The 92nd edition of the Ranji Trophy kicked off with teams locking horns at different centres across the country. Defending champiions Jammu and Kashmir are hosting Madhya Pradesh in Kashmir.
42-time champions Mumbai are taking on Chandigarh at the Wankhede Stadium. While many capped players are in action for their respective state teams, India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill decided to give the opening round of the Ranji Trophy a miss. Uday Saharan, who captained India U19 to the final of the 2024 World Cup, is leading the Punjab cricket team.
Following the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the BCCI issued a diktat and instructed all contracted players to feature in the Ranji Trophy when they are not on national duty.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also turned up for their respective teams after coming back from Australia. Gill was expected to feature for Punjab in the home game against Assam, but he decided to give it a miss.
Shubman isn’t part of the T20I team and he has been on a break since the end of the ODI series against West Indies. He will travel to New Zealand towards the end of the month as the series will start with the T20Is.
KL Rahul in action for Karnataka
India Test vice-captain KL Rahul is in action for Karnataka against Andhra Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy. The senior batter is also part of the India A squad for the unofficial Test series against New Zealand A and he will only be available for one fixture.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is playing for Mumbai under Siddesh Lad’s captaincy. The left-handed batter is also part of the India A squad for the red-ball series. Jaiswal, who made his return for the WI ODI series, looks set to lose his spot in the squad for the NZ ODIs.
Washington Sundar was withdrawn from the T20I squad and asked to play Ranji Trophy. He is playing the away game against Rajasthan in Jaipur. Gurnoor Brar, who is uncapped in Test cricket, is playing for Punjab. He is sharing the new ball with Yadav, who joined Punjab as a professional.