Overlooked for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, Saransh Jain didn't take it lying down. On Monday, the Madhya Pradesh spinner turned his frustration into fire, picking up seven wickets in 13 overs to bowl Bihar out for a paltry 99. It was a performance that silenced any doubts about his form, leaving the opposition batting lineup in tatters and handing his team a commanding lead.
The numbers are brutal. Jain finished with figures of 7/40, including one maiden, which stands as his best bowling in a first-class innings. Bihar’s top order crumbled under pressure: he dismissed captain Sakibul Gani, Ayush Loharuka, and Akash Raj early, before cleaning up the middle and lower order with Raghuvendra Pratap Singh, Aditya Raj, Suraj Kashyap, and Himanshu Singh. By the final over, the match was effectively over. Bihar were all out in just 30.3 overs, a testament to Jain’s relentless accuracy and variation.
This comeback is significant for Jain, who made his India debut at 33 during the second Test against Sri Lanka earlier this year. He is the country’s oldest Test debutant since Robin Singh in 1998. Despite taking three wickets in that debut match, he was left out of the squad for the New Zealand series. But this performance in the Ranji Trophy suggests he might not have been ready to rest just yet.
With 59 first-class appearances to his name, Jain has scored 2,312 runs and claimed 195 wickets at an average of 28.23. His return to domestic cricket has been more than just a participation; it’s a statement. The next Ranji Trophy fixture will be a test of whether Madhya Pradesh can convert this dominance into a series victory, but for now, the spotlight is firmly on a spinner who proved he’s far from done.