Mumbai: Showing signs of recovering his touch in red-ball cricket after stepping down from Mumbai captaincy on Aug 21, veteran batter and former India captain Ajinkya Rahane slammed a fine century (103 retired out, 140b, 12×4, 2×6) to help Mumbai earn a hard-fought draw against KSCA Secretary’s XI in their last league match of the KSCA K Thimmappiah Memorial Cricket Tournament at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.Rahane‘s free-flowing ton and useful efforts by Pranav Kela (46, 116b, 1×4), Musheer Khan (43, 43b, 4×4, 1×6), Suved Parkar (36, 49b, 6×4) and Hardik Tamore (34 not out, 30b, 3×4, 2×6) helped Mumbai end the four-day match at 270 for five in 66.5 overs. Rahane had scored 26 off 46 balls, with four fours in the first innings. The 37-year-old, who had opted to play in this tournament to regain form, had scored 66 (110b, 7×4) in the first match against Assam. However, while Rahane getting back into runs is an encouraging sign, Mumbai’s pre-season build-up to the 2025-26 edition of the Ranji Trophy hasn’t been ideal in terms of results, as they crashed out of the KSCA tournament in the league stage after conceding the first innings lead against hosts KSCA Secretary’s XI. Mumbai had failed to make the knockouts of the Buchi Babu Trophy — the other pre-season tournament, too. Clearly, the domestic heavyweights must pull up their socks before they face Jammu & Kashmir in Srinagar in their opening Ranji Trophy match of the season from Oct 15. Replying to KSCA Secretary’s XI’s 280, Mumbai folded up for 182 in 48.2 overs, with only skipper and India’s Test allrounder Shardul Thakur, batting at No. 8, offering some resistance with a fighting 77 (96b, 7×4, 4×6), while Musheer made 18 (41b, 1×4). Left-arm spinner Madhav Bajaj took five for 61 in 18 overs for KSCA Secretary’s XI. In the second innings, KSCA Secretary’s XI finished at 429, with No. 5 batter Druv P scoring an unbeaten 159 (352b, 17×4, 3×6). Apart from Rahane and Thakur’s batting, the other bright spots for Mumbai were the eight-wicket haul by 26-year-old pacer Sylvester D’Souza (3-51 & 5-65) and a fine show by fast bowler Tushar Deshpande (3 for 40) in the first innings. With the ball, Thakur took just two wickets in the match — one for 32 in 12 overs in the first innings and one for 20 in nine overs in the second.Brief Scores: KSCA Secretary’s XI 280 (Abhishek Ahlawat 52, Lochan Gowda 48, Dheeraj Gowda 45, Nikin Jose 37; Tushar Deshpande 3-40, Sylvester Dsouza 3-51) & 429 (Druv P 159 not out, Kruthik Krishna 77, Rajvir Wadhwa 57, Faizan Khan 53; Sylvester D’Souza 5-65) drew with Mumbai 182 (Shardul Thakur 77, Ajinkya Rahane 26; Madhav Bajaj 5-61) & 270-5 (Ajinkya Rahane retd out 103, Pranav Kela 46, Musheer Khan 43, Suved Parkar 36, Hardik Tamore 34 not out).
