Cheteshwar Pujara has been named as the captain of Saurashtra for their opening Ranji Trophy encounter against Haryana. He is currently playing county cricket in England but will return in time to lead Saurashtra.
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Pujara has replaced domestic veteran Jaydev Shah in the role, who will miss the first game of the season due to his marriage.
Robin Uthappa – who switched his base to Saurashtra – is the second biggest name in the squad. Before the start of the season, Uthappa ended his 15-year association with KSCA and joined Saurashtra.
The exclusion of Ravindra Jadeja from the squad has come out as a surprise as he is not expected to be the part of the Indian team for T20I series against Australia and in that case, he could have played the opening game of Ranji Trophy. It is to be noted that there talks of R Ashwin in contention to play the first Ranji game for Tamil Nadu as he is also expected to miss the T20I series.
The Saurashtra squad includes likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Perera Mankad, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Avi Barot and Hardik Rathod. Krushang Patel, who was selected in Board President’s XI squad to face Australia in practice game, has also been selected. He is yet to make his first-class debut.
“The senior selection committee meeting of Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) was held today. They selected 15 members for the first game. Pujara has been named as captain and Robin Uthappa will play for Saurashtra this season. Jaydev Shah, who has been captaining Saurashtra since over last one decade will miss the opening game due to his marriage, which is on October 5,” Himanshu Shah, SCA media manager told PTI. .
Saurashtra is set to take on Haryana in their first game of the season in an away game in Lahli from October 6 to 9.
Saurashtra squad for the first game against Haryana: Cheteshwar Pujara (Captain), Robin Uthappa, Jaydev Unadkat, Snell Patel (WK), Prerak Mankad, Chirag Jani, Dharmendra Jadeja, Vandit Jivrajani, Avi Barot, Kishan Parmar, Krushang Patel, Shaurya Sanandiya, Hardik Rathod.