While the Indian Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma is set to return to the Ranji Trophy, it has forced the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to increase the seating capacity for the upcoming match.

Defending champions Mumbai are ready for the crucial upcoming Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match against Jammu and Kashmir. Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC (Mumbai) will host the match, starting on January 23. It is a must-win game for both teams to stay in contention for the knockout stage qualification. 

Ajinkya Rahane will continue his leadership role in the Mumbai side for the upcoming group stage match, while the Indian stars Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma are likely to open for the 42-time Ranji Trophy champions.

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There will also be proper security arrangements at BKC too

An MCA source told the Times of India that the regional governing body is increasing the seating capacity for the upcoming Ranji Trophy match due to the presence of Indian stars. In fact, there are also proper security arrangements for the match, while the fans will have to show their I-cards at the entry point.

The source told TOI, "Normally, there are seating arrangements for 100-odd spectators at BKC, but we will have around 500 seats for fans near the ground machinery there. Fans will have to show their I-cards at the entry point. Considering the presence of the India stars, there will also be proper security arrangements at BKC too."

Rohit Sharma is a legend for Mumbai

Rohit Sharma played his last Ranji Trophy match in 2015. So, the upcoming encounter against Jammu and Kashmir will be Rohit’s first Ranji game in almost the last 10 years. With 3941 runs, Rohit is the ninth-leading run-scorer for Mumbai in first-class cricket history. The right-handed batter has an average of 66.79, the highest among the Mumbai batters with 3000+ first-class runs, and he has scored 14 centuries and 15 half-centuries in 65 innings.

Indian Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma is set to make his Ranji Trophy return as he has been named in the 17-member full Mumbai squad for their upcoming home encounter against Jammu and Kashmir. Rohit will play under the skipper Ajinkya Rahane. 

Defending champions Mumbai battling to qualify for the knockout stages

The defending champions Mumbai are ready to host Jammu and Kashmir in their upcoming Ranji Trophy 2024-25 group stage match, starting on January 23. It is a crucial game for both teams as the Elite Group A second-placed Jammu and Kashmir have 23 points (three wins and two draws) and the third-placed Mumbai have 22 points (three wins, one loss, and one draw). Baroda are leading the table with 27 points (four wins and one draw). Only the top two of the points table can advance to the knockout stages.

Ajinkya Rahane is set to continue his leadership role for Mumbai, where Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, etc. are set to challenge the present Group A runners-up.

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Rohit Sharma is ready to make his Ranji Trophy return after almost a decade

The 37-year-old Rohit Sharma is set to play a Ranji Trophy match for the first time since 2015. He is struggling in the red-ball cricket as the right-handed batter hasn’t scored many runs in the 2024-25 Test season.

In his last eight Tests, Rohit scored 164 runs in 15 innings with an average of 10.93. Except for one 52 runs against New Zealand during the third innings of the Bengaluru Test, Rohit managed only one more 20+ runs in his last 15 Test innings. 

In the recently concluded Australia tour, where India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 by 3-1, skipper Rohit scored only 31 runs in five innings (average 6.20) and dropped himself from the last Test at Sydney.

For Mumbai, Rohit is the ninth leading first class run-scorer with 3941 runs in 65 innings (45 matches) with an average of 66.79, including 14 centuries and 15 half-centuries with the highest score of 309 not out. Among the Mumbai batters with 3000+ first-class runs, Rohit has the highest batting average.

Before the beginning of the home ODI series against England, Rohit Sharma needs a good batting performance in the Ranji Trophy to regain his confidence. He is a very important name for Team India for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. ​

Complete Mumbai Squad for Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Jammu and Kashmir

Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ayush Mhatre, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, Shivam Dube, Hardik Tamore (wk), Akash Anand (wk), Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani, Himanshu Singh, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Awasthi, Sylvester Dsouza, Royston Dias, Karsh Kothari. 

The next Ranji Trophy round will start on 23rd January and will see Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shubman Gill in action, but someone who was continuously in talks will be missing. 

