Ajinkya Rahane is set to take the field in a competitive match after more than three months as the captain of the West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy, to be played in Chennai next month.
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Ever since injuring his hamstring in May during the Indian Premier League, Rahane has been out of action. Having missed the Ranji Trophy knockouts in June, Rahane will be looking forward to showcase his hunger for runs.
Rahane is one of the eight players from Mumbai to have been selected for West Zone. Besides him, India regulars Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur will also return to domestic cricket after a while. Prolific Ranji performers Yashasvi Jaiswal and the spin-bowling allrounderes Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian have also been rewarded with a berth in the zonal squad.
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Maharashtra’s Rahul Tripathi, who has been travelling as a part of India’s limited overs set-up for a better part of the last three months, has also been asked to showcase his prowess against the red cherry.
The squad was selected by the chief selectors of all the five state teams in the zone in Mumbai on Thursday. The Hindu understands that they were informed that openers Priyank Panchal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, run-machine Sarfaraz Khan and Gujarat left-arm pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla were not to be considered since they will be a part of the India A squad for the four-day games against New Zealand A.
The India A series, starting September 1, will overlap with the Duleep Trophy. The BCCI is yet to announce the India A squad.
The squad: Ajinkya Rahane (Capt.), Prithvi Shaw, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Tamore (w.k.), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Shardul Thakur (Mumbai), Rahul Tripathi, Satyajeet Bachhav (Maharashtra), Het Patel, Chintan Gaja (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat, Chirag Jani (Saurashtra), Atit Sheth. Standbyes: Siddharth Desai (Gujarat), Suved Parkar, Armaan Jaffer (both Mumbai).