The Ranji Trophy 2022-23 season is almost coming to an end. Saurashtra made a brilliant comeback over Punjab on the Final day of the 3rd Quarter-final & qualified for the Semi-final against Karnataka. Let's go through the match reviews of the Quarter-finals and, Fixtures & Schedule of the Semi-finals.

Ranji Trophy 2022-23

1st Quarter-final:

Bengal played against Jharkhand in the 1st Quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy in Eden Gardens. Bengal won the toss & elected to ball first. Mukesh Kumar & Akash Deep's spell destroyed the backbone of Jharkhand's batting lineup. Kumar Suraj scored 89 runs and tried his best to hold Jharkhand as long as possible but he got no support from the other end. Easwaran and Sudip Kumar Gharami's partnership led Bengal to a good start. Shahbaz Ahmed and Abishek Porel did the rest and Bengal finished the 1st inning with 328 runs.

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Akash Ghatak took 3 important wickets and Jharkhand broke into pieces again in the second innings. Bengal got a target of only 67 runs and they chased it down easily to qualify for the Semi-final.

2nd Quarter-final:

Uttarakhand played against Karnataka in the Second Quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy at M. Cinnaswamy Stadium. Karnataka won the toss & elected to ball first. M Venkatesh took the charge and dominated against Uttarakhand's batting lineup. They bowled out for only 116. Samarth & Mayank Agarwal started the inning in a high. They led the top order to a great start. Paddikal and Nikin Jose took the responsibilities and carried Karnataka's great start. Shreyas Gopal did the rest with a massive century. He scored 161 runs which helped Karnataka to reach past 600 runs. They almost seized their ticket to the Semi-final with that total. The bowlers once again demolished the Uttarakhand's Batsmen and won the match by an inning & 281 runs.

3rd Quarter-final:

Saurashtra & Punjab played the 3rd Quarter-final at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Saurashtra skipper Arpit Vasavada won the toss & elected to bat first. Harvik Desai got out for a duck. The other opener Snell Patel build the inning by scoring 70 valuable runs. But Baltej Singh & Mayank Markande's 7 Wickets spell destroyed the middle order of Saurashtra. Bowler Parth Bhut stood tall alone and scored an exceptional century to give Saurashtra a reason to fight. Punjab started with a bang with the help of their openers, Prabhsimran Singh & Naman Dhir. Both scored Centuries and gave the platform to win.

Arpit Vasavada & Chirag Jani's partnership carried the team at the start of the 2nd inning. Prerek Mankad did the rest and ended the total at 379 runs. While chasing the target of 252 runs, Punjab struggled against the Saurashtra bowlers. Parth Bhut took 5 wickets and bowled out Punjab for 180 runs. Saurashtra qualified for the Semi-final.

4th Quarter-final:

Andhra & Madhya Pradesh played the 4th Quarter-final at Holkar Stadium. MP won the toss & elected to ball first. Anubhav Agarwal took 4 crucial wickets and created problems for Andhra. Ricky Bhui and Karan Shinde played brilliant innings, scoring centuries but Hanuma Vihari's wrist injury was a big upset for Andhra. Although he batted with a single hand and fought as hard as he can for as long as possible. Prithvi Raj bowled really well as he took 5 wickets. The second inning changed the whole match. Avesh Khan & Gaurav Yadav's spells destroyed Andhra and they bowled out for only 93 runs. While chasing. MP had a great start and they followed the target calmly and won the match with 5 wickets.

Ranji Trophy 2022-23 Semi-final Fixtures & Schedule:

Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh - February 8 to February 12 - 9:30 A.M. IST

Saurashtra/Punjab vs Karnataka - February 8 to February 12 - 9:30 A.M. IST

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has produced some of the most thrilling matches in cricket history, with some teams successfully chasing down mammoth targets to win games. Rajasthan Royals were the first team to chase down a 200-plus total when they scored 217/7 in 19.5 overs to overcome Deccan Chargers’ 214/5 in the IPL 2008. It was only the ninth match of the league. Over the course of the next 12 years, a lot of sides chased down totals over 200+, but none came anywhere close to scaling what RR achieved in 2008.

That record stood for a solid 12 years before the Royals eclipsed it again in IPL 2020 when they hunted down Kings XI Punjab’s 223/2 with 226/6. The mark stood for five years. Currently, Punjab Kings hold the record for the highest successful run chases in IPL history.

Here is a list of the Highest Successful Run Chases in IPL History.

