Hanuma Vihari named Rest of India captain for Irani Cup

Hanuma Vihari has been named captain of the Rest of India (ROI) squad who will play Ranji Trophy Champions Saurashtra for the Irani Cup, according to a report on ESPNCricinfo. The one-off match is set to get underway on Sunday (October 1) in Rajkot.

Vihari, who led South Zone to the Duleep Trophy title in July this year, has Mayank Agarwal, B Sai Sudharsan and fast bowler Vidwath Kaverappa from that team. KS Bharat - a veteran of five Tests - is likely to be the first-choice wicketkeeper with Dhruv Jurel as his back-up.

Notably, two top performers from the last Ranji Trophy season - Bengal's Abhimanyu Easwaran and Kerala's Jalaj Saxena miss out. Easwaran is recovering from Typhoid, while Saxena, the leading wicket-taker with 50 scalps, could consider himself unlucky to miss out.

Young batters Yash Dhull and Rohan Kunnummal, too, have been given the nod despite having lukewarm performances in the Ranji Trophy season. Kunnummal, though, hit a match-winning ton in the Deodhar Trophy final for South Zone in Puducherry in August.

Sarfaraz Khan also makes the cut. He will hope to make a case for himself after scoring 0, 6, 0 and 48 in the Duleep Trophy. Akash Deep and Navdeep Saini are expected to handle the fast-bowling mantle, while Saurabh Kumar and Shams Mulani could be the first-choice spinners for the side.

Jaydev Unadkat and Cheteshwar Pujara will go into the tournament at the back of impressive performances during their County stints in England. Sheldon Jackson and Arpit Vasavada, who finished as the second-highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy season last year, will also be key to their side's success.

Saurashtra beat Bengal in the Ranji Trophy final in Kolkata earlier this year and, as a result, have earned their right to play in this one-off first-class match.

Rest of India squad for Irani Cup: Hanuma Vihari (c), K S Bharat (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Yash Dhull, Shams Mulani, Sai Sudarshan, Sarfaraz Khan, Pulkit Narang, Saurabh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Vidwath Kaverappa, Akash Deep, Rohan Kunnummal, Dhruv Jurel.

Saurashtra squad for Irani Cup: Jaydev Unadkat (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Arpit Vasavada, Harvik Desai (wk), Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Prerak Mankad, Chirag Jani, Jay Gohil, Parth Bhut, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, Samarth Vyas, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya, Kushang Patel, Snell Patel, Devang Karamta.