he was never selected to play for north zone in the duleep trophy. he twice played in ranji trophy quarter-finals, each time against rajasthan. the second time, in 1973-74, he felled the test batsman salim durani with a bouncer, and durani had to be taken to hospital for an operation and played no further part in the match. rajasthan won narrowly on their first-innings lead. railways were 241 for 9 when desai went to the crease, needing 15 for the lead, but he was bowled for a duck.