India 'A' matches to force Rahane and Bumrah to sit out Ranji Trophy final

What’s the story?

Mumbai’s Ajinkya Rahane and Gujarat pacer Jasprit Bumrah will have to sit out of their respective teams in the Ranji Trophy final scheduled to be played in Indore from January 11 to 14 with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructing the duo to instead turn out for India A. The two will play for the ‘A’ team in two warm-up games ahead of the three-match ODI series between England and India.

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While MS Dhoni, who stepped down as skipper of India’s limited overs’ sides recently, will lead the India ‘A’ team for the first warm-up match to be played on January 10, Rahane will lead the side for the second warm-up game to be played a couple of days later. Bumrah was not originally selected for either of the two games, the BCCI has now asked the 23-year-old to give the Ranji Trophy final.

The heart of the matter

Defending champions Mumbai overpowered Tamil Nadu to reach the final of India’s premier domestic cricket tournament, Gujarat beat Jharkhand to earn their spot against the 41-time champions. With India’s busy international schedule, both Rahane and Bumrah have played few games for their domestic sides, though Bumrah did feature for Gujarat in the semi-final clash against Jharkhand, playing a key role picking up 6 wickets in the second innings giving his side a 123-run victory.

Both Rahane and Bumrah have been selected for India’s ODI squad as well and the warm-up games will see most of the players get a workout as the Men in Blue seek to carry forward the domination they showed England in the 5-match Test series where they won convincingly 4-0, into the ODI and T20 format as well.

What next?

The first warm-up game will be interesting with MS Dhoni leading out an Indian side for probably the last time ever with Virat Kohli set to take reigns of the Indian side in all formats of the game. While he has made a fine start to captaincy at the Test level, it will be interesting to see how he handles the extra responsibility.

Sportskeeda’s take

While Rahane may not be missed much due to the abundance of talent in the Mumbai Ranji side, Bumrah’s loss will make what is an already difficult task, a herculean one to say the least. Gujarat will now have their work cut out if they have to upset the odds and come out on top in the Ranji Trophy final against the defending champions.

While Bumrah is almost assured of a spot in the Indian ODI side, Rahane will have stiff competition on his hands with Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina being recalled to the limited-overs squad. The warm-up games will serve as a good platform to let the selectors know that he can fit in the shorter formats of the game as well for India.