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Kaverappa, Sarfaraz also part of the squad that’s set to take on Saurashtra beginning October 1 in Rajkot

Shashank Kishore28-Sep-2023Hanuma Vihari has been named captain of Rest of India for the Irani Cup against Ranji champions Saurashtra beginning October 1 in Rajkot.Vihari, who led South Zone to the Duleep Trophy title in July, has three of his team-mates from that squad – batters Mayank Agarwal, B Sai Sudharsan and fast bowler Vidwath Kaverappa – for company. KS Bharat is likely to be the first-choice wicketkeeper, with Dhruv Jurel as a back-up.Abhimanyu Easwaran, who made 798 runs in the Ranji season, misses out as he’s recovering from typhoid. The other surprise miss is Kerala allrounder Jalaj Saxena, who topped the wickets chart with 50 scalps.With several India A players away with the national team at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, the selectors have rewarded young batters Yash Dhull and Rohan Kunnummal with berths purely on potential, despite them having endured poor Ranji seasons.Dhull managed just 270 runs in 10 innings at the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy while Kunnummal managed 203 runs in nine innings. Vihari himself had a patchy season, scoring 490 runs in 14 innings for Andhra, but the captaincy is possibly a further sign of him still being in the mix as far as back-ups go for the national team.Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan, who scored 0, 6, 0 and 48 at the season-opening Duleep Trophy, will also potentially have an opportunity to make amends. He’s expected to occupy one of the middle-order berths.Where Sarfaraz bats in the XI could be a sign of the kind of role the senior selectors see him playing in the near future. At Mumbai, he’s been prolific at No. 5 over the past three seasons. Sai Sudharsan, meanwhile, is set to link up with the squad straight off a maiden county stint with Surrey.ROI’s bowling department will be spearheaded by Navdeep Saini, while Karnataka’s Vidwath Kaverappa, who had an impressive Duleep Trophy to back up his 30 wickets in the Ranji season, is expected share the new ball. Uttar Pradesh’s Saurabh Kumar and Shams Mulani, the second-highest wicket-taker at Ranji Trophy 2022-23 (46 scalps), are the two frontline spinners, with Delhi’s Pulkit Narang also making the cut. Yash Dayal brings in the left-arm pace variety, and could play as the third pacer.Bengal pace spearhead Akash Deep has been listed in the squad, but won’t feature in the match as he’s with the Indian squad at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Initially not picked there, he was named as a late replacement for the injured Shivam Mavi.Hosts Saurashtra too have named a strong squad boasting of all their regulars. Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat, the captain, are coming off a regular diet of red-ball cricket at the county championship in England. At 37, Sheldon Jackson continues to be a pillar in the middle order alongside Pujara, Arpit Vasavada, the previous Ranji season’s second-highest run-getter.Saurashtra earned the right to play this game after beating Bengal to clinch their second Ranji Trophy crown in Kolkata earlier this year.Rest of India: Hanuma Vihari (captain), K S Bharat, Mayank Agarwal, Yash Dhull, Shams Mulani, Sai Sudarshan, Sarfaraz Khan, Pulkit Narang, Saurabh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Vidwath Kaverappa, Akash Deep, Rohan Kunnummal, Dhruv Jurel.Saurashtra: Jaydev Unadkat (captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Harvik Desai, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Prerak Mankad, Chirag Jani, Jay Gohil, Parth Bhut, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, Samarth Vyas, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Kushang Patel, Snell Patel, Devang Karamta.

After winning back-to-back games, Kings have managed just one more win in four – and they are set to be without the experience of Kagiso Rabada once again

Hemant Brar21-Apr-20234:37

Tait backs Arjun Tendulkar to deliver at the death

Big picture: Two teams on different trajectories

There’s a popular meme template: how it started and how it’s going. Mumbai Indians’ journey so far in IPL 2023 fits that perfectly. They began the season with two crushing defeats before bouncing back with three wins on the trot.Even before those two defeats, their batting had looked solid on paper. But the lack of runs from Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav threw a spanner in the works. With both coming into their own over the last two games, Mumbai look a much stronger unit.For Punjab Kings, Mumbai’s opponents on Saturday, things have gone the other way round. After winning back-to-back games – something they failed to do last year – they managed just one more win in their next four outings.Kings’ plan with bat was that their captain Shikhar Dhawan plays the anchor’s role and others hit around him. But Dhawan’s shoulder injury caught them without a back-up plan.And now they have the added worry of Kagiso Rabada having picked up a niggle – he missed their last game due to this, and ESPNcricinfo understands he will sit out the game against Mumbai too.*Injury issues aside, Kings need to figure out their best combination of overseas players. Sikandar Raza was the Player of the Match against Lucknow Super Giants but was left out for the RCB game. Kings may have to revisit that decision.

