The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced the Rest of India squad for Irani Cup to be played against 2021-22 Ranji Trophy Champions Madhya Pradesh from March 1-5, 2023 at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior. Mayank Agarwal will lead the side which has got the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Navdeep Saini and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Mayank Agarwal set to lead Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup against Madhya Pradesh
Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal was a regular part of the Indian test team before he lost his place due to a string of failures. The BCCI have now rewarded Mayank for being the leading run-scorer in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy season and have named him as the skipper for the Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup against Madhya Pradesh.
Mayank Agarwal played 13 innings for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 and smashed 990 runs including a breathtaking knock of 249 against Saurashtra in the semi-final. The Karnataka skipper last featured for India in March 2022 in a Test against Sri Lanka and has since failed to secure his place on the national side.
The selectors have also named a strong pace-attack for the Rest of India squad which includes Chetan Sakariya from Saurashtra, Navdeep Saini from Delhi, and Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep from Bengal. Saurabh Kumar and Mayank Markande are the two spinners included in the squad.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran are the two other openers apart from Mayank Agarwal while Upendra Yadav has been named as the wicketkeeper of the squad. Abhimanyu Easwaran was a part of the Indian test side that travelled to Bangladesh in December last year.
Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan, who’s been in some prolific form for the past couple of years, was unavailable for selection owing to a hairline fracture on his left little finger. The All-India Senior Selection Committee named Baba Indrajith as his replacement for the tournament.
The selection committee, comprising SS Das, S Sharath, Salil Ankola, and Subroto Bannerjee have interestingly not named Jalaj Saxena and Shams Mulani in the squad despite the two having taken 50 and 46 wickets, respectively in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season.
Rest of India squad: Mayank Agarwal (Captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yash Dhull, Baba Indrajith, Upendra Yadav(WK), Atit Sheth, Saurabh Kumar, Harvik Desai, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar, Chetan Sakariya, Akash Deep, Mayank Markande, Pulkit Narang and Sudip Kumar Gharami.