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Highest Successful Run Chases in IPL History

1. Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2024) | 262 Runs

Punjab Kings hold the record for the highest successful run chases in IPL history. PBKS successfully chased down a target of 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in IPL 2024. Tasked with chasing down a daunting target of 262 in front of a vociferous away crowd in Kolkata, PBKS had their task cut out for them. However, the Punjab team defied all odds.

Player of the Match Jonny Bairstow scored an unbeaten 48-ball 108, while Shashank scored an unbeaten 68 off 28 balls as Punjab pulled off the greatest run chase in IPL history.

In fact, Punjab Kings’ successful run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders is the only time a team has chased down a score of 250 or more in IPL history. It is also the highest successful run chase in T20 cricket as a whole.

2. Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings (2025) | 246 Runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad are second on the list of highest successful run chases in IPL history and coincidentally, it came against Punjab Kings in IPL 2025. After PBKS posted 245/6 in the first innings, SRH chased down the target by reaching 247/2 in 18.3 overs with Abhishek Sharma playing a starring role with a 55-ball 141. Abhishek hit a 40-ball century, making it one of the fastest in IPL history.

Punjab started strong with an explosive opening stand from Prabhsimran Singh and young Priyansh Arya. The two added 66 runs in just 24 balls, giving the team a perfect start. After Prabhsimran fell for 42, captain Shreyas Iyer took charge, smashing a half-century in just 22 balls. Nehal Wadhera supported him well, and the Kings crossed 150 runs within 12 overs.

The strong foundation was capped off in style by Marcus Stoinis, who cleared the ropes four times in the closing overs, helping Punjab finish at 245, their highest total of the season so far and a testament to the batting unit’s depth and intent. But Sunrisers Hyderabad responded with a brilliant opening partnership between Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head. Their 171-run stand helped them chase down the target successfully.

3. Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Lucknow Super Giants (2025) | 228 Runs

Stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma's unbeaten 85 led RCB to chase down 228 runs against Lucknow Super Giants. After the win, they sealed a top-two finish in the very last league game of IPL 2025. This is also RCB's highest-ever successful chase in IPL history and they will now play in Qualifier 1 against Punjab Kings. Records galore for RCB don't stop there, as they have ended up winning all 7 away games in the regular season, which is just remarkable.

The chase saw significant contributions from Virat Kohli and Phil Salt in the powerplay, followed by Jitesh Sharma and Mayank Agarwal's unbeaten partnership. Agarwal scored 41 not out to support Sharma's match-winning innings.

Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants posted a formidable 227/3, powered by captain Rishabh Pant's spectacular 118.

4. Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings (2020) | 224 Runs

A collective effort by Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, and Rahul Tewatia led the Rajasthan Royals to chase down a target of 224 runs against Punjab Kings in 2020, the highest successful run chase in IPL history. Samson was the top-scorer with an explosive 85 off just 42 deliveries but Rahul Tewatia became the centre of attraction because of his massive 7 sixes in the important moment. He smashed 5 sixes in an over against Sheldon Cottrell which changed the whole game.

5. Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2024) | 224 Runs

Rajasthan Royals equalled the highest successful run chase in the IPL recorded by them in 2020, when they beat Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. In a battle for the position at the top of the IPL 2024 standings, KKR managed 223/6 on the back of Sunil Narine’s maiden T20 century. For the Royals, Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen took two wickets each. 

In the run chase, Jos Buttler stood tall with an unbeaten 107 off just 60 balls, steering his team over the line on the last ball. The Royals were on the backfoot at 121/6 in the 13th over. But a cameo from Rovman Powell and some late power-hitting from Buttler got the Royals home.

Interestingly, Punjab Kings surpassed this record 10 days later against the same opponent at the same venue, when they successfully chased 262.

6. Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings (2021) | 219 Runs

Mumbai Indians pulled off a stunning 4-wicket victory over their arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in a match in 2021. Ambati Raydu & Faf du Plessis played blistering innings to put up that mammoth total at Delhi.

Chasing down the target of 219 runs, Mi didn't have a good start. Kieron Pollard's unbeaten 87 from 34 balls, including 6 boundaries and 8 sixes, played the most pivotal role in securing the win. He was also the best bowler for Mumbai in that match. Pollard conceded only 12 runs in his 2 overs and scalped 2 huge wickets.

7. Rajasthan Royals vs Deccan Chargers (2008) | 215 Runs

In the inaugural IPL edition, Rajasthan Royals chased a massive target of 215 runs against Deccan Chargers. Andrew Symonds' explosive 117 runs in just 53 deliveries helped Deccan Chargers to put up a huge total of 214 runs.