Form guide

Mumbai Indians WWWLL
Punjab Kings LWLLW

Team news: Archer-watch

Kings will once again be without Dhawan and Rabada. On Thursday, their fielding coach Trevor Gonsalves said Dhawan would take “at least another two to three days” to be fully fit. Mumbai will be optimistic about Jofra Archer as he has shown vast improvement since he felt the discomfort in his right elbow post the first match. He even bowled full tilt during the practice session on Thursday, and Jason Behrendorff, too, said on Friday that Archer was “not too far away”.

Impact Player strategy

Mumbai Indians: If Archer is available, he could come in for Riley Meredith. Else Mumbai could field an unchanged side with Tilak Varma and Meredith as their Impact Player pair.Probable XII: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 , 6 Tim David, 7 Nehal Wadhera, 8 Jofra Archer/, 9 Arjun Tendulkar, 10 Hrithik Shokeen, 11 Piyush Chawla, 12 Jason BehrendorffPunjab Kings have lost three of their previous four games•Associated Press

Punjab Kings: Nathan Ellis will continue in Rabada’s stead. Prabhsimran Singh and Rahul Chahar could once again be their Impact pair.Probable XII: 1 Atharva Taide, 2 , 3 Liam Livingstone, 4 Harpreet Singh, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 M Shahrukh Khan, 8 Sam Curran (capt), 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Nathan Ellis, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12

Stats that matter

• Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have given Mumbai flying starts in IPL 2023. Among those pairs who have opened at least three times this season, Rohit and Kishan’s scoring rate of 9.61 is second only to Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 9.75.
• So far in this season, Kings have lost three or more wickets inside the powerplay on three occasions, the joint-most for a team along with Kolkata Knight Riders.

Pitch and conditions: Win toss, bowl first

The Wankhede is a chasing ground. Since the start of 2021, the teams batting second have won 22 out of the 32 night T20s played at this venue. Spinners have been more successful here this IPL; they have 13 wickets at an economy of 7.64, while fast bowlers have nine at 10.17.*

Former India Under-19 World Cup-winning captain now in a bid to qualify for USA

Shashank Kishore23-Nov-2022After becoming the first Indian to play in the BBL, India’s Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Unmukt Chand is set to add another chapter to his journeyman career when he lines up for Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) early next year.Chand, now 29, was picked up at the draft in Dhaka on Wednesday, with the franchise keen on having an Indian player to tap into the fan base in the country, according to franchise owner Rifatuzzaman.Chand’s eligibility comes from having retired from all forms of cricket under the BCCI’s ambit in September last year. He currently plays league cricket in the USA in a bid to qualify for the national team, which could happen at some stage in 2024. Chand lives in San Francisco, and has also signed a multi-year deal with the USA’s Major League Cricket that is set to kick off next year.Related

• Unmukt Chand joins Melbourne Renegades for BBL 2021-22

• Chand: 'I still get emotional imagining I'll never play for India again'

• Memories from 2012: Chand on India's last U-19 World Cup triumph

His maiden BBL stint last year was far from memorable: he managed to feature in just two matches, scoring 35 runs with a best of 29. As things stand, Chand won’t be returning to Melbourne Renegades this year after making his BBL debut during the 2021-22 season.Chand’s USA eligibility pathway rests on him being in the country for ten months in a year for three years, and featuring in the BPL is unlikely to jeopardise his chances of qualifying to play for USA in 2024, as the tournament is set to run only for six weeks from January 5 to February 15. However, taking on a subsequent T20 gigs outside the USA could prove challenging.After his heroics at the Under-19 level – he scored 111 not out in the 2012 final against Australia to win the Player-of-the-Match award – Chand was marked for success at the higher level too, but couldn’t make the grade, never getting selected for India’s senior side.Chand, who represented Delhi in India’s domestic circuit, played 67 first-class games while scoring 3379 runs at an average of 31.57. He fared better in List A cricket, where he scored 4505 runs at an average of 41.33 in 120 matches. And before leaving Indian cricket, he had 1565 runs at an average of 22.35 and a strike rate of 116.09 in 77 T20s.In the IPL, he represented the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils – now Delhi Capitals – before also playing for Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. He featured in 21 matches in all, scoring 300 runs in 20 innings with a highest of 58.

