Harsh Dubey opened the bowling after Madhya Pradesh opted to bat at the VCA Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur. Nachiket Bhute struck first for Vidarbha, dismissing Yash Dubey, before Harsh, the left-arm spin all-rounder, took control from there on and picked up wickets at regular intervals, trapping the remaining nine batters with his left-arm spin.

Dubey first struck in the 17th over of the innings and was on a roll since then, reducing the opposition to 64-5 in the 29th over. Atharva Mahajan and Saransh Jain then rebuilt the MP innings with a 72-run partnership before Dubey resumed. He not only broke the partnership after almost 18 overs but also didn't let the lower-order batters hang around for much to skittle the opposition for 209. He became the first-ever bowler from Vidarbha to pick up a nine-wicket haul, for just 53 runs.

Arun Ogiral used to hold the record for Vidarbha, for his 8-39 in 1967/68, also against Madhya Pradesh. Overall, Dubey is the 30th bowler to pick up nine or more wickets in an innings in the Ranji Trophy. 

Siddharth Desai of Gujarat (9-36) against Uttarakhand in 2024/25 was the last to take a Ranji Trophy nine-wicket haul. Earlier that season, Anshul Kamboj created history for Haryana, becoming only the third bowler in Ranji Trophy history to pick up all ten in an innings: his 10-49 against Kerala are the second-best figures in the competition’s history. That season, Dubey set a new record for most wickets (69) in a single edition of the Ranji Trophy. 

Dubey is having a memorable 2026 in red-ball cricket

Left-arm spinner Dubey’s nine-wicket haul today against MP has just made his 2026 better. He made his ODI debut for India against Afghanistan, picking up four wickets in two matches in June. He was then selected in the India A squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, where he picked up three wickets and scored 59 runs across two innings.

Dubey then featured in the Duleep Trophy for Central Zone, where he picked up eight wickets and scored 27 and 24 against East Zone. He has begun the Ranji Trophy 2026/27 season in style, picking up 23 wickets in seven innings so far.

Also Read: Indian batter follows Ranji ton with triple century on first-class return after two years

Image Credit: Harsh Dubey/Instagram

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