Top 5 performers in Round 2 of Ranji Trophy 2025-26 ft. Mohammad Shami

The 2025-26 Ranji Trophy second round commenced from Saturday, October 25, onwards, with most sides looking to either build on or recover from their opening round performances. Bengal continued their strong start to the season with their second successive win at home, while other prominent heavyweights like Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi had to settle for a draw.

With India scheduled to play a two-match Test series against South Africa from November 14 onwards, there could not be a better time to step up and get back into the selectors' radar. Several notable and discarded names have made a massive statement with their respective performances.

On that note, let us take a look at the top 5 performers in Round 2 of Ranji Trophy 2025-26.

#1 Mohammad Shami

The veteran pacer, recently entangled in a war of words with the chief selector Ajit Agarkar himself, let his performances do all the talking for the second game running in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy. After a player-of-the-match display in the opening game against Uttarakhand, Shami was in the thick of things yet again as he bagged eight wickets in the thumping 141-run win over Gujarat at the Eden Gardens.

Shami ended with figures of 3-44 in the first innings as left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed ran the show with a six-fer. After Bengal declared on 214-8 in the second innings after claiming a healthy first innings lead, the bowlers had the task of bowling out Gujarat, amid a fighting innings from Urvil Patel.

Shami ran the show, bagging a five-wicket haul to trigger a massive collapse. From 153-3, the visitors slumped to 185 in a little over 10 overs, with the veteran picking up four of the last five wickets to fall.

#2 Ajinkya Rahane

Another veteran player who let his performance do the talking after some bold statements was Mumbai batter Ajinkya Rahane. The experienced batter, coming in at No.3 after the opening duo of Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Musheer Khan faltered, scored a sublime and patient 159 runs off 303 deliveries in the first innings against Chhattisgarh.

His efforts helped Mumbai post 416 on the board. The bowlers backed his heroics by bowling out the opposition for 217, but after enforcing the follow-on, they had a much better outing with the bat. The match ended in a draw with Aayush Pandey scoring an unbeaten ton for the Amandeep Khare-led side. Rahane was adjudged the player of the match for his brilliant knock.

#3 Prithvi Shaw

The discarded opener is on the right track since his switch to Maharashtra, as he followed up his fifty from the second innings of the opening clash against Kerala, with a record-breaking double hundred against Chandigarh. The opener reached the milestone off just 141 deliveries, marking the second fastest double ton in Ranji Trophy history.

Shaw eventually ended up with 222 runs off 156 deliveries in the second innings. His knock included 29 fours and five sixes, coming at a strike rate of 142.30. His efforts ensured that Maharashtra were able to race to 359-3 in just 52 overs, giving them time to declare and bowl out the opposition to win the match by 144 runs.

#4 Arjun Sharma

The Services left-arm spinner played a huge part in the shortest match ever recorded in Ranji Trophy History. Playing against Assam, he bagged a five-wicket haul off just 38 deliveries to bowl them out for 103 runs in 17.2 overs. In reply, he recorded a duck in the first innings as Services claimed a narrow five-run lead.

He led from the front with the ball yet again to pick up four more wickets to skittle out the opposition for just 75 runs in the second innings. Services ensured a comfortable run chase to win by eight wickets as Sharma was named player of the match for his nine wickets in the game.

#5 Auqib Nabi

The Jammu and Kashmir pacer came into the limelight after his stellar 2024-25 Ranji Trophy campaign, where he bagged 44 wickets to be the leading wicket-taker among pacers. His performances, most notably against Mumbai, where he dismissed star players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, and Shivam Dube, played a huge role in the team's historic run to the quarter finals.

In the recent clash against Rajasthan, Auqib Nabi picked up figures of 3-29 in the first innings, before converting it into a brilliant ten wicket haul as he picked up seven wickets in the second innings. His figures of 7-24 off just 11 overs in the second innings resulted in Rajasthan getting bowled out for 89 as Jammu and Kashmir won by an innings and 41 runs in Srinagar.

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Edited by Gokul Nair