Ishan Kishan's return to red-ball cricket continues to gather steam with his selection in the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup, which will be played in Lucknow from October 1 to 5.
Kishan recently marked his first appearance in first-class cricket since July 2023 - a period notable for the loss of his BCCI central contract - with a century for India C in the Duleep Trophy.
Kishan is one of two wicketkeepers in the squad, with Dhruv Jurel also picked subject to India not selecting him in the XI for their second Test against Bangladesh, which is set to be played in Kanpur from September 27 to October 1.
Left-arm quick Yash Dayal and middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan, who are also part of the Test squad, have been picked in the RoI and Mumbai squads respectively, with the same caveat.
Mohammed Shami is a notable absentee from the RoI squad. Having not played any competitive cricket since last year's 50-over World Cup, Shami was in contention to feature in at least one Duleep Trophy fixture to prove his match fitness. It seems now that his comeback is set to be delayed further, with him not part of the RoI squad.
Shami himself is keen to give himself more time in rehab as he works his way back from an ankle surgery. The India fast bowler is keen to ease himself back up to the rigours of top-flight cricket in the Ranji Trophy beginning October 11. He has been named in Bengal's list of probables for the season.
The RoI squad features as many as four frontline openers - captain Gaikwad; Abhimanyu Easwaran, the second-highest run scorer in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy; Devdutt Padikkal; and B Sai Sudharsan.
Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan have, however, recently embraced opportunities in the middle order. Padikkal batted at No. 4 on Test debut against England earlier this year in Dharamsala.
Andhra's Ricky Bhui and Baroda's Shashwat Rawat have been rewarded for their Duleep Trophy form. Bhui top scored with 359 runs at an average of 71.80, with two hundreds and a half-century, while Rawat is coming off scores of 124 and 53 in his most recent outing for India A.
RoI have picked a formidable pace attack that includes Prasidh Krishna, who recently made comeback from a quadriceps injury in the Duleep Trophy, alongside Mukesh Kumar and two left-arm quicks in Dayal and Khaleel Ahmed. Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain and Rahul Chahar are the spinners.
Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane is set to lead a full-strength Mumbai squad that also features Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz. Rahane is coming off a steady diet of red-ball cricket for Leicestershire in the County Championship. There's also comeback for India allrounder Shardul Thakur, who is fit again following foot surgery in June.
Thakur, who picked up the injury during India's tour of South Africa late last year, hasn't played any professional cricket since IPL 2024. With a tour of Australia coming up, he will be hoping to bounce back into contention He last played for India in the first Test in Centurion in that South Africa series., before returning to perform for Mumbai during the Ranji knockouts.
The match was originally to be held in Mumbai, but was moved out of the city due to the possibility of weather-related interruptions owing to the monsoons.
Squads for the Irani Cup
Rest of India: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vice-capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk)*, Ishan Kishan (wk), Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal*, Ricky Bhui, Shashwat Rawat, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar.
Mumbai: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Ayush Mhatre, Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan*, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, Suryansh Shedge, Hardik Tamore (wk), Sidhaant Addhatrao (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Himanshu Singh, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Avasthi, Mohammad Juned Khan, Royston Dias.
*Selected for Irani Cup subject to not being picked in India's XI in Kanpur Test