Jharkhand’s Ranji Trophy squad has a familiar face back at the helm. Ishan Kishan, the wicket-keeper batter who has fallen out of favour from the national setup, has been appointed as the captain of the team for the upcoming season, starting from October 11. This marks his return to the Ranji Trophy after missing out from the prestigious domestic tournament last season.
Ishan Kishan hits restart button!
Kishan’s appointment comes after he was snubbed from the BCCI central contract earlier this year. The BCCI reiterated its stance that all athletes should prioritize domestic cricket when not on national duty. However, Kishan was nowhere to be seen around the Ranji set up last year.
Despite the setback, Kishan has remained focused on his game. He recently featured in the Irani Cup, representing the Rest of India against Mumbai. Prior to that, Kishan played two matches of the Duleep Trophy, where he even lambasted a century for India ‘C’. While he didn’t keep wickets in that match, Jharkhand will likely utilize Kumar Kushagra as their primary wicket-keeper.
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Jharkhand’s squad for the initial two matches of the season includes a mix of experienced players and promising youngsters. They would love to better their performance from the last edition, where they finished third from bottom in their group.
Chairman of Jharkhand’s selection committee, Subroto Das, expressed confidence in Kishan’s ability to lead the team. “Ishan is an experienced player and he has international experience,” Das said. “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.” Jharkhand’s first two matches are against Assam (Oct 11) and Railways (Oct 18).
Jharkhand squad for Ranji Trophy (first two matches)
Ishan Kishan (capt), Virat Singh (vice-capt), 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
