Gujarat, the Ranji Trophy champions for 2016-17 season, will make their debut appearance in the Irani Cup against defending champions Rest of India, led by Indian Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara at Brabourne Stadium on Friday.
The ROI captain believes the game against Gujarat will be a great opportunity for the young players to set their mark in the five-day match before being considered for upcoming national fixtures.
“It will be an exciting game. We have so many young players who want to prove themselves. With five Tests coming up, it will be a good opportunity for them to make their mark. Gujarat is a good team and we are looking forward to this game,” Pujara saiD.
The 28-year-old right handed batsman Pujara has expressed that it would be a crunch time for promising cricketers to knock at the selection doors by giving best of their performances ahead of the one-off Test against Bangladesh and four-match Test series against Australia, which is scheduled for the next month.
“I always believed that if you have healthy competition it is very good for the Indian team,” Pujara added.
On the other hand, the 32-year-old wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha will be battling against Gujarat skipper and wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel to cement his place in the longer format.
“It’s very good for the Indian team with both Saha and Patel performing well. Ultimately, it will be up to the team management to decide who they want to go with,” he further said.
The 31-year-old Ahmedabad born wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv, who has been a consistent performer in domestic circuit, was happy with his team’s performance after they clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy title this season.
“Our goal was to win the Ranji Trophy this season. We achieved it. Now we have to move to the next level and improve as a team and as individuals,” Parthiv said.
ROI squad also includes Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Karun Nair, Manoj Tiwary, Akhil Herwadkar, Pankaj Sing, Abhinav Mukund, and Mohammed Siraj.
However, Gujarat is led by Parthiv Patel while having a strong battling line-up at helm, which includes Priyank Panchal, Samit Gohel and Manprit Juneja.