Rest of India hold edge

Star-studded Pujaras side takes on Ranji champions Rajasthan

It’s been a while since domestic cricket tournaments in India have faded into relative insignificance.

But this year’s Irani Cup, beginning on Friday at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here, need not struggle for essentialness as it will be a stage for some top cricketers to maintain their competitive edge ahead of some sterner tests.

From a competition point of view, Rest of India -- housing some of the finest talent around and the defending Irani champions -- starts overwhelming favourites against defending Ranji champions Rajasthan, depleted after the shifting of Aakash Chopra to Himachal Pradesh, and they are also without the services of Ashok Menaria and Rituraj Singh, who are with the India ‘A’ squad in New Zealand. But the match has much more meaning to it.

A glance at the Rest of India squad will reveal names such as Cheteshwar Pujara, their skipper, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and Ajinkya Rahane, and with India set to play eight more Tests at home in the next few months, they will have crucial roles to play at various stage of those series. More than the runs and wickets, the aforementioned names will be eager to have some game time, and Pujara agreed. 

“We are playing a domestic match after a long time. For those who have not played Tests and ODIs recently, it is an opportunity to keep in touch with the game and start performing and get confidence out of this match,” Pujara said.

The statement, in particular, holds good in Ishant’s case. After undergoing an ankle surgery in March this year, the Delhi pacer has been on a comeback trail. He was a part of the India squad for the series against New Zealand, but the second pacer’s slot went to Umesh with the management opting for only two quick bowlers.

A good outing in the five-day match will certainly boost Ishant’s confidence besides helping him to gain valuable time on the field. Pushed behind Umesh in the priority list, a good effort is mandatory for the Delhi lad to come back into reckoning. Ishant’s form will be critical for India, stepping into a busy home season as their pace stock already has a thin look about it.

S Badrinath will be another player, who will be eager to muster some big runs. A king in domestic circuit, the Tamil Nadu right-hander has failed to replicate those performances in the limited chances he recevied at the top level. The 32-year-old, who was drafted into the Test squad after the retirement of VVS Laxman, will be looking to build one of those castles of runs, and be in the range of selectors’ eyes.

Despite their overwhelming superiority, RoI can’t count out Rajasthan, one of the few sides to win back-to-back Ranji titles. Their skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar hoped to add one more leaf to the State’s cricketing history. “A couple of seasons back, Rajasthan had never won the Ranji for 76 years. Hopefully, we will be able to win it (Irani) this time,” Kanitkar said.

Teams (from): Rest of India: Cheteshwar Pujara (capt), M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, S Badrinath, Dinesh Karthik, Wriddhiman Saha, Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Parvinder Awana, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Stuart Binny, Abhimanyu Mithun, Harmeet Singh.

Rajasthan: Hrishikesh Kanitkar (capt), Dishant Yagnik, Aniket Choudhary, Ankit Lamba, Vineet Saxena, Sumeet Mathur, Gajendra Singh, Madhur Khatri, Deepak Chahar, Raman Chahar, Robin Bisht, Arijit Gupta, Vaibhav Deshpande, Puneet Yadav, Rashmi Ranjan Parida.

Umpires: S Ravi, Sudhir Asnani; Third umpire: Vineet Kulkarni; Match Referee: Manu Nayar. Match starts at 9.30 am.