3 players unlucky to miss out on Irani Cup 2024 playing XIs ft. Musheer Khan
The Irani Cup, which is a one-off encounter played between the winners of the Ranji Trophy and a Rest of India (ROI) side, is a prestigious title and usually takes place ahead of the red-ball domestic season in India.
At the time of writing, Mumbai have piled up 536-9 against the Rest of India after batting for two whole days in the ongoing edition of this historic game at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Sarfaraz Khan was the star for Mumbai with an unbeaten 221, but he received ample support from captain Ajinkya Rahane, who was unlucky to miss out on a ton by a mere three runs. India batter Shreyas Iyer too contributed with 57.
Despite several players getting the opportunity to do well in this game, there have been many who missed out due to various reasons. In this listicle, we take a look at three players who were unlucky to miss out on being in the Irani Cup:
#1 Musheer Khan
Mumbai batter Musheer Khan's name perhaps comes first on the list of players who were unlucky to miss out on being a part of the Irani Cup. Khan suffered a fracture in his neck region after meeting with an accident recently.
It was reported that Khan was travelling with his father from Azamgarh to Lucknow for this prestigious encounter when the accident took place. The 19-year-old was in fine form and was expected to make it big in this match as well.
Musheer, the younger brother of India star Sarfaraz Khan, scored a century in the Duleep Trophy held recently, and was expected to continue in the same vein of form. Thankfully, he is reported to be fine and recovering well now.
Interestingly, Sarfaraz was brought into the Mumbai side in place of Musheer, and he responded with a brilliant 221 not out at the time of writing.
#2 Ricky Bhui
Andhra batter Ricky Bhui is another player who will consider himself unfortunate to make it to the playing XI of the Rest of India side for the ongoing Irani Cup game against Mumbai.
Since this is a one-off encounter, Bhui is not going to get an opportunity to perform for ROI again this season. The middle-order batter came into this game on the back of a stupendous run in the Duleep Trophy.
Despite scoring two centuries and one half-century in the six innings that he played in the Duleep Trophy, Bhui was not considered good enough to be a part of the playing XI for ROI in this match, which is astounding.
#3 Khaleel Ahmed
Khaleel Ahmed can add his name to the list of players who will consider themselves unfortunate to miss out on playing for the Rest of India in this encounter in the Irani Cup against Mumbai.
Like-for-like replacement Yash Dayal was brought in from the India squad and this hampered Ahmed's chances of getting a game. The left-arm seamer will now have to wait for the Ranji Trophy to begin to prove his point.
The Rajasthan seamer picked up nine wickets in total in the four innings he bowled in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy, and playing in the Irani Cup would have given him an immense boost of confidence.