Mayank to lead Rest of India against Madhya Pradesh in Irani Cup

NEW DELHI: Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal, the leading run-getter in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy season, will lead Rest of India in the Irani Cup match against Madhya Pradesh, starting March 1 in Gwalior.

Mayank, who is looking to regain an India Test spot, is likely to partner Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran at the top. Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan is the most notable absentee in the 16-member ROI squad after sustaining a finger injury.

Bengal batter Sudip Kumar Gharami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tamil Nadu’s Baba Indrajith and Yash Dhull will form the fulcrum of ROI’s batting unit.

Wicketkeeper-opener Harvik Desai and left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya are the only two players from the current Ranji champion side Saurashtra to feature in the squad. ROI’s fast-bowling department will be led by the Bengal pace duo of Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep and will have Sakariya and Delhi’s Navdeep Saini for company.

The selection panel comprising SS Das, S Sharath, Salil Ankola and Subroto Banerjee have also picked Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and Punjab leg-spinner Mayank Markande in the ROI squad.

Rest of India squad: Mayank Agarwal (c), Sudip Kumar Gharami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Harvik Desai (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Atit Sheth, Chetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini, Upendra Yadav (wk), Mayank Markande, Saurabh Kumar, Akash Deep, Baba Indrajith, Pulkit Narang and Yash Dhull

Madhya Pradesh squad: Himanshu Mantri (c&wk), Rajat Patidar, Yash Dubey, Harsh Gawli, Shubham Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Aman Solanki, Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, Avesh Khan, Ankit Kushwah, Gaurav Yadav, Anubhav Agarwal and Mihir Hirwani