JOIN USThe national selectors on Monday decided to reward rookie left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh for his fine performance in the U-19 World Cup by including him in both Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup as well as India ‘B’ squad for the Challenger Series.
Rest of India, led by Chesteshwar Pujara, will take on Ranji Trophy champions Rajasthan in Bangalore from September 21-25.
While Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane would get quality practice ahead of long Test season, Ishant Sharma has also been named in the squad.
Young Harmeet may not get a chance in playing XI as more experienced Test star Pragyan Ojha is also there in the squad.
The selection of the Rest of India squad was on expected lines save the notable omission of last year’s highest scorer in Ranji Trophy Robin Bist although the likes of Parvinder Awana, Stuart Binny, Dinesh Kaarthick have been rewarded for good performances in domestic cricket.
Murali Vijay has been brought back despite a poor last season as the selectors refuse to look beyond the Tamil Nadu opener in the country.
The India colts’ World Cup triumph has certainly caught the selectors’ attention as Harmeet’s team-mates Baba Aparajith and seamer Sandeep Sharma have also been included in the India ‘B’ squad which will be led by Pujara.
The Challenger Series will be held in Rajkot from September 29 to October 2.
The squads:
Rest of India squad for Irani Cup: Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, S Badrinath, Dinesh Kaarthick, Wriddhiman Saha, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Parvinder Awana, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Stuart Binny, Abhimanyu Mithun, Harmeet Singh.
Challenger Series: India ‘A’: S Badrinath (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Kaarthick, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Parvinder Awana, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, Iqbal Abdulla, Harshal Patel, Udit Birla.
India ‘B’: Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), Murali Vijay, S Anirudha, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Bist, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Baba Aparajith, Praveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Munaf Patel, Harmeet Singh, Rohit Motwani, Sandeep Sharma.