The nature of wickets and level of opposition in India‘s premier first-class tournament – Ranji Trophy – came into focus this week as five teams in two divisions failed miserably with the bat.

The 2019 leg of the Ranji Trophy tournament saw some very ordinary batting efforts. As many as five teams were dismissed for less than 80 with two teams managing to get out for 35.

The most shocking scorecard was that of Madhya Pradesh against Andhra in the Elite Division as they were placed at 35-3 chasing 343. Then the innings derailed in the blink of an eye as MP were incredibly bowled out for 35 with five batsmen out for nought.

Rajasthan crushed new entrants Tripura by an innings after dismissing the team from the north-eastern part of India – recently included in the domestic structure – for 35 and 106. In the first innings, six Tripura batsmen got out without scoring.

The story continued in north India as Services were bowled out for 79 against Haryana while Maharashtra were out for 70 against Railways.

All these matches were held in the Elite Division. In the Plate Group, Mizoram were dismissed for 77 against Bihar in a match that ended on New Year’s day.

Teams like Tripura and Mizoram don’t have first-class history so their results are understandable. But more established teams like MP and Maharashtra getting out for such low scores doesn’t bode well.

Cheap wickets in matches finishing in two and a half days provide an inaccurate account of the level of bowlers while hitting the confidence of batsmen. While some venues could have been affected by the morning starts during the winter season, seeing so many teams get out for shockingly low scores will be a matter of concern for the No1 Test team in the world.