Cheteshwar Pujara added to Saurashtra's Ranji Trophy squad

Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara has been added to Saurashtra's 21-man squad for the upcoming edition of the Ranji Trophy. The domestic trophy is to be held in two phases with the first leg starting on February 10th. Saurashtra won the 2019-20 edition, defeating Bengal in the final on the basis of a first-innings lead.

Last year though, for the first-ever time since its inception way back in 1934-35, the tournament had to be canceled due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is all set to miss the 2022 Ranji Trophy for Baroda to focus on his white-ball return. Ajinkya Rahane has been named in Mumbai's Ranji squad, which will be led by Prithvi Shaw.

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BCCI President Ganguly on Cheteshwar Pujara

When asked about Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said during an interview with Sportstar last week:

"Yeah, they are very good players. Hopefully, they will go back to Ranji Trophy and score a lot of runs, which I am sure they will. I don't see any problem [for them to go back to domestic cricket after playing so much international cricket]"

The former Indian skipper further added:

"Ranji Trophy is a huge tournament, and we have all played the tournament. So, they, too, will go back there and perform. They have played the tournament in the past when they were only playing Test cricket and were not part of the ODI or limited-overs team. So, that won't be a problem"

Placed in Elite Group D alongside Mumbai, Goa, Odisha and Saurashtra, they will be playing their group matches at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.

Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who inspired the team to their maiden Ranji title in the previous edition, will continue to lead the side. Yet another left-arm pacer, Chetan Sakariya, who impressed with the ball during the 2021 IPL for Rajasthan Royals, has also made the cut.

Saurashtra 2022 Ranji squad: Jaydev Unadkat (Captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Chirag Jani, Kamlesh Makwana, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Chetan Sakariya, Prerak Mankad, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, Harvik Desai, Kevin Jivrajani, Kushang Patel, Jay Chauhan, Samarth Vyas, Parthkumar Bhut, Yuvrajsinh Chudasama, Devang Karamta, Snell Patel, Kishan Parmar and Aditya Jadeja.