Ranji Trophy: Six players to look out for in the Quarter finals

Harbhajan Singh

Team :Punjab

Harbhajan Singh

A brilliant man of the match performance in the Champions league T20 finals to lead his team to victory, followed up by 18 wickets of three matches to kick start the Ranji season – Harbhajan’s comeback bid was getting increasingly serious with each passing day of the season, until an injury cropped up.

The injury forced the off-spinner to miss the rest of the round-robin matches but now fit again, Bhajji would be looking to get back in the reckoning of the national selectors. With Ashwin struggling on overseas tours and a busy schedule lined up for the national team this year, a player with a record like that of Harbhajan definitely stands a very healthy chance of making a comeback. Fitness and fielding have never been an issue for the off-spinner and hence only a couple of good domestic performances could propel him back into the international scheme of things.

Parvez Rasool

Team: Jammu & Kashmir

Parvez Rasool

If there is one player who could spoil the party for Harbhajan Singh in his comeback trail, it is Parvez Rasool. Touted by many as presently the best off spinner in the country after Ashwin, Rasool caught everyone’s eye with a string of resplendent performances with both bat and ball which even included a brilliant seven-wicket haul against an international line-up.

Though, Rasool was performing reasonably well with the bat (an average of 50) this season, it was his primary skill of bowling where the results were less encouraging. But as they say “cometh the hour,cometh the man” , Parvez brought his “A game” in the virtual pre-quarter finals against Tripura to lead his team into the knockouts.

The quarter final match at Vadodra presents a very intriguing battle on hand where in Harbhajan Singh and Rasool would be up against probably his foremost competitor for a spot in the national squad. Irrespective of whichever way the battle tilts, the experience of a Ranji knockout game would definitely be an enriching one for the shy Kashmiri lad.