6 High profile players in the Ranji Trophy this season

Domestic cricket in India has been witnessing sporting action throughout the calendar year for ages, with prestigious tournaments like the Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy being held year after year. Arguably, the most coveted championship in the circle of domestic cricket in India is the Ranji Trophy. Named after the first Indian cricketer to have played international cricket, Ranjitsinhji, the famed tournament is currently in its 84th edition. The defending champions will be the Gujarat team, who defeated Mumbai by 5 wickets in the last season to clinch their maiden title.

The frequency of cricket matches at the international level has gone up by several folds compared to the yesteryears. While some tend to argue that this flurry of international matches and the onset of shorter formats has robbed domestic cricket of its former glory, the significance of tournaments like the Ranji Trophy is anything but minuscule.  For decades, the Ranji Trophy has been considered as the primary hunting ground for upcoming talent.

Perform well in the Ranji games for your team and your name becomes one to be reckoned with. The likes of Kedar Jadhav, Kuldeep Yadav, Parvez Rasool and KL Rahul are a few amongst the many names who’ve progressed to don the national colours after putting up stellar performances in the tournament.

More often than not, we also find players who are struggling to pave their way back into the national squad, trying to put up good performances in order to get noticed by the selectors. The 2017-18 season of the Ranji Trophy will be hosting a plethora of cricketers, ranging from amateurs to stars.

Here are 6 high-profile players participating in the Ranji Trophy for the 2017-18 season:

1. Ishant Sharma

A constant fixture of the Indian Test side, Ishant Sharma will be leading the Delhi team in the Ranji Trophy this season. Sharma, on his part, has consolidated his place in the Indian team in the longer format of the game by being a dependable pacer, who can consistently pick wickets for the side, no matter the opposition.

His last appearance for the Virat Kohli-led side was on the Australia tour of India in 2017, where he bowled in 3 of the 4 Test matches and picked up 3 wickets. Sharma possesses reassuring bowling figures of 218 wickets in 77 Test matches and will look to polish his skills ahead of an extensive Test cricket season against South Africa, which is to be held in early 2018.

2. Cheteshwar Pujara

Often termed by many as the “New-Age Rahul Dravid” for India, Cheteshwar Pujara has proved his mettle time and again, both in domestic as well as international cricketing circles. The 29-year-old batsman has 13 centuries in 85 innings to his name in the longer version of the sport and is as staunch as a pillar when it comes to sweating it out in the middle for his team’s victory.

Having tried his hand at County Cricket for Nottinghamshire, Pujara wasn’t able to churn out the result he’d have expected as he was unable to score significant knocks for his side. The right-hander will look to utilise his domestic stint as much as possible to his favour before the Test season kicks off mid-November. This Ranji season will see him put on the captain’s cap as he’ll be marshalling the Saurashtra squad onto the field.

3. Suresh Raina

The 30-year-old southpaw has been looking to make his way back into the Indian team for quite some time now and a confident performance in the domestic season will only increase his chances of regaining his old spot in the national team. Suresh Raina was a primary feature of the Men in Blue in the 2011 World Cup but has been troubled by fitness issues of late.

Having failed the rigorous fitness tests for both the Indian limited-overs team as well as the India ‘A’ squad, Raina has to capitalise on his chance of captaining the Uttar Pradesh team in the Ranji Trophy to get back into the limelight. The prolific left-handed cricketing star last featured in a Test match for India back in 2015 against Australia at Sydney. On his part, Raina has scored 768 runs in the 18 Tests that he’s played for India till date, with the highest score of 120 runs.

4. Murali Vijay

Flambuoyant right-hander, Murali Vijay will be playing for the Tamil Nadu side, led by Abhinav Mukund in the upcoming Ranji Trophy. The 33-year old sports an exceptional First-class career, armed with 7894 runs in 112 matches. Vijay will look to extend this outstanding run in the domestic cricketing circle and grab the attention of the national selectors.

The Test against Australia at Ranchi earlier this year saw a composed innings of 82 runs from the batsman, who has mammoth figures of 3408 runs in 51 Tests at a strike rate of 46.30 up his sleeves at the international level. The healthy bench strength of the current Indian team brimming over with talented players will only require Vijay to outperform himself to seal his spot in the Indian side for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and South Africa.

5. Ravindra Jadeja

‘Sir’ Ravindra Jadeja is the handy all-rounder the Indian Team has found itself in the dearth of more often than not. Since there are enough sceptics who question Jadeja’s place in the Test squad, the stylish left-handed bowling all-rounder might as well try and maximise his skill set in the Ranji Trophy matches. The 28-year old will be participating in the tournament as a member of the Saurashtra squad, under the captaincy of his India teammate, Cheteshwar Pujara.

Famed for his slow left-arm orthodox bowling style, especially in sub-continent conditions, Jadeja will find the Ranji matches to be the perfect platform to sharpen his bowling knife, especially because the upcoming test series would feature Sri Lanka in home pitches; an atmosphere he specialises in. As for his international figures, Jadeja has a healthy tally of 1136 runs with the bat and 155 wickets in 32 test matches for India.

6. Ravichandran Ashwin

The Tamil Nadu team is going to be adorned with more than one cricketing star this time around, as Ravichandran Ashwin will also feature in the squad, alongside the likes of Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund. Ashwin’s recent County debut for Worcestershire saw the spin magician take a 5-wicket haul, thus making him gain accolades and admiration from all over the globe.

Fans of the 31-year old off-break bowler have been left fuming in recent times as Ashwin has been unable to crack through to find a spot in the shorter format teams. However, he’s as indispensable as ever when it comes to Test cricket and if the Tamil Nadu team has to get close to bagging the title in the 2017-18 season, Ashwin will have to weave his spell.

Flanked by staggering figures of 292 wickets in 52 international test matches and 446 wickets in 91 first-class games, along with a sound technique of wielding the bat against the toughest of oppositions, Ashwin is definitely one of the many dazzling attractions that the Ranji Trophy, beginning on October 6, will have on offer.