in the series in Mullanpur, Rahul cracked a sparkling 82-ball century, his ninth ton in the format.

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Besides Rahul and Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar and Washington Sundar are the other stars in action.

While 18 matches in the opening round was underway, the Plate group match involving Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland stood cancelled after an ongoing legal tussle within the Arunachal association has left the side without a team for the match in Ahmedabad.

The association had not fielded a team in the Vinoo Mankad U-19 Trophy, which began in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The BCCI has already informed Arunachal’s opponents that the state unit may not be able to field any team until a judgement on the factional dispute is delivered by the Itanagar Bench of the Guwahati High Court.