Shubham Pundir Smashes Historic Century as Jammu and Kashmir Seize Day 1 of Ranji Trophy Final

Shubham Pundir scored 117(221) vs Karnataka [Source: BCCIDomestic/X.com]

Jammu and Kashmir was all over the domestic giants, Karnataka, on Day 1 of the historic first Ranji Trophy Final appearance in Hubli. The visitors looked unfazed by the occasion on the big day, as Shubham Pundir held on to one end against a fairly experienced bowling attack and scored a memorable ton.

In the lead-up to the final, Pundir wasn’t a regular feature in the team, playing only three matches since December 2024; however, impressing with a 165 against Himachal Pradesh, which played a crucial role in their knockout qualification.

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Pundir’s historic ton puts JKCA ahead vs Karnataka

At a historically good venue for batting first and posting mammoth totals, Jammu and Kashmir started well by winning the toss and batting first. The pitch assisted seamers for a while, which caused an early setback for JKCA, as Qamran Iqbal was dismissed for 6(36) off a Prasidh Krishna delivery.

The left-handed batter, Shubham Pundir, walked in at 18/1 in the 10.2 over and took his time to settle in, while Yawer Hassan took the aggressive route. The duo stitched an instrumental 139-run stand in 244 balls before Hassan got out. Pundir batted for the rest of the day, putting away any loose deliveries on offer whilst holding on to his end.

The experienced Paras Dogra had to walk off injured after 9(48), but as Pundir batted alongside Abdul Samad, he became Jammu and Kashmir’s first-ever centurion in the Ranji Trophy final and carried his bat. By the time of Stumps, he had stitched another century partnership with Samad, who remains unbeaten at 52 off 67.

Courtesy of Pundir’s second century of the season, Jammu and Kashmir ended the day at 284/2 in 87 overs.

Pundir comes out of syllabus for Karnata in the final

The 27-year-old left-hand batter Pundir has been around the Jammu and Kashmir red-ball team for over a decade. He made his first-class debut back in January 2015 against Bengal, where he managed to score only 1 run.

Much like his debut, his 31-match domestic career has been lacklustre, where he has only managed to score 1296 runs in 50 innings. His average of 27.57 would have had Karnataka hopeful of an early dismissal. However, on the big occasion, the southpaw repaid the faith shown in him for years and got them to a perfect Day 1.

With the unbeaten century, he now has 322 runs in 6 innings this season, averaging 64.40 with potentially another innings to be played.

Jammu and Kashmir looks to cause an upset in the Ranji Trophy Final

Considering Jammu and Kashmir are playing their first-ever Ranji Trophy Final against the second-most successful team in the competition's history, Karnataka, the odds were heavily stacked against them before the game. However, with a spirited Day 1 showing from Pundir and co., JKCA could fancy their chances of defeating the giants in their own backyard.

With Auqib Nabi leading the bowling attack, it will be crucial for the North Indian side to strike early blows after the form the top-order of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal has shown. Karnataka also has the tournament’s top run-getter, Smaran Ravichandran, in the middle order alongside Karun Nair’s experience.

Looking at all the factors, it is instrumental for Shubham Pundir to bat well on Day 2 to take his team past 550 to bat Karnataka out of the game.

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