Mayank Agarwal to lead ROI against Madhya Pradesh

India’s emerging batsman Mayank Agarwal, who was the highest run-scorer in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy will captain the Rest of India (ROI) team against Madhya Pradesh in the Irani Cup, which will start from March 1 at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior.
In the recently concluded Ranji Trophy, Mayank Agarwal smashed the most runs in the tournament where he scored 990 runs in 13 innings, with a highest score of 249. Agarwal last featured for India in March 2022 in a Test against Sri Lanka and has since failed to secure his place on the national side. The right-hander is eyeing a comeback after a stellar Ranji season.
Sarfaraz Khan was unavailable for selection owing to a hairline fracture on his left little finger. The All-India Senior Selection Committee named Baba Indrajith as his replacement for the tournament. The Mumbai lad is the most noteworthy exclusion from the 16-member roster. The Irani Cup venue was shifted to Gwalior from Indore after the third India-Australia Test was assigned to the Holkar Stadium. As a result, the Irani tie had to be moved from its original location. The Irani Cup match will mark Gwalior’s return to first-class competition after more than six years.
The other top-order batsmen on the Rest of India team include Yash Dhull, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, B Indrajith, and Sudip Kumar Gharami. With 803 and 798 runs respectively, Gharami and Abhimanyu finished sixth and seventh in the Ranji top run scorers list as Bengal finished as runners-up.
Only two members of Saurashtra’s championship-winning team were chosen, left-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya and wicketkeeper-opener Harvik Desai. A four-man attack featuring Sakariya, Navdeep Saini from Delhi, and Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep from Bengal completes the fast-bowling unit’s well-rounded composition. Saini will be making a comeback after suffering an abdominal muscle strain on India A tour to Bangladesh. The only seam-bowling all-rounder in the mix is Atith Sheth of Baroda. Jalaj Saxena, the Kerala all-rounder, and Shams Mulani, the Mumbai all-rounder, two of the season’s top wicket-takers, are not a part of the squad despite having taken 50 and 46 wickets, respectively.