While Chasing, Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan laid the foundation with a 98-run partnership. The explosive knocks from Mohammad Kaif and Shane Warne at the end took Rajasthan to achieve victory.

Read Also: 5 batters with the most runs in IPL playoffs history

8. Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals (2023) | 215 Runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad stunned Rajasthan Royals at their home to clinch a high-scoring last-ball IPL thriller. Leveraging on a crucial last-ball no-ball from Sandeep Sharma, Sunrisers snatched the cliffhanger to register for their fourth win of the season. With 17 needed off the final over and 4 needed off the final ball, power-hitter Abdul Samad smashed a six off the last ball to help Sunrisers register a memorable win.

The foundation of the chase was laid by top-order batters Abhishek Sharma (55) and Rahul Tripathi (47) but it was the Glenn Phillips 7-ball 25 cameo that turned the game on its head and reignited the chase.

9. Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings (2023) | 215 Runs

Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Kumar produced a superb effort with the bat as Mumbai Indians completed a gigantic 215-run chase against Punjab Kings and won the match by six wickets in Mohali on Wednesday. The pair added 116 runs for the third wicket after Mumbai were 54/2 in the powerplay.

Ishan Kishan scored 75 in 41 balls. Tilak Varma and Tim David joined the chase and wrapped the contest in 18.5 overs with no issues.

10. Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings (2024) | 215 Runs

Brushing aside the first-ball dismissal of the explosive Travis Head, his opening partner Abhishek Sharma showcased an amazing range of stroke-play to ensure Sunrisers Hyderabad finished off its league engagements in the IPL in style with a four-wicket win over Punjab Kings.

Chasing a target of 215, Sunrisers batting depth came to the fore as first Rahul Tripathi set the tone before Abhishek served another reminder of his growing stature as a future India star. The way he stood up and swung Rishi Dhawan and later carted spinner Harpreet Brar for two huge sixes was truly symbolic of his authority, class and timing against pace and spin alike.

Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen came up with superbly-paced knocks to help the team’s cause on yet another perfect batting strip here.

The Bengal Pro T20 League, a premier domestic cricket competition in West Bengal, is meant to be a stage for local talent to shine. Launched to nurture and showcase Bengal’s cricketers, the league has been a source of pride for the state’s cricket fans.

However, the recently concluded Season 2 draft has sparked a firestorm of controversy. Reports have surfaced that outstation players—those not originally from West Bengal—are being registered as Bengal players, allegedly through falsified documentation.

This practice has raised serious ethical and legal questions, with fans and critics alike accusing the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and franchise teams of undermining the spirit of the league. Today, we dive into why this is not just unfair but potentially illegal, and what it means for the future of Bengal cricket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the India U19 (men's) squad for the upcoming England tour, scheduled from June 24 to July 23, 2025.

This tour will have a 50-over warm-up match, followed by a five-match Youth One-Day series and two Multi-Day matches against England U19.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has already made his name as the youngest ever centurion in IPL history at just 14 years of age, has been picked for the tour. Another IPL star, Ayush Mahtre, who has impressed with his striking abilities for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025, has been made the captain of the squad.

Abhigyan Kundu will be Mahtre's deputy for the whole tour. 

Bengal pacer Yudhajit Guha has been named in the squad as well. Guha had earlier featured for the India U19 team in the U-19 Asia Cup as well. 

Read Also | Exclusive: "Do not call him a 'baccha', he will play T20s for India in two years," says Bihar head coach after Vaibhav Suryavanshi's historical IPL ton

India U19 squad for the England tour

India U19 Squad: Ayush Mhatre (Captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra, Maulyarajsinh Chavda, Rahul Kumar, Abhigyan Kundu (Vice-Captain & WK), Harvansh Singh (WK), R S Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Yudhajit Guha, Pranav Raghavendra, Mohammed Enaan, Aditya Rana, Anmoljeet Singh

Standby Players: Naman Pushpak, D Deepesh, Vedant Trivedi, Vikalp Tiwari, Alankrith Rapole (WK)

Full Schedule of the tour

In recent years and decades, Bengal cricket has frequently witnessed the emergence of players from outside the region, who quickly become integral to Bengal's cricket scene. This trend was evident during the recently concluded draft for the Men's Bengal Pro T20 League 2025.

It is important to clarify that we are not referring to outstation players, like Rohan Gavaskar and Arun Lal, who came to Bengal from other states and made it their home for cricket.

