Pawar inaugurates Ranji game at his home turf Baramati

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former ICC president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday inaugurated the Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match between Maharashtra and Uttarakhand. Baramati in Pune district is the home turf of Pawar, a former chief of the BCCI and also the Mumbai Cricket Association. This is the first time that a Ranji Trophy match is being played in Baramati.

"Satisfied to inaugurate the Ranji Trophy game between Maharashtra and Uttarakhand at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar stadium in Baramati.

"This is an important step in organising first-class matches across different venues in the country," tweeted Pawar in Marathi.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand shot out Maharashtra for 207 in the first innings and then ended the opening day at 112/3, still adrift by 95 runs. Apart from Pune city, Maharashtra have played Ranji matches at Nagothane in Raigad district, Nashik and Aurangabad.