4 Indian players who should play Ranji Trophy before the Australia series
In one of their major assignments in 2023, Team India will play host to Australia in a four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The opening Test is scheduled to be played at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on February 9.
The red-ball series is going to be extremely crucial for Rohit Sharma's men. India need to win three out of their four Tests against Australia to solidify their place in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final.
They are currently placed second in the WTC table with a win percentage of 68.9 and eight wins from 14 Tests.
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The Men in Blue are currently partaking in a three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Prior to their white-ball series against the Black Caps, Team India also hosted Sri Lanka for three T20Is and as many ODIs.
Given that the team has been continuously playing white-ball cricket since the start of the year, it might be helpful for some first-choice Indian players to get some red-ball match practice ahead of the BGT series.
One way to attain that for the Indian players would be to play at least one Ranji Trophy game before the Australian series.
In this article, we will discuss four such Indian players who should play in a Ranji Trophy game before the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
#4 KL Rahul
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It would be practically impossible for the groom-to-be, KL Rahul, to play Karnataka's last group game, which is against Jharkhand on January 24. The star Indian batter is expected to marry his girlfriend Athiya Shetty on Monday (January 23).
KL Rahul, the vice-captain of the Indian Test team, is touted to open the batting alongside skipper Rohit Sharma in the Test matches against Australia.
KL Rahul & Athiya Shetty!♥️ https://t.co/hmTuI5Jtpr
While the 30-year-old is part of the current ODI and T20I Indian squad for the New Zealand series, he will have a chance to get some match practice ahead of the BGT series.
Rahul's state side, Karnataka, have already qualified for the Ranji Trophy knockouts and will play a quarterfinal game from January 31 to February 4.
The right-hander, who will start the Australian series after his mini break from international cricket, can certainly eye playing the said Ranji Trophy game to attain some match practice.
#3 Shreyas Iyer
Similar to KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer also isn't in the current Indian team for the New Zealand ODIs. However, unlike the Karnataka batter, Iyer was ruled out of the white-ball series due to a back injury.
Although it would be quite impossible for him to play his domestic side Mumbai's last Ranji Trophy group game, he could feature in their quarterfinals on January 31, provided Mumbai qualify for the knockout stages.
With the unavailability of Rishabh Pant, the importance of Iyer in the middle order grows even more abundantly, and India would definitely want the 28-year-old to be in his best shape and frame of mind against Australia.
#2 Virat Kohli
Although modern-day legend Virat Kohli has once again asserted his dominance in white-ball cricket, he is yet to translate his resurgent form to Test matches.
If India are to trounce Australia at home next month, Kohli's form and experience will be of utmost importance as far as the batting unit is concerned.
I really think it will be a good idea for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to play the Ranji Trophy starting on the 24th instead of the last ODI. At the moment, the multi-format players tend to go straight from white ball cricket into test cricket.
Several cricket pundits are of the view that the 34-year-old should skip the forthcoming third ODI against the Kiwis in order to play a Ranji Trophy game for Delhi before the BGT series.
Since India doesn't have a practice game before the Test series, it might not be the wrong move for Kohli to play some red-ball cricket for Delhi in order to get ready for the Australian challenge.
#1 Ravindra Jadeja
Perhaps the only name on the list who is certainly going to feature in a Ranji Trophy game before the upcoming Test series is Ravindra Jadeja.
Out of action since August, Jadeja is set to make his on-field comeback. The star all-rounder has been named in the Saurashtra squad for their last group game against Tamil Nadu on Tuesday (January 4). The left-hander has already joined the team in Chennai on Sunday.
With the bat - 1347 runs @ 46.44
With the ball - 77 wickets @ 26.79
Ravindra Jadeja - No.1 Test all-rounder in ICC rankings for a reason!
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While Jadeja was named in the Indian squad for the BGT series, his availability was subject to fitness.
However, it will certainly come as a morale booster for him as well as for the Indian team that the 34-year-old will partake in a domestic game prior to the big clash against Australia.