Ajinkya Rahane is all set to lead Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai to face India in the Irani Cup match at Lucknow. The match will also mark the return of Shardul Thakur to first-class cricket after his surgery.
All the top players including Shreyas Iyer, Mushir Khan, Shams Mullani and Tanush Kotian are expected to play in this match.
However, it is not certain whether Sarfaraz Khan, who is currently in the Indian squad, will be selected for this tie. The Kanpur Test against Bangladesh begins on September 27 and if Sarfaraz is not selected in the XI (which is likely), the Mumbai Cricket Association may ask its top batsman to play in the Irani Cup.
The team will be announced tomorrow.
“Look, Sarfaraz is the only dedicated middle-order batsman in the squad. Dhruv Jurel is a keeper-batsman and Axar Patel is an all-rounder. What if we need a concussion replacement? But yes, the Irani Cup starts on October 1 and if the Test matches end early, moving from Kanpur to Lucknow on September 30 won’t be a big problem,” a BCCI source said. PTI.
India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Shivam Dubey, both of whom have automatic selections in the Indian T20 squad, are reported to not be playing in the Iran Cup as they are required to reach Gwalior on October 3 for the T20I series starting on October 6.