Instead, we are talking about cricketers from outside West Bengal who are arriving here and illegally obtaining Aadhaar cards and other documents with false addresses.

Fake addresses, corruption and outsiders in Bengal cricket

These players are rapidly rising through the ranks, some based on merit while others without any noteworthy performances, and they are moving on to represent the state at various levels. Furthermore, those who are advancing are bringing more players from their home states to Bengal and creating paths for them.

This situation points to a larger conspiracy involving club officials who are allegedly accepting bribes. Some of these officials are supposedly encouraging players to participate without payment in exchange for assisting them in gaining entry into Bengal under-age teams or even the Bengal Pro T20 League squads.

It's worth noting that platforms like the Bengal Pro T20 League provide players with exposure to IPL scouts and teams, which can significantly boost their careers. Players like Sai Sudharasan, Priyansh Arya, Digvesh Rathi, Vipraj Nigam, and Ashwani Kumar have all emerged from their respective state T20 leagues.

Consequently, these outstation players have come to believe that if they cannot succeed in their own state, they can come to Bengal, create illegal documents, collaborate with certain club officials, and gain access to platforms like the Bengal Pro T20 League.

This situation is depriving talented young cricketers from Bengal, who have been performing well at the club level, of opportunities.

In a recent video, presented in Bengali, Sportz Point addressed these issues, which was well received within the Bengal cricket community. We have translated this information into English to ensure the message reaches a wider audience across the nation.

Siddharth Patidar - supposed to play in both MPT20 League and Bengal Pro T20 League

One such instance is Siddharth Patidar, a player from Madhya Pradesh who has represented MP in the past and participated in the MP T20 League since 2022. He is now claimed to be a local player in Bengal.

Patidar is currently a member of the Jabalpur Royal Lions and will be playing under Saransh Jain in the tournament.

How can a player local to the MP T20 League also be considered a local player in West Bengal? This suggests he was provided with illegal documentation to verify his status as a Bengal domestic player. 

The MP T20 League is set to commence on June 12, and it will be interesting to see how Patidar competes in two different state leagues, claiming residency in both Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Patidar was drafted in Srachi Rarh Tigers in Bengal Men's Pro T20 League 2025.

Sandeep Tomar - played in UP T20 League, but has documents of West Bengal

Another player, Sandeep Tomar, known to be from Uttar Pradesh, also appears to possess Bengal documents in his name. Sandeep has previously participated in the UP T20 League as a local player, and last season, he played in the Bengal Pro T20 League as a local player.

This raises the implication that Sandeep, too, has illegally registered as a Bengal player with the Cricket Association of Bengal. 

Not only these two players, but reports indicate that multiple athletes are arriving from various states and illegitimately registering as Bengal players with forged documents. Clearly, such actions cannot occur without the support of officials.

C.A.B.'s efforts to stop this

Recently, the Cricket Association of Bengal announced that from the next season, all players will be required to submit bank documents that are more than three years old, along with their parents' documents, before registering. However, the pressing question remains: If they can not even stop a daylight robbery, will they be able to stop outstation players' entry? Only time will tell.

As a result, many deserving players from Bengal, who have been topping charts in runs, wickets, and trophy wins, have been deprived of the opportunities they rightfully deserve.

Numerous players expressed feelings of frustration, sadness, and hopelessness after the events that unfolded during the draft for the Men's Bengal Pro T20 League.

The Bengal Pro T20 League Season 2 kicked off its preparations with a grand men’s draft ceremony on Monday, where a staggering 802 cricketers were selected by eight franchises at a city hotel on Monday. 

8 franchises, led by their retained players and coaches along with their owners, selected their squads for the upcoming season.

CAB Office bearers led by President Snehasish Ganguly, Vice President Amalendu Biswas, Secretary Naresh Ojha, Treasurer Prabir Chakrabarty, Joint Secretary Debabrata Das along with India cricket legend Sourav Ganguly, women’s cricket icon Jhulan Goswami were present for the draft. 

"I hope you will all witness an exciting draft process in the next few hours. I am sure we will have an even more successful Bengal Pro T20 League season this time," Sourav Ganguly said during the event. 

Read Also | Exclusive: "I would love to see more sixes, more runs," Shreevats Goswami wants bigger scores in Bengal Pro T20 League 2025

A+ category players will get INR 4,75,000, A grade players will get INR 3,75,000, while B and C category players will receive INR 1,50,000. D category players will get INR 1,50,000. 

