Ranji Trophy 2017-18: 10 unknown names who excelled this season

#7 Abhishek Raman, Bengal

Abhishek Raman hit big knocks of 176 and 155 in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy

623 runs at 44.50 in 8 matches

A product of Bengal's Under-16, Under-19 and Under-22 teams, left-handed opener Abhishek Raman achieved two big hundreds in the season – innings of 176 against Himachal Pradesh and 155 against Punjab – after he had narrowly missed out another ton when he fell for 94 against Chattisgarh. His highest score of the season, the aforementioned 176, came on a seam-friendly Eden Gardens track where he added 163 for the fourth wicket with his captain Manoj Tiwary.

In the other knock of note, 155 against hosts Punjab with the likes of Harbhajan Singh in the opposition made him gain attention and took Bengal to an innings win. Though critics can claim Raman has thrown away multiple starts in the tournament – he has fallen for 40 twice to go with scores of 27, 33 and 36 – early promise from the 24-year-old means Bengal have found a dependable opener for the approaching seasons.

#8 Swapnil Singh, Baroda

565 runs at 62.78 and 20 wickets at 25.50 in 6 matches

A look at spin-bowling all-rounder Swapnil Singh's batting record for Baroda in first-class cricket will indicate a modest domestic career so far: an average of 28 with only two hundreds in 69 innings. He started out in the Ranji Trophy when he was only 14 but has had a mixed ride in nearly twelve years with his team. Consistency finally arrived this season when he notched up 565 runs with two hundreds and half-centuries each.

Baroda put up a disappointing display, finishing fourth with only one outright win in six group games, but Swapnil, now 26, stood out alongside Vishnu Solanki and Aditya Waghmode in getting good runs. He posted his highest first-class score of 164 and also bagged 20 wickets at a lowly average of 25.50 with his left-arm spin, conceding only 2.27 runs an over.