Muzumdar, Gautam dominate ninth Ranji round
Stats highlights from the ninth round of the Ranji Trophy 2012-13
Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan
02-Jan-2013
Amol Muzumdar became the first player to pass 9000 runs in the Ranji Trophy • ESPNcricinfo Ltd
- CM Gautam scored his second double-century (264) of the season. His previous double-hundred (257) came against Vidarbha. He also becomes the second batsman after Ravindra Jadeja to register two scores of 250 or more in this season. Jadeja had earlier scored two triple-centuries against Gujarat and Railways. The 264 is also the third-highest score by a Karnataka batsman in the Ranji Trophy after Barrington Rowland's 283 and Arjun Raja's 267. Gautam is also the highest run-getter in the season so far. In eight matches, he has scored 938 runs at an average of 134.00 with three centuries and two fifties. Gautam's 264 and 257 are the second and third-highest scores by a wicketkeeper in the Ranji Trophy behind Sagar Jogiyani's 282 against Gujarat. All three top scores by wicketkeepers have come in this season.
- Amol Muzumdar became the first batsman to pass the 9000-run mark in the history of the Ranji Trophy. He is closely followed by Wasim Jaffer, who has scored 8825 runs. Jaffer, however, is ahead of Muzumdar on the century front. While Jaffer has 30 centuries, Muzumdar has 28 centuries. Ajay Sharma is on top of the list with 31 centuries. In this season, Muzumdar has scored five centuries in eight games at an average of 78.90. Only Paras Dogra has scored as many centuries in this season so far. Parthiv Patel and Abhishek Nayar have the most fifty-plus scores in the season (9).
- Ishwar Pandey is the highest wicket-taker so far in the season with 48 wickets in eight matches. In 15 innings, he averages 21.90 with five five-fors. Sandeep Sharma is second, with 41 wickets at an average of 17.95. While Pandey missed out on the 50-wicket mark, Sharma has the chance to become only the fourth fast bowler to pass the mark in a Ranji season.
- Five out of 12 matches in the round produced outright results. Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have won four matches each, the most by any team in the season so far. Overall, in the season, 43 matches have produced outright results while 65 have been drawn. In the ninth round, 16 centuries were scored. In comparison, the previous round had 18 centuries. In nine rounds so far in the season, 189 centuries have been scored (21 per round).
- In 12 matches in the ninth round, pace bowlers picked up 208 wickets at an average of 30.14 with nine five-fors. In comparison, spinners picked up 102 wickets at an average of 36.35 with two five-wicket hauls. The runs per wicket in the ninth round was 31.23. In comparison, it was 29.03 in the eighth round and 33.60 in the previous seven rounds.
- The highest partnership in this round was 340 between Gautam and Stuart Binny. That is the fourth-highest partnership in the season so far. The ninth round featured 17 century stands. In comparison, the previous round had 11 century stands.
Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan is a sub-editor (stats) at ESPNcricinfo