There were some doubts and questions about Virat Kohli playing Ranji from 23rd January as he was added to the squad but due to his neck pain, he was subject to availability. 

Now, Virat Kohli has informed BCCI that he has taken niggles so he won’t be able to participate in the upcoming Ranji Trophy match. 

It was priorly informed, that Virat Kohli took an injection on 8th January, 3 days after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 

He has been ruled out from Delhi's game against Saurashtra in Rajkot, as he informed BCCI about his neck pain. 

KL Rahul will also not be able to participate in Ranji 

KL Rahul has an elbow issue due to which he won’t be able to participate in Karnataka’s match against Punjab in Bengaluru. 

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However, participation in domestic cricket has become mandatory for all players as BCCI has introduced a 10-point disciplinary policy. If a player is not able to play he will need permission from the national chairman of selectors. 

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have another chance to play in the Ranji Trophy, the final round in the group phase starting on 30th January. 

After all the rumors, it was confirmed and reports came that Virat Kohli is ready to play domestic cricket for the first time since 2012. He will participate in the upcoming Delhi matches in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25.

Virat Kohli's name has been added to Delhi's probable squad which will play against Saurashtra on 23 January.

But there is still doubt about his participation because Virat Kohli suffers from a neck sprain, due to this, he had to take an injection.

And it raises doubt whether he will be available for the next Rajkot clash or not. 

DDCA is likely to name him in the squad, subject to availability 

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has reported that they have not received any update on Virat Kohli’s condition. 

Regardless of how he (Virat Kohli) is likely to be included in Delhi’s squad with the subject to availability.

According to the source, “Virat Kohli had a neck sprain and even took an injection for the same. There is a possibility of him skipping the first of the two Ranji Trophy games left, and a clear picture could come if the DDCA selectors are given an update.”

DDCA optimistic on Rishabh Pant’s’ playing both games 

Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant has confirmed his availability to play Delhi’s next Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra. 

On the other hand, DDCA wants him to play in the final Ranji Trophy 2024-25 game at home.

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Virat Kohli is likely to train with the squad in Rajkot 

His participation in Delhi’s Ranji against Saurashtra remains uncertain due to a neck sprain, but he will be added to the squad and train with them in Rajkot on the 21st and 22nd of January ahead of the Saurashtra clash in the Ranji “subject to availability”.

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami shined on his first-class cricket return as Bengal secured a crucial victory against Madhya Pradesh to climb in the points table. The thrilling match ended with Shami’s success.

After picking four wickets during Madhya Pradesh’s first innings, Mohammed Shami took three wickets in the fourth innings. 

Chasing the 338-run target in the fourth innings, Madhya Pradesh started the fourth day at 150/3.

Mohammed Shami started the fourth day with a wicket

While Shami took one wicket last day by dismissing Anubhav Agarwal (2), he started the final day of the match with a wicket. On the third ball of the day, Shami bowled Rajat Patidar for 32 runs. 

Soon, Shami’s brother Mohammed Kaif took the wicket of Harpreet Singh (7). 

Middle-orders and lower-middle orders frustrated Bengal

Struggling at 161/5, Madhya Pradesh returned to the game with the sixth wicket partnership between the skipper Shubham Sharma (61) and Venkatesh Iyer (53). While both scored half-centuries, they had a partnership of 94 runs.   

However, Madhya Pradesh were under pressure once again after the dismissals of captain Sharma and Iyer in two consecutive overs without adding any runs. 

Aryan Pandey and Saransh Jain frustrated the visitors Bengal as they had a 62-run partnership for the seventh wicket. While Madhya Pradesh were 21 runs away from victory with three wickets in hand, Shahbaz Ahmed and Shami destroyed the hosts' hope by sharing the last three wickets.

Shahbaz dismissed the set batters and Shami took the match-winning wicket

While Shahbaz dismissed both Pandey (22) and Jain (32), Shami took the last wicket by taking the wicket of Kumar Kartikeya (6) as Bengal won by 11 runs. With this win, Bengal climbed the Elite Group C points table with 14 points after five matches. 