Visitors trail by just 38 runs with five wickets in hand in first innings

ECB Reporters Network20-May-2019Gloucestershire head into day two of their County Championship match against Durham just 38 runs behind the hosts after 15 wickets fell on day one at Chester-Le-Street.David Payne was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 for 40 as Durham were dismissed for just 158 in two sessions – Matt Taylor, Ryan Higgins and Josh Shaw taking two wickets apiece. Jack Burnham scored 43 and Ben Raine 42 in the only noteworthy impacts with the bat for Durham.Durham restricted Gloucestershire to 120 for 5 at the close of play, Matt Salisbury taking 3 for 18 with James Bracey the top scorer for the visitors so far with 35.In an opening spell of 8-3-11-3, Payne dismissed Durham captain Cameron Bancroft, Alex Lees and Gareth Harte in quick succession, after Ryan Higgins had trapped Ryan Pringle – making his first Championship appearance since 2017 – lbw for nine as Durham collapsed to 17 for 4.Liam Trevaskis and Jack Burnham began re-building the Durham innings before the former lofted a simple catch to Higgins at cover off the bowling of Matt Taylor at 31 for 5. Burnham and Ned Eckersely steadied things ahead of the lunch interval.Burnham and Eckersley resumed on 54 for 5 after lunch, but the latter fell soon after the interval as he misjudged a delivery by Ryan Higgins and was out lbw for 12.Burnham and Ben Raine picked up the scoring rate as the hosts passed 100. A partnership of 46 came to an end when Burnham edged Matt Taylor behind for 43. Brydon Carse came and went for a golden duck, tickling a Josh Shaw ball to Bracey with the score at 109 for 8.Raine picked up the scoring rate in tandem with Matt Salisbury, finally falling to Shaw for 42 – caught behind by Bracey. Salisbury advanced the score on to 158 before he was bowled by the returning Payne, who improved his figures to 4 for 40 from 19.4 overs.Chris Dent and Miles Hammond opened for Gloucestershire with a very watchful stand of 27, Hammond dropped by Pringle off the bowling of Ben Raine when on nine. He added just four more before Carse produced an in-swinging yorker to the left-handed Hammond – catching the back pad in front of leg stump.The introduction of Salisbury from the Finchale End proved fruitful as he produced a wonderful eight-over spell which saw the dismissals of Dent, Hankins and Roderick seaming and swinging the ball in both directions as Durham clawed themselves back into proceedings.But a partnership of 35 between Bracey and Benny Howell wrestled the initiative back for the visitors before the returning Chris Rushworth dismissed the former, caught behind by Eckersley for 35 – the score 102/5.Howell and night-watchmen Shaw dutifully saw out the remaining overs to leave the visitors well placed with Howell not out 27 and Shaw on eight.

The pair added 121 on the fourth day as England were dismissed for 255 ensuring a 0-0 draw in the series

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile Photo – George Bartlett scored a steady 76•Getty Images

England Under-19s, led by contributions from George Bartlett and Delray Rawlins, played out a draw on the final day of the second Youth Test against India Under-19s in Nagpur.England resumed on their overnight score of 34 for 2, with David Houghton having retired hurt on the third evening. Bartlett and Rawlins came out and added 121 runs for the third wicket, setting the base for England’s effort on the day.Bartlett pressed on to bat for over three hours on the fourth day for his second fifty of the series, which took his series tally to 323, the best for batsmen from both sides. His partner at the other end, Rawlins, who ended as the second-highest run-getter in the series with 274, and was dismissed for 49.Once both batsmen fell, with the score still under 200, Aaron Beard’s unbeaten 34 saw the side through to the draw as the side were bowled out for 255.Left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi returned best overall figures for India with 5 for 127, including a four-for in the second innings.England began the first day of the match on the back foot, finding themselves at 3 for 1 in the third over after opting to bat. The new-ball pair of Rishab Bhagat and Kanishk Seth took the three wickets, with Bhagat striking off successive balls in the second over.Rawlins, who was the second-highest run-getter in the preceding ODI series, spearheaded England’s restoration, scoring 140 runs, including 19 fours and two sixes. He strung a sixth-wicket stand of 161 runs – the highest in the match – with Will Jacks, who made 77 off 190 balls. Batting at No. 10, Henry Brookes contributed a crucial 60, hanging on to add 51 runs with Beard for the ninth wicket, to take England past 300.India’s response to England’s total of 375 was steered by Saurabh Singh’s 109, while Daryl Ferrario, Siddharth Akre and opener Abhishek Goswami chipped in with half-centuries each. The highest partnership of their innings was worth 97 runs for the fifth wicket between Saurabh and Ferrario, which helped take their total to 388 for 9 on the third day, giving them a slender lead of 13.

