Shardul Thakur once again demonstrated to the Indian selectors that he is the best pace-bowling all-rounder in the country. In the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium, the senior player scored a valuable 75 runs and took 1 wicket, putting Mumbai ahead of Vidarbha. At the end of Day 1, Vidarbha finished at 31/3, still trailing Mumbai by 193 runs after Akshay Wadkar won the toss and invited Mumbai to bat first. Mumbai openers Prithvi Shaw and Bhupen Lalwani put together an 81-run partnership before Lalwani was dismissed by Yash Thakur. Lalwani scored 37 runs off 64 balls. Shaw also fell shortly after scoring 46 runs off 63 deliveries. Musheer Khan, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Tamore, and Ajinkya Rahane did not contribute significantly with the bat, and Mumbai's score slumped to 111 for 6.
Shardul then formed meaningful partnerships with Shams Mulani and Tushar Deshpande, taking the total to 224.
He scored 75 runs off 69 balls, including 8 fours and 3 sixes, while Mulani and Deshpande scored 13 and 14 runs respectively. Dubey and Thakur made early breakthroughs with the ball. Umesh Yadav dismissed Shreyas Iyer and Shardul in the first innings.
Shreyas, who was dropped from the central squad, scored just 7 runs while skipper Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed on 7.
Shardul took the wicket of opener Dhruv Shorey. Vidarbha then came under pressure as Dhawal Kulkarni dismissed Aman Mokhade and Karun Nair. Atharva Taide remained unbeaten on 21 as Vidarbha finished day 1 at 31/3.