Shami also had valuable contribution with the bat

Shami not only took seven wickets, but he also scored quickfire 37 runs off 36 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes in Bengal’s second innings, which proved valuable for the visitors. Before he was stumped out, he had a 29-run last-wicket partnership with his brother Mohammed Kaif.

It is great news for Indian cricket fans as Shami has proved his fitness. While the beginning of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 is less than a week away, we can see fit Shami in the crucial away Test series. 

In a major turn of events, Indian wicketkeeper batter Wriddhiman Saha announced his retirement from all forms of cricket through a social media post on Twitter. This shocking development was made public on Sunday, Saha, aged 40, is currently representing his side Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. The veteran wicket-keeper hints to his fans that this will be the last domestic season of his career.

Saha predominately lived under the shadows of the star wicket-keeper MS Dhoni but still went on to make sporadic international appearances for India in 40 Tests and nine ODIs. He made these limited opportunities count and played some noteworthy knocks for his side across formats. After MS Dhoni, Saha was considered India's go-to option for a wicket-keeper-batter in red-ball cricket for quite some  

In his overall Test career, the Bengal wicket-keeper batter amassed 1353 runs which included three centuries making him the second player after MS Dhoni and Rishab Pant to hold the most number of Test centuries as a wicket-keeper batter. 

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Saha’s emotional tweet on X

On Sunday, Saha took to his X handle (formerly Twitter) to announce that he will no longer feature for his first-class side in domestic cricket. He expressed his heartfelt gratitude for being associated with the game for this long and extended his vote of thanks to everyone who was involved in nurturing him during his cricketing career.

After a cherished journey in cricket, this season will be my last. I’m honored to represent Bengal one final time, playing only in the Ranji Trophy before I retire. Let’s make this season one to remember! pic.twitter.com/sGElgZuqfP

— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) November 3, 2024

Speculations are also rife that Saha may not feature in the upcoming IPL season. As per reports, the 40-year-old has not enrolled himself for the meg auction which is expected to be held later this month. Although a public announcement is yet to be made regarding his participation in the IPL, experts suggest that an announcement may come soon just before the auction kicks off. 

Saha has not been retained by his franchise Gujarat Titans (GT) this year and hence there is a high possibility that we may not see him in action anymore in the IPL. In addition to representing GT for three years, Saha has also represented five more franchises in his IPL career which include Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson is all set to join his domestic team Kerala for the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. His inclusion comes after his destructive 40-ball century against Bangladesh in the recent T20I Series.

The 29-year-old batter was not included in the squad for the first round, but now he is expected to return but not as a captain. Sachin Baby will remain the captain for the second round after he guided Kerala to victory in the first round against Punjab at Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram in the first round. Spin All-Rounder Aditya Sarwate was adjudged as Man of the Match for his nine-wicket haul in the match.

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In the second round, Kerala will face Karnataka in their 2nd match of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25. The game will commence on 18 October and it is set to be played at KSCA Three Ovals Stadium, Alur. As Karnataka's premier home ground M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru is busy hosting the first test of three-match Test Series between India and New Zealand.

Sanju Samson believes in his skill to succeed in Red Ball Cricket

Samson has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket, as he scored 177 runs at an average of 35.40 in the four matches last Ranji Trophy season. He played two Duleep Trophy matches earlier as well where he scored 196 runs in four innings, including a brilliant knock of 106 against India B. In a recent interview with The Hindu, Sanju Samson said that he wants to play Test Cricket for India.

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‘“I believe I have the skill set to succeed in red-ball cricket, and I just don’t want to be restricted to just white-ball cricket. I desire to play Tests for India. Before the Duleep Trophy, the leadership group had told me that they were considering me for red-ball cricket and asked me to take it seriously and play more Ranji Trophy matches,’’ Samson said.