Rain at Taunton shows cricket isn’t the only thing being punished by the weather

Alex Winter at Taunton08-Aug-2012
ScorecardThe weather has played an evil part in denting the balance sheets of most cricket-related businesses this season but while the counties already know they are in for a dismal financial season there may be a time-lag on the detrimental effects for the sports equipment market. As Somerset and Nottinghamshire trooped on and off the field on day two, one of the England’s few surviving bat manufacturers were cursing a lack of equipment use.Millichamp and Hall have been making cricket bats for over 20 years and their factory, nestled behind the pavilion at Taunton, is an added attraction for spectators with time on their hands.But the weather, more so than a troubled economic climate, could be the biggest threat to their future. Their market is the high-ticket item: handmade bats of the highest quality. They are not set up to sell a £100 bat for the same reason Gucci do not produce a £20 bag. Exclusively is an element to their business model.Even those with money to spend do not need to replace a bat that has not been used – and club matches have been disrupted to an extent that most elderly cricketers describe the season as the worst in living memory. Next year’s sales could be severely hampered by this year’s lack of cricket. And that is a big snag for one of only three or four batmakers left in the United Kingdom.Four highly-skilled staff busied themselves in a rare burst of sunshine, mulling over a plane and a cup of tea – a glamorous glimpse at a lifestyle that they insist becomes more problematic whenever temperatures plunge. And it could get even more difficult should the weather continue to keep their bats in kit bags.For that reason and others, many batmakers have quickly entered and left the market. Highly-publicised names such as Woodworm and Mongoose, offering fat advertising contracts, have jumped onto and drifted from the bat-manufacturing scene.They came with the backing of consortiums of businessmen and high-profile endorsement deals: Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff both used Woodworm kit in their early days.Smaller ventures have come and gone too – a group of bankers who were made redundant decided without success that batmaking would be a nice lifestyle. The market is a tough nut to crack.Millichamp and Hall managed to establish a reputation for high quality and by the end of the 1989 Ashes tour, 11 of the 16 tourists were using their bats, albeit with other manufacturer’s labels. The reputation stuck and today they carve out willows for a great number of international batsmen.Mingling with the stars is also a lure for the would-be batmaker. But the stars and their individual requirements can often add days to signing off the finished product.International cricketers are able to come down to the factory in Taunton for a bespoke fitting service – around £450 to the general public – and this personal touch helps keep those batmakers in Britain: most of the large labels have their 10,000 bats a year made in India – where much smaller wages keep costs down; although India’s rapid growth and the coming of the minimum wage could see that advantage reduced.A small wage element in production costs is a prime reason why clothing is the big winner in the market – a market that Millichamp and Hall have managed to branch into. But again, non-dirty whites don’t need to be replaced.And there were few dirty whites on day two at Taunton where the type of day that is repeated for several seasons could kill county cricket, ensued. It did not rain so consistently as to keep the covers on for that long at any one time. But on and off they went so often that many spectators – of whom there were greater numbers than the first day because of a better forecast – drifted away before the second spell of play at 5.25pm.Only 15.4 overs were bowled but enough happened to suggest there could still be a result. Alfonso Thomas jagged the ball around and got one back into the pads of Michael Lumb. And Steve Kirby moved one away from Alex Hales on a length to entice an edge to second slip.Somerset, shorn here of Nick Compton and Craig Kieswetter, both on England Lions duty, would prefer better conditions for their batsman and Abdur Rehman, the Pakistani spinner they have finally got into the country. Those providing the cricketers with the tools of their trade would also enjoy some sunshine.

