RANJI TROPHY

Ranji Trophy Group B - Focus on holders Gujarat while Saurashtra eye recovery

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Pujara is certain to be available until the home Tests against Sri Lanka.
Pujara is certain to be available until the home Tests against Sri Lanka. © Getty

Gujarat

Parthiv Patel & Co. opened their prestigious account last season, and can now set higher benchmarks for themselves. Afterall, they downed 41-time champions Mumbai for their maiden title. Taking their gigantic efforts to the next level by defending their title will be high up on the agenda, but will hardly be an easy task. Outside of the group the likes of Mumbai and Karnataka will come at them, while within Group B, they're bound to face stiff competition from last season's semifinalists Jharkhand and Saurashtra, in their bid to qualify for the quarters.

The holders will be at peace with respect to their batting - with Priyank Panchal and Samit Gohel likely to bear the burden at the top with Manpreet Juneja, Parthiv and Ashok Merai also chipping in. Piyush Chawla's recruitment will give their bowling department a much-needed bolstering as it adds to the experience, more so in the absence of regular performer Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel, who could be out with international commitments.

Player to watch: Priyank Panchal, Samit Gohel, Piyush Chawla

Predicted finish: Semifinals

Saurashtra

Saurashtra will want to quickly erase the scars of the forgettable 2016-17 season when they finished seventh (out of nine teams) in Group B, and aim to be considered one amongst the top sides again. For starters, the target for Cheteshwar Pujara's side will be making it to the next stage. With India playing limited-overs cricket against Australia (T20Is) and then following up with a series against New Zealand (3 ODIs, 3 T20Is), Saurashtra will receive a major fillip through the availability of captain Pujara until the Sri Lanka Tests, which begin mid-November. If Ravindra Jadeja is rested for the New Zealand series too, his presence in the domestic setup will also enhance Saurashtra's start to the season.

What the two-time champions will also earnestly hope for is the signature of Robin Uthappa to pay off. The 2016-17 season was not the best for the Saurashtra batsmen, and a return to home-away system that allows them to play on the flat Rajkot wicket should help them address that problem.

Squad: Cheteshwar Pujara(c), Avi Barot , Prerak Mankad, Kishan Parmar, Snell Patel, Robin Uthappa, Sheldon Jackson, Ravindra Jadeja, Chirag Jani, Shaurya Sanandia, Jaydev Unadkat, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Vandit Jivrajani, Kushang Patel, Hardik Rathod

Players to watch:Robin Uthappa

Predicted finish: Quarterfinals

Jharkhand

Jharkhand's ride to the semis was one of the tales of the season in 2016-17. With 'mentor' MS Dhoni occasionally in tow, the Jharkhand side soared new heights by topping Group B and making the knockouts, before losing to the eventual champions in the semis. But life ahead may not be as rosy. The Varun Aaron-led team will be in a tough fight with Saurashtra and Gujarat to put themselves in the last-eight this term. Aaron himself will find this season very vital for his international career, where he has slipped a little down the pecking order.

India's pace battery looks to be functioning in the sort of sync that hasn't been witnessed for years and breaking in seems the toughest now, but that should only serve as a source of inspiration the 27-year-old who has nine Tests and nine ODIs to his name.

Saurabh Tiwary is another senior player who will carry the onus of how Jharkhand's season progresses while allowing the younger lot - like Ishan Kishan and Virat Singh - play freely and bereft of any added burdens.

All eyes will once again be on Shahbaz Nadeem - the tireless left-arm spinner who became the second bowler in Ranji history to pick 50 wickets in a season twice. Nadeem's impact on Jharkhand's fate is well-documented, and his absence at the start owing to India A and Board President's XI call-up could be decisive. Jharkhand might need a strong plan B if BCCI decides to give Nadeem a go in national colours in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka later this year.

Squad: Varun Aaron(c), Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Babul Kumar, Sumit Kumar, Nazim Siddiqui, Ishan Kishan, Ashish Kumar, Jaskaran Singh, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ajay Yadav, Sunny Gupta, Kaushal Singh, Samar Quadri, Virat Singh

Players to watch: Shahbaz Nadeem

Predicted finish: 3rd

Kerala

Kerala will make a fresh start under new captain Sachin Baby and coach Dav Whatmore, with an ambitious target of a quarterfinal spot. Star keeper-batsman Sanju Samson will hope to shrug off the controversy from last season to try and push hard for an India spot again, after falling off the radar a bit last term. This season, Kerala also have the experience of Arun Karthik to fall back on, as he has made the switch from Assam.

