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The 2018 Indian domestic season will get underway tomorrow as some of the prominent names in the domestic circuit will take on each other in the Duleep Trophy which will be held at the picturesque NPR college ground in Natham, Dindigul.
Yet again, this will be a pink ball tournament and it will be a challenge for the players as they are hardly exposed to the pink ball. Most of the reserve players are named in the India A and India B squads for the quadrangular series against South Africa A and Australia A and it has given a lot of other players a chance to prove themselves and go up the pecking order.
Over 35 players will take part in the tournament that will team all the three teams face each other before the top-2 will play in the final. Among the 35, there are a few Indian internationals and a few players who are looking to make a mark in the domestic circuit and give themselves a chance of going up the ranks.
Let us take a look at five players to watch out for in the tournament.
Squads:
India Blue: Faiz Fazal(c), Abhishek Raman, Anmolpreet Singh, Ganesh Satish, Nikhil Gangta, Dhruv Shorey, Srikar Bharat, Akshay Wakhare, Swapnil Singh, Basil Thampi, Bandaru Ayyappa, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni.
India Red: Abhinav Mukund(c), Sanjay Ramaswamy, Ashutosh Singh, Baba Aparajith, Writtick Chatterjee, Bavanaka Sandeep, Abhishek Gupta, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mihir Hirwani, Parvez Rasool, Rajneesh Gurbani, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ishan Porel, Yarra Prithviraj.
India Green: Parthiv Patel(c), Prashant Chopra, Priyank Panchal, Sudip Chatterjee, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Baba Indrajith, Vishnu Solanki, Jalaj Saxena, Karn Sharma, Vikas Mishra, Krishnamoorthy Vignesh, Ankit Rajpoot, Ashok Dinda, Atit Sheth.
K Vignesh
After having two great seasons with the ball, Tamil Nadu pacer has been rewarded with a place in the Rest of India squad for the 2017-18 Irani Trophy and followed it up by getting picked in the India Green squad for the Duleep Trophy.
The right-arm pacer has been the backbone of Tamil Nadu bowling attack as he has taken 61 wickets in just 15 games at an average of 21.86 and gets a wicket every eight overs in India's premier domestic first-class tournament, Ranji Trophy.
His accuracy is something that makes him stand out from the rest and he was working with the likes of Ryan Harris, Troy Cooley, Chris Rogers etc. in Australia last month. He will look to showcase his skills and catch everyone's eyes if he gets a chance to play in the 2018 Duleep Trophy.
Ankit Rajpoot
Ankit Rajpoot is a relatively familiar name as the Uttar Pradesh pacer has done well for Kings XI Punjab in the 2018 IPL. The tall and lanky pacer has the ability to hit the deck hard and swing the ball both ways with pace.
Ever since making his debut in 2012, Ankit has gone on to become the leader of the UP attack and one of the best bowlers from Central Zone as he has taken 131 wickets in 41 matches at an average of 29.41.
In the recently concluded India A's tour of England, he took seven wickets and followed it up with a three-wicket haul against South Africa A in Bengaluru.
Rajneesh Gurbani
One of the main reasons why Vidarbha won the Ranji Trophy last season was the form of their pacer Rajneesh Gurbani, who ran havoc with the ball in the knockouts. After becoming a regular in the Vidarbha side, Rajneesh was backing Umesh Yadav well till the Indian pacer was with the team and when he left for national commitments, Rajneesh took things upon himself and helped his team win the title.
His 12-wicket haul including seven in the second innings against Karnataka in the semis and his hat-trick in the final against Delhi made a big difference for the defending Ranji Trophy champions. In the 13 FC matches he has played, the medium pacer has accounted for 64 wickets at an average of 20.03 and a strike-rate of 39.5.
KS Bharat
With Wriddhiman Saha ruled out of action for a while due to an injury, the Indian selectors named Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeepers for the tour of England. Karthik is having a nightmare in England and in all likelihood, he might have played his last Test match for the country.
KS Bharat has risen through the ranks so quickly with some consistent performances and a good Duleep Trophy for him will put him in contention for a place in the Indian side for the West Indies series and the tour of Australia if Saha fails to recover.
An aggressive batsman, Bharat has scored 2861 runs at an average of 37 in 50 FC games and has effected 196 dismissals for Andhra.
Faiz Fazal
Faiz Fazal has been a consistent performer in the Indian domestic circuit for a while now and took his consistency to a whole new level by leading Vidarbha to the Ranji Trophy title.
The Indian international, who played a solitary ODI for the Men in Blue in Zimbabwe, was the top scorer for his team by scoring 912 runs at an average of 70.15. With the Indian openers struggling in England, a couple of fine performances could put Fazal in line for his maiden national call-up.
Fazal, the captain, also has a lot of challenges up his sleeve as he will look to add the Duleep Trophy to his accomplishments as a captain.
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