Ishant Sharma, the India fast bowler, has said that his ankle has healed completely and that he no longer needs surgery to fix it

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2011Ishant Sharma, the India fast bowler, has said that his ankle has healed and that he, in all probability, no longer needs surgery to fix it. Ishant, who played the first Test against the West Indies in Delhi, had sustained a ligament injury to his left ankle during the third Test against England at Edgbaston earlier this year. He was forced to miss the limited-overs part of the England tour and the subsequent one-day series against the same opponents in India, but recovered in time to play against West Indies.”There is no risk about it [ankle],” Ishant told reporters after India’s practice session on Sunday. I’ve been working a lot on my ankle and everything. I am fit now and I am ready to play in Australia, and I don’t think even after the Australia tour I will need surgery.”Zaheer Khan, India’s leading fast bowler, has been out of action since the first Test in England back in June. With offspinner Harbhajan Singh also missing, having been dropped for the first two Tests against West Indies, Ishant has been catapulted into the role of India’s senior strike-bower, a role he said he was happy to fill.”Obviously it’s a great feeling … It’s an honour to lead the Indian attack. Being the senior-most bowler in the team, it’s really great. It’s difficult to express this kind of feeling actually. You are obviously going to miss a bowler like Zak [Zaheer]. But injuries are part and parcel of the game. You have to play the role of the senior when someone is injured. Whoever you have in the team, you need to go ahead and give your best shot.”Given India’s recent spate of injuries, the selectors have taken the opportunity to blood a few new players during the recently completed one-day series against England and the first Test against West Indies. Among the new faces in the ODIs were Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, while Yadav played in the Test win over West Indies in Delhi. Both bowlers impressed with their pace and Ishant said it was a “great feeling” to be part of an attack that can bowl quick.”Earlier, everyone was saying that India can’t produce fast bowlers. Now all the three fast bowlers are consistently clocking 90 miles per hour. Obviously it’s a great feeling for any fast bowler in the team.”When he was asked why India’s bowlers failed to get reverse-swing at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Ishant it was difficult to do so on the first day when the track was fresh. “The only thing you can do is to be consistent and bowl in the right areas. As the day progresses, you get reverse-swing. Reverse-swing happens only on second or third day of a Test match.”The Australia tour is after this series. We will get two practice matches there to get accustomed to the conditions. In India, the wickets are like this only. We can’t complain about this.”

Kent captain Rob Key fell two runs short of a century as the County
Championship Division Two match against Leicestershire ended in a draw at Grace
Road

05-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Kent captain Rob Key fell two runs short of a century as the County
Championship Division Two match against Leicestershire ended in a draw at Grace
Road.Set a target of 332 Kent looked to be on course for victory when they cruised
to 184 for 2. But they then lost three wickets for two runs in five balls, with Key bowled
for 98 by Wayne White.The paceman then dismissed Geraint Jones with his next delivery and when Darren
Stevens was out to a catch in the deep Leicestershire’s own chances of winning
looked to have been boosted. But the two teams somewhat surprisingly shook hands on a draw with eight overs remaining with Kent, on 255 for 6, still needing another 77 runs.Leicestershire resumed the final day on 227 for 5, leading by 265 and
looking for quick runs in order to set Kent a target. Tom New and Shiv Thakor took their sixth-wicket stand to 100 in 29 overs before 17-year-old Thakor was caught at gully off Azhar Mahmood for 34.New followed having made 76 off 101 balls with 10 boundaries. He was trapped
lbw by the same bowler with a delivery that kept low. Mahmood also claimed the wickets of Jigar Naik and Claude Henderson and Leicestershire declared on 289 for 9, leaving Kent 332 to win in 75 overs. Mahmood finished with 4 for 42.Although Kent lost opener Joe Denly who was bowled by a fine delivery from Alex
Wyatt with the total on 32, the visitors made good progress with Key playing a
captain’s role.He looked assured and confident, using the sweep shot to great effect against
Leicestershire’s spinners. The Kent captain reached his 50 off 74 balls with six boundaries plus a six off Henderson and shared a stand of 82 in 20 overs with Sam Northeast.But Northeast was out with the total on 113, lbw to Naik, leaving Martin van
Jaarsveld to join Key in another useful partnership for the third wicket. Their stand put on 71 in 19 overs but van Jaarsveld’s dismissal by Henderson triggered the loss of three quick wickets in five deliveries.Key could hardly believe it when he was bowled off stump by White as he tried
to work the ball away on leg side, having made 98 off 153 balls with 12 fours
and a six.Mahmood hit an unbeaten 46 but in the end the teams settled on a draw with
neither side gaining an edge ahead of once again facing each other in a T20
quarter-final at Grace Road tomorrow.

