Ranji Trophy: Tushar Deshpande rocks Himachal as Mumbai take control, close in on first-innings lead

The opening day of the Ranji Trophy witnessed impressive bowling performances from Mumbai pacer Tushar Deshpande who claimed four wickets to put their Mumbai in commanding positions. Mumbai bowled out Himachal Pradesh for 140 and finished the day just 33 runs short of taking the first-innings lead.Deshpande's four-wicket haul puts Mumbai in controlMumbai closed in on a first-innings lead against Himachal Pradesh after Deshpande's four-wicket haul helped dismiss the hosts for 140 in 39.5 overs in their Ranji Trophy Group D encounter in Bilaspur on Sunday.Deshpande returned figures of 4/46, making the most of the early conditions to trouble the Himachal batters with disciplined bowling. Mumbai reached 107/2 in 36 overs at stumps, requiring just 33 more runs to take the lead with eight wickets remaining.The Mumbai pacer made an immediate impact, dismissing opener Shubham Arora for a duck with the first ball of the match. He then trapped Nehal Wadhera lbw for eight in the third over as Himachal slipped to 22/3 inside the first six overs. Mohit Avasthi accounted for the other opener, Innesh Mahajan, who scored 11.Himachal captain Pukhraj Mann (35), wicketkeeper Vaibhav Kalita (33) and Akash Vasisht (39) attempted to revive the innings, but their contributions were insufficient to take the hosts to a competitive total. Deshpande and fellow pacer Sylvester D'Souza, who claimed 2/43, continued to make inroads as Himachal were bowled out before the end of the first session.Mumbai's openers also failed to capitalise on the opportunity, with Divyaansh Saxena scoring nine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi making 20. However, Musheer Khan (34 not out) and captain Siddhesh Lad (32 not out) steadied the innings with an unbeaten 75-run partnership for the third wicket.Deshpande, playing his 51st first-class match, is also closing in on the milestone of 150 wickets in the format.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.