Delhi all-rounder Rajat Bhatia is a surprise inclusion in the 30-man shortlist, for the upcoming ICC World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh from March 16 to April 6. It includes young Kerala wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, former India Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand, Railways leg-spinner Karan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
While he continues to be available as a wicketkeeper-batsman in ODIs and T20Is, the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June could be an indicator whether he would continue as a player till the 2019 World Cup.
Out of favour because of poor form and injury, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh are hoping for a good showing with Delhi Daredevils this IPL season to return to the Indian team.
A summary of all the action from Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
The celebrated duo of head coach Ricky Ponting and mentor Sourav Ganguly has managed to instill belief in the team members and that is visible on the field. The team now seems to believe that it can win the title after a long spell as the perennial underachiever of the competition.
Campaigning for the fifth phase ended on Friday evening, and all necessary arrangements have been completed, state Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said in Lucknow on Saturday.
Team India has two members - MS Dhoni and Ishant Sharma - of that victorious 2009 side returning to New Zealand for the One-Day International series, which commences on Sunday. The hosts, however, are almost a completely overhauled unit. The teams may not appear equal on paper but the home advantage is something than should benefit New Zealand. Rajneesh Gupta presents a statistical lowdown of the teams ahead of tour opener in Napier.
Parthiv Patel's positive batting with scores of 42 and 67 (not out) have impressed skipper Virat Kohli so much that he did not rule out a possibility that along with second wicketkeeeper's slot, the Gujarat stumper could also be an option as back-up opener.
For MP, Saransh Jain, Kumar Kartikeya and Anubhav Agarwal also took two wickets apiece. MP got seven points from the win. The outright-winning team gets six points while a victory of an innings or 10-wickets fetches seven points.
