Akash Pandey took 9 wickets in an innings for Railways against Goa in Ranji Trophy. Spent 71 runs. Two days before him, Kerala’s Jalaj Saxena also took 9 wickets with 68 runs in an innings against Bengal. A new precedent has been set in Indian first-class cricket in this pair of incidents. Never in the past have two bowlers achieved the feat of taking 9 wickets in an innings in a Ranji Trophy season. What happened in Ranji Trophy this time. Aakash and Jalaj have set a new precedent in Indian cricket despite playing in separate matches.
Six other cricketers took 9 wickets in an innings in the Ranji Trophy before Jalaj and Akash. The first name in the list is Haider Ali of Railways. He took 9 for 25 against Jammu and Kashmir in the 1969–70 season. Ashish Zaidi of Uttar Pradesh took 9 for 45 against Vidarbha in 1999. The third name in the list is Faizal Sheikh of Goa. He took 9 for 29 against Services in the 2002–03 season. In the 2012–13 season, Ankit Chakkan took 9 for 23 for Mumbai against Punjab. In 2019, Meghalaya’s Sanjay Yadav spent 52 runs and took 9 wickets against Nagaland. In 2022, Fairizm Jotin Singh of Manipur scored 9 in an innings for 69 runs against Sikkim. Took a wicket.
