Domestic veterans Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar and Rinku Singh could keep the team management interested going forward in Test cricket.
What is pushing students to take this extreme step?
Captain Virat Kohli is unlikely to feature in the tournament because of his India commitments.
Mumbai last won the trophy way back in 2006-07 when they defeated Rajasthan.
Abhimanyu Mithun claimed a third five-for of the season as Vidarbha collapsed for 185 before Karnataka were left reeling at 36 for three on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final in Kolkata.
Besides Kohli, who led India to a historic Test series triumph in Sri Lanka recently, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra were also named among the probables.
A summary of the fourth day's play in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals.
Veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir is all set to be released by the Indian team management as the Delhi and District Cricket Association's selection committee has named him in the 16-member Delhi squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan.
Delhi's bid for a quarter-final berth received a major boost after their regular captain Ishant Sharma was released by the Indian team management for the fifth round Ranji Trophy Group A game against Maharashtra, starting in New Delhi on Friday.
Pacer Shardul Thakur had match figures of eight for 113 as Mumbai beat Delhi by 204 runs to enter the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy.
The 36-year-old Gambhir, who had captained Delhi in the Ranji Trophy for the past four seasons, expressed his desire to continue as a player.
Vidarbha claimed their maiden Ranji Trophy after beating Delhi by nine wickets in the final of India's premier domestic tournament, in Indore, on Monday.
A summary of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
India Test captain Virat Kohli, premier batsman Shikhar Dhawan and speedster Ishant Sharma were named in Delhi's One-day squad, which will be led by Gautam Gambhir, for the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy between December 10-18.
Displaying steely resolve, Dhruv Shorey stood out with an unbeaten century and steered Delhi to 271 for six, but Vidarbha did just enough to share honours on day one of the Ranji Trophy final in Indore.
Karnataka took control of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Mumbai by taking a commanding 222-run lead over the 41-time champions on day two of the five-day game at the Vidharbha Cricket Association stadium in Jamtha.
A summary of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday
Pawan Negi, who became a household name for his whopping Rs 8.5 crore ($1.25 million) bid, has been released by Delhi Daredevils along with five other players for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Shreyas Iyer's 51-ball 86 run blitzkrieg helped Mumbai sail past a tall Vidarbha total to notch up a five-wicket win in the Super League phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Group A match in Mumbai. Chasing Vidarbha's score of 181 for four, built mainly around opener Jignesh Sharma's punishing knock of 56 off just 30 balls, Mumbai cantered home in 18.5 overs to register their second straight victory in as many days in the tournament, at the Wankhede Stadium. Iyer and skipper Aditya Tare (41 in 24 balls) steadied the Mumbai innings after the early loss of left-handed opener Akhil Herwadkar (4) through a brisk second-wicket partnership of 71 runs in 7.2 overs.
Captain Parthiv Patel's polished 105 helped Gujarat hammer former champions Delhi by 139 runs and capture their maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to earn two valuable points and move up to second spot in the points-table when they take on struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Vidarbha inched closer to a maiden Ranji Trophy title by grabbing a commanding 233-run lead against a Delhi side that looked defeated for better part of the day, as little-known Akshay Wadkar chose first-class cricket's biggest stage to compile his maiden century, in Indore, on Sunday.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Saturday
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten half-century was in vain as Delhi scored a 99-run victory over Jharkhand in a lop-sided second quarter-final in the Vijay Hazare trophy, One-day tournament, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Results from final league games of Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament
Delhi spinners Manan Sharma and Vikas Mishra took an hour to grab the remaining four wickets as the Ishant Sharma-led team beat Railways by an innings and 105 runs in their second Group A league match of the Ranji Trophy, on Tuesday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eager to break the sequence of reverses and get Rising Pune Supergiants' campaign back on track when they lock horns with in-form Kolkata Knight Riders.
Virender Sehwag celebrated his international retirement with a scintillating ton for Haryana as Jayant Yadav also joined the century-makers' list to help the side post 319 for eight on a dramatic Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy cricket league match against Karnataka on Thursday.
Facing early elimination, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders need to record a win to stay afloat when they take on table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad.
ujarat Lions face the challenging task of gathering themselves and bounce back when they square off against the consistent Kolkata Knight Riders.
A steadily improving Delhi Daredevils look all set to challenge the might of title contenders Kolkata Knight Riders when the two teams clash for the second time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match, in New Delhi on Saturday.
A summary of Ranji Trophy semi-finals played at Kolkata and Pune on Monday
Delhi team management's lack of communication with the establishment again came into the fore on Sunday when Feroze Shah Kotla curator Venkat Sundaram accused skipper Gautam Gambhir of "interfering into his job" ahead of their Ranji Trophy final group league encounter against Karnataka on Monday.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to assert their supremacy, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on mind when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator in New Delhi on Wednesday. Both Sunrisers and KKR finished their league engagements on 16 points each but the Gautam Gambhir-led side ended fourth behind Sunrisers due to inferior net run rate. But going into the do-or-die game, KKR have psychological advantage over the Sunrisers having beaten them on both the occasions during the league stage. KKR thrashed Sunrisres by eight wickets in their first meeting this season and came out victorious by 22 runs in a must-win match last Sunday to qualify for the play-offs.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday
Skipper Manoj Tiwary showed the way as Bengal produced a much improved batting performance in the second innings against Mumbai in a group A encounter in Nagpur. After Ashok Dinda's 22nd five wicket haul in first class cricket enabled Bengal to restrict Mumbai to 229, Bengal scored 198 for 3 in 61 overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders are back in familiar home conditions but can ill-afford to take Kings XI Punjab lightly, who are showing signs of improvement under a newly-appointed skipper, when the two teams clash in Kolkata, on Wednesday.
There were ugly scenes at Feroz Shah Kotla ground as rival captains Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary nearly came to exchanging blows during the Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Bengal, in New Delhi on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians need to rethink their strategy; Narine boost for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Cheteshwar Pujara missed out on a second successive double hundred but his 182 went a long way in Saurashtra piling up a mammoth 570 in their first innings against Gujarat on the second day of the Ranji Trophy.