Spinners Monty Panesar and Michael Yardy claimed five wickets between them as Sussex Sharks defeated Gloucestershire Gladiators by seven wickets

05-Jun-2011
ScorecardSpinners Monty Panesar and Michael Yardy claimed five wickets between them as Sussex Sharks defeated Gloucestershire Gladiators by seven wickets in a Friends Life t20 game at Bristol.In a match reduced to 17 overs per side by rain, the Gladiators could only manage 97 for 9 as Panesar (3 for 14) and Yardy (2 for 22) did much of the damage. Lou Vincent (31 not out) and Murray Goodwin (27) then led the Sharks to victory with 15 balls to spare, making it two wins out of two for the south coast county.The Gladiators, though, have lost three times in as many games. The sides had been set to start on time at 2.30pm but further rain swept across the County Ground and play was delayed by 90 minutes.The Gladiators lost skipper Alex Gidman to the last ball of Luke Wright’s opening over when he was superbly caught off a skied drive by Rava Naved-ul-Hasan at wide mid-on. Hamish Marshall and Chris Taylor put on 32 for the second wicket – the biggest stand of the innings – before Marshall fell lbw to Yardy for 16.Taylor was the next to go, trapped lbw when sweeping at Panesar for 22, and no other Gloucestershire batsman could break the stranglehold exerted by the two Sussex spinners. Kane Williamson was bowled around his legs by Panesar, Will Gidman was taken on the midwicket boundary off Yardy and Panesar had Ed Young lbw.Kevin O’Brien struck Wayne Parnell for six over midwicket, but the South African got revenge next ball when Yardy held a skied drive at extra cover. A fine all-round bowling performance from Sussex was completed by Naved-ul-Hasan, who bowled Richard Coughtrie in the 15th over and had Ian Saxelby leg before in the last one.Sussex lost a wicket in the third over of their innings when Chris Nash miscued a pull off Jon Lewis to Saxelby at mid-on. It became 31 for 2 in the fifth over when Muttiah Muralitharan had Wright lbw to claim his first wicket for the Gladiators.But Sussex’s victory never looked seriously in doubt and Murray Goodwin hit 27 from 20 deliveries before he was caught by O’Brien on the midwicket boundary from Williamson’s first ball. Vincent and Yardy took Sussex to victory with an unbroken stand of 37, despite some tidy spin bowling from Muralitharan and Williamson.Vincent provided the finishing touches by reverse-sweeping Williamson for a boundary and then cutting the next ball for three to third man.

Shubman Gill has come in for sharp scrutiny following poor returns at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia

Shashank Kishore14-Jan-2025Shubman Gill has confirmed his availability for Punjab for their sixth-round Ranji Trophy fixture against Karnataka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru starting January 23. The squad hasn’t been announced yet.Gill’s possible return to the Punjab fold gives him an opportunity to work with Wasim Jaffer, the highest run-getter in Ranji history who is now the Punjab coach. It comes at a time when his poor returns outside Asia – he averages 17.64 in 18 innings since June 2021 – have come in for sharp scrutiny, especially with India slated to tour England for five Tests in the summer.His return will shore up a squad that will be without senior players Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh, who have both been picked in India’s T20I squad for the five-match series against England starting January 22 in Kolkata.Gill’s last Ranji Trophy appearance for Punjab came in 2022, when he played against Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-finals in Alur. His return coincides with the Indian team management having laid down strict protocols for national players in the wake of India’s 3-1 Test series loss in Australia.1:47

Pujara: Gill’s hard hands and lack of footwork causing trouble in Australia

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have spoken of the need for top players to make themselves available to play for their respective state teams when free of international commitments.Gill was among those who endured a disappointing run in Australia, where he managed a highest of 31 in five innings following a return from a finger injury that kept him out of the series opener in Perth. He averaged 18.60 for the series. He was also left out of India’s XI for the Boxing Day Test, with the team management slotting in KL Rahul at No. 3 after Rohit Sharma reverted to his opening position having initially started the series, in the second Test, in the middle order.At the time, though, the team management said that Gill hadn’t been dropped and was merely “unfortunate” to miss out owing to team combination, as India went in with two spin-bowling allrounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.Punjab’s hopes of qualifying for the Ranji Trophy playoffs hangs by a thread; they are currently fifth in Group A with a solitary win in five games.