It’s that time of the year again. The shining whites will be out as India’s premier domestic competition Ranji Trophy gets underway on January 5. The winter chill has gripped the northern part of the country and some exciting contests, featuring top sides and players, are lined up for the opening round of red-ball competition.
A challenging cycle of the World Test Championship is currently underway and the men’s senior selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, would look to identify future players as the senior side is undergoing a transition in the longest format.
Apart from the future, a keen eye will also be on players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari. The four are not in the scheme of things at the moment but a comeback could well be on the cards considering the stiff away assignments in the ongoing cycle.
We have seen in the past how the management made a SOS call to Rahane for the WTC Final vs Australia last year and it will not come as a surprise if one of them is summoned again. For the rest, it will be taking the crucial step on the ladder to India’s Test side.
Mouth-watering contests
Some mouth-watering contests are lined up in the opening round as Vijay Hazare Trophy finalists Haryana and Rajasthan meet again at Lahli, one of the most challenging surfaces in the country, and domestic giants Karnataka and Punjab square off at Hubli. Tamil Nadu vs Gujarat is another contest to watch out for as the quality sides get their campaigns underway in Valsad.
Last season’s champions Saurashtra will commence their defence against Jharkhand at Rajkot. All eyes will also be on Mumbai and Delhi, two top sides in the tournament, who are looking to regain supremacy in the domestic circuit. Rahane will be in the Mumbai XI when they take on Bihar and Ishant Sharma will lead the bowling attack for Yash Dhull-led unit against Pondicherry.
A spicy green top has been rolled out at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and heavy lifting would need to be done by Ishant and Navdeep Saini as the rest of the squad wears a very inexperienced look. Delhi had a disastrous start to their campaign last season before they finished on a high to avoid relegation and would now hope for a change in fortunes under new coach Devang Gandhi.
Pro watch
This season saw some top players switching states in search of better opportunities and more game time. Dhruv Shorey and Karun Nair moved to Vidarbha, Rahul Tripathi shifted base to Goa, Nitish Rana was in the Uttar Pradesh dressing room and seamer Kulwant Khejroliya will turn up for Madhya Pradesh.
Both Shorey and Rana were the backbone of Delhi’s batting for years but moved base to play all formats for their new state. While Shorey wasn’t getting white-ball exposure in Delhi, Rana wasn’t an automatic selection for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy. Similarly, Kulwant wasn’t getting a consistent run in Delhi and would hope for the same when he plays for Madhya Pradesh.
Looking for a spark in the pace battery
The recently concluded tour of South Africa raised question marks on the readiness of India’s fast-bowling bench in Tests. Ranji Trophy now presents the selectors an opportunity to identify the next line of pacers. There are Avesh Khan and Navdeep Saini likely to be in the Indian whites sooner than later but not many names come to mind beyond the two of them.
Every state has some exciting seamers to watch out for and they would hope to put up a strong show to be on the selectors’ radar. There was a lot of promise from Delhi’s Harshit Rana and Mayank Yadav last season but injuries will make them miss at least the first two games of the tournament.
For close to two months, 137 First-class matches will be played in the country and the next generation will be identified for the longest format. The focus, however, would remain on the India discards and the fast bowlers.
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