Twenty-three-year-old Vishnu Vinod, who played three games for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2017, and Mohammad Azharuddeen will vie for the same spot - opener-cum-keeper - in the Kerala side, making for a healthy competition. Vinod scored his maiden half-century against Haryana on his first-class debut last season.

Another youngster whose progress could hinge on the performance in the upcoming season is the tearaway fast bowler Basil Thampi. Thampi turned heads with fiery performances in the IPL for Gujarat Lions and could take his career to the next level with consistency in four-day cricket this term.

Squad: Sachin Baby(c), Arun Karthik, Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Ponnam Rahul, Salman Nizar, Vishnu Vinod, Sanju Samson, MD Nidheesh, Sandeep Warrier, Basil Thampi, Akshay Chandran, Karaparambil Monish, Rohan Prem, Jalaj Saxena

Players to watch: Sanju Samson, Sachin Baby, Basil Thampi

Predicted finish: 4th

Haryana

A pivotal season of domestic cricket is coming up for right-arm spinner Jayant Yadav. Yadav played three Tests against England (in 2016) and one against Australia (in 2017), but has competition for the role of the third spin option from the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. At Haryana, he is part of a strong bowling line-up that includes Mohit Sharma, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal, who might miss games with limited-overs duty for India.

If Yadav can stand out amongst this lot, he won't just put his hat into the India ring once again, but also give Haryana an outside chance of upsetting the apple-cart (and the three teams mentioned above) to a surge into the knockouts. Haryana's fate will also depend on whether Nitin Saini can replicate his wonderful 2016-17 season with the bat (989 runs at 61.81).

Ahead of the season, the task looks herculean, but they only need to look inwards, and at their performance from last season, to find motivation to reach the knockouts against all odds.

Players to watch: Jayant Yadav, Nitin Saini

Predicted finish: 5th

Team Rajasthan

In what came as a major relief, a Rajasthan High Court's ruling ensured the side's participation in the upcoming Ranji season. Rajasthan had been banned by the BCCI for re-electing Lalit Modi as their chairman. The Indian board conveyed in no uncertain terms that the ban would be revoked only if Modi was removed from all posts. Earlier in June, the RCA fell in line. However, the threat of not being able to participate in the domestic competition was still on as two factions failed to reach a consensus. The HC announced that the system in place for the last two years that allowed players to feature in the tournament would continue, after two tussling factions of the board couldn't reach a compromise.

Pankaj Singh & Co. will continue to play under the 'Team Rajasthan' banner and will hope to do much better with their opportunity than last season. A lop-sided team - comprising of an enviable bowling line-up and an ordinary batting order - finished second last in Group B in the 2016-17 season. It was only in 2010-11 that they'd achieved the unthinkable of winning the title, and followed it up by defending it in 2011-12. But Rajasthan have come away from those days of glory and face a tough fight ahead.

The dream of making it to the quarters appears a longshot, but Pankaj will hope to steer his side to a respectable spot in the Group B table. If the returning Robin Bist - one of their heroes of the 2011-12 season - can lift the ordinary batting standards from last season, there could be light at the end of the tunnel for Rajasthan.

Squad: Pankaj Singh(c), Rajesh Bishnoi, Robin Bist, Dishant Yagnik, Rajesh Bishnoi Jr, Amitkumar Gautam, Tajinder Singh, Tanveer-Ul-Haq, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Aniket Choudhary, Siddharth Dobal, Arjit Gupta, Mahipal Lomror, Ashok Menaria

Players to watch:Robin Bisht, Pankaj Singh

Predicted finish: 6th

Jammu and Kashmir

Parvez Rasool's Jammu & Kashmir side made a 11th hour confirmation of their participation in the Ranji season, after the state board had considered pulling out owing to lack of funds from the CoA. The dust eventually settled and they're in but face a ridiculously-uphill task as they will play no home games.

The senior likes of Samiullah Beigh, Ian Dev Singh and Rasool will once again have to carry the side ahead and hope to at least better their league standing (third from bottom of Group C). In the absence of a dependable middle-order, that too could be tall order.

Squad: Parvez Rasool(c), Puneet Bisht, Ahmed Bandy, Shubham Khajuria, Pranav Gupta, Aditya Singh, Bandeep Singh, Ram Dayal, Mehjoor Ali, Ian Dev Singh, Waseem Raza, Samiullah Beigh, Mohammed Mudhasir, Rohit Sharma, Umar Nazir Mir

Player to watch:Ian Dev Singh, Parvez Rasool

Predicted finish:7th

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