A rare congregation of stars will be on display when the Ranji Trophy resumes on Thursday with big names such as Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant agreeing to show up for their respective sides, nudged primarily by the BCCI’s stern diktat on respect for domestic cricket. Rohit will be turning up for defending champions Mumbai after nearly a decade when action resumes in the second half of the country’s premier red-ball competition across different venues.
For the first time this season, the two biggest white-ball competitions — Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy — split the Ranji Trophy into two halves with each state side playing five matches apiece in the first leg.
With every team to play two more matches in the second round, a lot will be at stake not only for the sides involved but also for various national players, who have been clearly told that they cannot ignore domestic cricket anymore following crushing defeats to New Zealand at home and Australia in an away series.
Even though batting superstar Virat Kohli will take a few more days to recover from a neck strain before joining his Delhi teammates for the final round of group stage matches from January 30, Rohit is set to play for Mumbai under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane.
In all likelihood, Mumbai will pair him with Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top, replicating the India combination, when they will face a formidable Jammu and Kashmir, currently placed second in Elite Group A.
At the top is Baroda, who beat Mumbai in the season-opener, but the Rahane-led side can be backed to find their mojo and get back in the saddle to aim for a record-extending 43rd title.
The outing with Mumbai is expected to benefit India’s out-of-sorts Test and ODI skipper Rohit, who has endured a horror run with the bat over the last three months.
How Rohit responds to the fresh challenge could also determine India’s fate in the Champions Trophy next month, which could well be his last shot at winning another major event.
Pant vs Jadeja in Rajkot
At Rajkot, Delhi will face two-time winners Saurashtra where the mercurial Rishabh Pant will face off against his India teammates Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara. The contest is a must-win for both the teams in Group D.
Both Delhi and Saurashtra, placed fourth and fifth respectively, have just one win each in the last Elite Group and they have a lot of ground to cover against table-toppers Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh.
Only top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the quarterfinals stage.
Gill adds punch to Punjab vs Karnataka
Punjab have one win to show from five matches which leaves them fifth in Group C, but the focus will be on India’s new ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill who too has endured a challenging phase with the bat.
Punjab will face Karnataka, who are high on confidence coming off their title-winning campaign in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in their backyard of M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Gill’s return makes up to some extent for the unavailability of Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh, who are on national duty for T20Is against England, in the Punjab squad.
Karnataka will be bolstered with the return of Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna who both played a part at various stages in India’s tour of Australia.
In another big match, Bengal will miss the services of pacer Akash Deep and Abhimanyu Easwaran at Kalyani, who both picked up injuries during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in the Group C clash against Haryana.
Mohammed Shami, who proved his fitness during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, has already linked up with the Indian team for the T20Is against England which means his state side Bengal will have to make do with available resources to move up one slot from the third.
Last year’s Ranji Trophy runner-up Vidarbha, who lost to Karnataka a few days ago in the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy, will be confident of their chances as they take on a fourth-placed Rajasthan in Jaipur in Group B.
Karun Nair will be determined to carry his splendid form from the 50-overs white-ball competition into the four-day games and continue to dream of making an India comeback.
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