Kerala will look to beat Karnataka to get two wins in a row in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25. Sanju Samson's inclusion also gives them an edge as well

Ishan Kishan will return to Jharkhand's Ranji Team after missing the 2023-24 season. He will be back to lead the side after last leading it in 2018-19. Their previous season's skipper, Virat Singh, has been named as Kishan's deputy. Saurabh Tiwary led them in their last match after which he retired.

Kishan recently featured in the Irani Cup for the Rest of India against Mumbai, where he scored 38 runs off 60 balls in his only innings. He didn't keep the wickets as Dhruv Jurel did the job for the Rest of India. Well, Kishan won't keep the wickets for Jharkhand as well because Kumar Kushagra is their designated wicketkeeper. Before the Irani Cup, Kishan featured in the Duleep Trophy as he played two matches for the India C side which also marked his return to domestic first-class cricket after December 2022.

During this period, Ishan Kishan lost his central BCCI contract with Shreyas Iyer, as the BCCI statement said that all athletes should give preference to domestic cricket when they are not part of the national team.

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Kumar Kushagra and Anukul Roy have been included in Jharkhand's 16-member squad for the first two games. They will begin their campaign against Assam, in Guwahati in the Elite Group D fixture. Last season, Jharkhand ended up third from the bottom in Group A, winning two, losing two, and drawing three of their seven matches.

Jharkhand Selection Committee Chairman about squad selection

Selection Committee Chairman Subroto Das said, "Ishan Kishan is an experienced player as he has international experience. We have picked a very young team. Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Varun Aaron had all retired after last season so we had to rethink our strategy. Ishan is capable of leading this young side and we're confident of doing well this Ranji season."

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Jharkhand squad for Ranji trophy (first two matches)

Ishan Kishan (captain), Virat Singh (vice-captain), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Nazim Siddique, Aryaman Sen, Sharandeep Singh, Kumar Suraj, Anukul Roy, Utkarsh Singh, Supriyo Chakraborty, Saurabh Shekhar, Vikas Kumar, Vivekanand Tiwary, Manishi, Ravi Kumar Yadav, Raunak Kumar

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has once again been overlooked by the Indian selectors, despite not doing anything wrong. He wasn’t picked for the Indian cricket team’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka, and has been dropped from the team for the upcoming limited overs series in Sri Lanka.

However, Gaikwad has bounced back by returning as the captain of his state team, following this latest setback. The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) has announced their probable squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season 2024-25, with Gaikwad as the new captain.

Gaikwad named Maharashtra Ranji Trophy captain

Sulakshan Kulkarni, a former Mumbai wicketkeeper batter, has been appointed as the new head coach of the Maharashtra Cricket Team for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. Gaikwad, who previously led Maharashtra’s List-A and T20 teams, is now the captain for the prestigious first-class tournament.

Gaikwad has replaced Kedar Jadhav as Maharashtra’s captain for the Ranji Trophy after Jadhav retired from all forms of the game last month. Sulakshan Kulkarni has also replaced Santosh Jedhe as the head coach of the Maharashtra cricket team.

MCA announces 28-member probable squad

On July 25, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) took to social media to announce the 28-member probable squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2024-25. With Kulkarni’s guidance and Gaikwad’s fresh red-ball captaincy, the team will have a fresh start as many senior players have retired.

Notably, Gaikwad was a strong candidate for India’s T20I captaincy but was overlooked for the role. Instead, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were chosen for the T20I team, with the Gujarat Titans skipper named vice-captain.

BCCI’s plans for the 2024-25 domestic season

The 2024-25 domestic cricket season will feature longer breaks between matches to give players more recovery time and ensure top performance throughout the season. The Ranji Trophy 2024-25 will be conducted in two phases.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said in a statement: “The season will kick off with the Duleep Trophy tournament, featuring four teams selected by national selectors. Following this, the Irani Cup tournament will take place. After these, two tournaments will be held: the first five league games (per team) of the Ranji Trophy, followed by the T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and the 50-over tournament, the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The season will conclude with the remaining two league games of the Ranji trophy and knockout stages.”