Full squads of Bengal Pro T20 League 2025 (men's)

Shrachi Rarh Tigers

• Shahbaz Ahmed
• Pradipta Pramanik
• Sumanta Gupta
• Ashutosh Kumar
• Ravi Kumar
• Sayan Shekhar Mondal
• Kazi Junaid Saifi
• Pritam Chakraborty
• Gaurav Singh Chauhan
• Abhishek Das
• Siddharth Patidar
• Abhijeet Bhagat
• Md Shami
• Saikat Das
• Ayan Bhattacharyaa
• Avirup Gupta
• Mayank Jha

Read Also | Exclusive: "Do not call him a 'baccha', he will play T20s for India in two years," says Bihar head coach after Vaibhav Suryavanshi's historical IPL ton

ServoTech Siliguri Strikers

• Akash Deep
• Suraj Singhu Jaiswal
• Vikas Singh
• Tarun Godara
• Ankur Paul
• Subham Chatterjee
• Nuruddin Mondal
• Irshad Alam
• Ankush Tyagi
• Sourav Paul
• Mithilesh Das
• Raju Halder
• Pawan
• Lokesh
• Aditya Singh
• Shivamm Bharati
• Sachin Yadav

Rashmi Medinipur Wizards

• Sudip Chatterjee
• Vivek Singh
• Priyanshu Srivastava
• Vaibhav Yadav
• Ritwik Roy Chowdhury
• Ranjot Singh Khaira
• Rajkumar Pal
• Soumyadip Mandal
• Sandipan Das Jr
• Sourav Halder
• Rahul Kundu
• Akash Ghatak
• Rahul Gupta
• Pankaj Shaw
• Aishik Patel
• Ayush Ghosh
• Jagmohan Prasad Gupta

Read Also | Bengal Pro T20 League Exclusive: 9 cricketers teams should go after, who did not play or got picked last time

Adamas Howrah Warriors

• Aamir Gani
• Kanishk Seth
• Shakir Habib Gandhi
• Pramod Chandila
• Sujit Kumar Yadav
• Saksham Sharma
• Yuvraj Deepak Keswani
• Shreyan Chakrabarty
• Shashank Singh
• Deepak Kumar
• Debangshu Pakhira
• Jayveer Singh
• Rohit
• Sachin Chaudhary
• Arindam Ghosh
• Agniswar Das
• Agastya Shukla

Lux-Shyam Kolkata Royal Tigers

• Abishek Porel
• Karan Lal
• Sayan Ghosh
• Akash Pandey
• Sandeep Kumar Tomar
• Ayush Kumar Singh
• Anurag Tiwari
• Md Kaif
• Sandipan Das
• Debopratim Halder
• Ronit Ghosh
• Vipin Chandra
• Harsh Vardhan Jajodia
• Arjun Kumar
• Sanjib Goswami
• Bhoirob De Sarkar
• Dron Chatterjee

Harbour Diamonds

• Prayas Ray Barman
• Manoj Tiwary
• Badal Singh Balyan
• Subham Sarkar
• Chandrahas Dash
• Vishal Bhati
• Kaushik Maity
• Geet Puri
• Pradeep Kumar
• Priyank Patel
• Abhishek Raman
• Rahul Prasad
• Abhimanyu Easwaran
• Balkesh Yadav
• Prakash Kr Roy
• Kaushik Giri
• Ankit Chatterjee
• Vijay Srivastava

Murshidabad Kings

• Sudip Kumar Gharami
• Agniv Pan
• Sukhmeet Singh
• Vikas Singh
• Toufik Uddin Mondal
• Saksham Chaudhury
• Rishabh Chaudhary
• Dilshad Khan
• Saurabh Kumar Singh
• Aniket Singh
• Tanmoy Pramanick
• Sayed Irfan Aftab
• Priyam Sarkar
• Koushik Ghosh
• Nikhil Singh
• Ankit Chatterjee
• Sayan Paul

Sobisco Smashers Malda

• Mukesh Kumar
• Writtick Chatterjee
• Kaif Ahmed
• Ramesh Prasad
• Akhil
• Shuvam Dey Sr
• Gitimoy Basu
• Brijesh Sharma
• Arjun Bharadwaj
• Avilin Ghosh
• Sumit Mohanta
• Viraj Krishna
• Harsimar Singh Patheja
• V Venkat Raj
• Sk Janishar Akhatar Nishar
• Arjun Singh
• Aditya Roy