From rising stars to Ranji cricket, Bilaspur’s Luhnu Ground has a story to tell

Spread the news

Opened in 1999, Himachal venue has hosted generations of domestic cricketers and welcomed Mumbai for rain-shifted fixture

Chandigarh: Luhnu Cricket Ground in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, returned to the Ranji Trophy spotlight as it hosted the Himachal Pradesh-Mumbai fixture after the match was shifted from Dharamshala due to heavy rain. The venue’s previous recorded Ranji Trophy fixtures at Bilaspur date back to October 2016, making the latest match a return after a decade.

The ground hosted its first recorded national fixture on December 13, 1999, when Himachal Pradesh faced Jammu and Kashmir in an Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy match.

First-class cricket arrived at Luhnu on November 18, 2001, when Himachal Pradesh took on Delhi in the 2001-02 Ranji Trophy season. Sangram Singh scored 190 for Himachal Pradesh, a performance identified in the available records as the highest individual first-class score at the venue.

Luhnu hosted another Ranji Trophy fixture against Hyderabad in the 2002-03 season. In October 2016, the ground staged two more Ranji Trophy matches, including Railways versus Tamil Nadu and Bengal versus Punjab. The venue also hosted matches in the 2016-17 Under-19 Challenger Trophy, including fixtures involving India Under 19 teams.

The ground’s history has been linked to several prominent Indian cricketers. The supplied information lists Virat Kohli among those who played at the venue for Delhi’s Under 15 team in 2002. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and Ashish Nehra have also been associated with matches at the venue. Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma featured in Under 19 tournaments held at Luhnu in 2016-17.

The ground features SIS Grass hybrid pitches, which combine natural grass with artificial polymer fibres. Its reported facilities include a maintained outfield, wheelchair-accessible entry points, designated parking and dressing rooms.

The latest fixture brought Mumbai and Himachal Pradesh to the Bilaspur ground after heavy rain affected plans to play the match at Dharamshala. Mumbai won the toss and elected to field. Himachal Pradesh were dismissed for 140 in their first innings, with Tushar Deshpande taking four wickets for 46 runs.

Mumbai replied with 528 for eight declared. Sarfaraz Khan scored 154 off 228 balls, while Akash Anand made 117, Siddhesh Lad contributed 87 and Musheer Khan scored 57. Jitender Rana claimed four wickets for 108 runs.

Himachal Pradesh Ranji team all out at 291 runs and lost to Mumbai Ranji team won by an innings and 97 runs in this match Sarfaraz khan became the player of the match because of his match winning innings of 154 runs.