Mumbai Mumbai. Ajinkya Rahane is all set to lead Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai in the upcoming Irani Cup match against Rest of India in Lucknow. The match will also mark the return of all-rounder Shardul Thakur to first-class cricket after surgery. It is learnt that all the top players including Shreyas Iyer, Mushir Khan, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian will play in the match.
However, it is not yet clear whether Sarfaraz Khan, who is in the Indian team, will be selected for this match or not. The Kanpur Test against Bangladesh is starting from September 27 and if Sarfaraz is not selected in the final XI, which can happen, then the Mumbai Cricket Association may request to let their key batsman play in the Irani Cup. The team will be announced tomorrow.
“Look, Sarfraz is the only specialist middle-order batsman in the squad. Dhruv Jurel is a wicketkeeper-batsman and Axar Patel is an allrounder. What if a concussion substitute is needed? But yes, the Irani Cup starts on October 1 and if the Test match gets over early, travelling from Kanpur to Lucknow even on September 30 won't be a big deal,” a BCCI source told PTI. It is understood that India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav and allrounder Shivam Dube, who are both automatic picks in the Indian T20 squad, will not play the Irani Cup as they will have to report in Gwalior on October 3 for the T20 series starting on October 6.
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