Ranji Trophy top players to watch out for: Star-studded Mumbai team and Rishabh Pant vs Ravindra Jadeja at Rajkot | Cricket News

Beginning Thursday, the Ranji Trophy will resume with its sixth round fixtures with the participation of several India stars adding to the expectations. From Rohit Sharma to Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj in the next round, several players who were part of India’s recent tour to Australia will turn out in the premier domestic tournament. With the race for quarterfinals also heating up, some of the teams will benefit from the presence of their star players. Here is a look
Stars align in Mumbai
They are third in Group A behind Baroda and Jammu & Kashmir, who happen to their opponents on Thursday. For the fixture to be played at BKC, Mumbai have included India captain Rohit Sharma, who will play under Ajinkya Rahane. Similarly, Yashasvi Jaiswal – who was India’s best batsman in Australia – will also play the game and is set to open. Apart from the two, Mumbai will also have Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur for the fixture. The inclusion of big names means there will be a few compromises to make. If Jaiswal and Rohit are paired at the top then Mumbai will have to take a call on 17-year-old opener Ayush Mhatre who has been amongst their standout performers this season. It won’t be an easy call to leave out a player who has performed consently across formats. Sarfaraz Khan, who is suffering from a rib injury, will miss the fixture and so will his brother Musheer Khan who is recovering from a neck injury he suffered during a road accident in September.
Gill, Padikkal in action at Bengaluru
Karnataka and Punjab facing a daunting task to get past the group stages will face-off at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Shubman Gill, who struggled for runs and was dropped for the Boxing Day Test, gets a chance to find form before the Champions Trophy. Though the formats are entirely different, Gill seems to be low on confidence and he would be tested against a strong Karnataka attack which has a good crop of fast bowlers. Gill will be joined Prasidh Krishna and Devdutt Padikkal, two players who were in Australia. Punjab will miss the presence of Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh who are part of India’s T20I squad. Karnataka will take the field without KL Rahul, who will miss the match because of niggle.
Jadeja vs Pant at Rajkot
At Rajkot, Saurashtra and Delhi placed fourth and fifth in Group D face a mountain to climb. It has been a strange season for Saurashtra, one of the most consent teams in the recent years who have just 1 win from 5 matches. Under such circumstances where they are actually on the look-out for a desperate win, Saurashtra usually resort to rank-turners and with Ravindra Jadeja available for the fixture, it makes it an easy choice. And Jadeja’s match-up with Rishabh Pant could well become a contest to watch as the former as a habit of changing the course of the game in no time. Apart from these two players, Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat will also be in action at Rajkot.
Who are the players not playing this round?
While the BCCI did make it mandatory for all the centrally contracted players who are not part of the T20 squad against England to play the sixth round of Ranji Trophy, exceptions have been made. Virat Kohli will not turn up for Delhi at Rajkot, instead choosing to play their last league match against Railways at Kotla. Similarly, Mohammed Siraj has been granted rest from this round to manage his workload. From the team that toured Australia, Akash Deep and Abhimanyu Easwaran are also not playing for Bengal in this round as they are recovering from injuries.

Discover the Benefits of Our Subscription!

Stay informed with access to our award-winning journalism.
Avoid misinformation with trusted, accurate reporting.
Make smarter decisions with insights that matter.

Choose your subscription package