The cupboard is bare and it will take some time to prepare another cracking line-up that can match the aura of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.
Ajinkya Rahane, who last played a Test in July 2023, expressed his unwavering love for Test cricket and his strong desire to return to the Indian team.
Abhishek Nayar once again proved his value for the Mumbai Ranji team as his gutsy 91 enabled the defending champions set Gujarat a stiff target of 312 in the final of the Ranji Trophy in Indore on Friday.
Spurred by Chirag Jani's a five-wicket haul, defending champions Saurashtra scripted their first knockout win of the season with a 238-run thrashing of Vidarbha on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match in Nagpur on Sunday.
The match was over as a contest after Jharkhand scored a mammoth 880 in their first innings - the tournament's fourth highest score on an Eden Gardens belter against a Nagaland attack in which five out of seven bowlers were hit for a not-so-pleasing "hundred".
Harshal Patel bowled a game-changing spell with the old ball as Haryana beat Rajasthan by 30 runs in a well-contested final to lift the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Rajkot on Saturday.
Kohli could manage only 190 runs in his nine innings in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, repeatedly offering edges to the slip cordon or keeper.
He amassed 395 runs in IPL 2024 and this breakout season earned him a lucrative Rs 11 crore (Rs 110 million) contract, making him one of three players RCB retained alongside Virat Kohli and Yash Dayal.
"It was high time the message was given and this strong step by the BCCI will go a long way in restoring the prestige of domestic cricket," he added.
His performance in Pune was a powerful response to his recent struggles in the Ranji Trophy, where he had been dismissed for ducks in both innings during Mumbai's loss to Jammu and Kashmir.
Dhawal Kulkarni's composed 87, followed by three quick scalps by former India pacer Ajit Agarkar, put Mumbai within seven wickets of defending their Ranji Trophy crown. Karnataka, set a target of 338, were 135 for 3 at stumps on Day 3.
A round-up of the first day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches across the country, on Tuesday.
India pacer Mohammed Shami has apologised to the fans and the BCCI after the board decided against rushing his return to the team for the high-profile tour of Australia as he is yet to attain match fitness.
Former Delhi stalwart K Bhaskar Pillai is being considered as a front-runner for the state Ranji team chief coach's post and will face a tough fight from ex-India off-spinner Aashish Kapoor after a series of interviews were conducted by the DDCA. Medium pacer Amit Bhandari could retain his position as the bowling coach. Five candidates who were interviewed for the post are Kapoor, Bhaskar, Bhandari, Hitesh Sharma and last season's coach Vijay Dahiya.
Perhaps, that brave attitude keeps his India dream still burning bright without getting disheartened by the domestic grind.
Prolific batsman Sheldon Jackson, who played a pivotal role in Saurashtra's maiden Ranji Trophy triumph in the season gone by, will compete for Puducherry in the domestic circuit this season, a decision which the cricketer said was "not easy".
Mohammed Shami is set to compete in the last two Tests of the ongoing series against Australia with his playing kit already headed Down Under
Mumbai's Yashasvi Jaiswal and Armaan Jaffer to put Uttar Pradesh on the back-foot by taking their overall lead past the 600-mark
Never had a Ranji Trophy season started on a note like it did today, with this sleepy hamlet here being woken up from its slumber by the one and only Sachin Tendulkar, a good few hours before the retiring legend was accorded a guard of honour in the area's sole landmark destination.
The BCCI is mulling November 19 as the tentative date for start of domestic season with Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament but Indian players in various IPL teams won't be able to play first few rounds due to quarantine protocols in place.
West Zone will boast of a power-packed batting line-up in Cheteshwar Pujara, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav and Sarfaraz Khan for the Duleep Trophy semi-final against Central Zone.
Skipper Paras Mhambrey lauded his players for the thumping semi-final victory over Baroda.
While the pace department needs some urgent solutions, the spin has a slightly different landscape.
Mumbai Indians, the five-time IPL champions, have a robust scouting system that unearths hidden gems from across the country.
This was Shorey's highest first-class score in 45 matches, with his previous best being 145. The double-century will do more good to his already healthy batting average of 48.49.
'You can only break through the doors or force the selectors to pick you for the Indian team by scoring runs consistently in domestic cricket and that is what he has done in the last so many years.'
'The Goal is clear, to make another comeback to Team India. There is a belief in me that I will make a comeback.'
Uttar Pradesh came up with yet another superb bowling show by bundling out Odisha for 101 in their second innings to score a 43-run win over the home side on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Cuttack.
A round up of the fourth and final day's action of the Ranji Trophy matches on Sunday.
'It will be a bit challenging (for the players) to set the body clock'
'This hundred is because of my Abbu (father). The celebration was for Sidhu Moosewala. I love his songs'
Shivam Dube carried his rich recent form into domestic circuit cracking a rapid fifty but Shreyas Gopal's four-wicket haul ensured that Mumbai were bowled out for 251
Shreyas made 22 of 19 balls before he was stumped by Phil Salt off a local left-arm spinner.
Jadeja's haul helped Saurashtra bowl out TN for 133 in the second innings and the visitors require 262 runs for an outright victory on Friday.
Batting sensation Shreyas Iyer was jubilant after finishing as the leading scorer in the Ranji Trophy this season and helping Mumbai win their 41st crown in the country's premier domestic cricket tournament.
The efforts of Aryan Juyal (76) and Karan Sharma (67) stood out as Uttar Pradesh held nerves to beat 41-times champions and hosts Mumbai by two wickets in a Ranji Trophy match on Monday.
In a career spanning 17 years, Tiwary represented Jharkhand and played three ODIs for India and turned up for four IPL franchises.
The last time India fielded five or more debutants in a Test series was during the 1996 tour of England when current Head Coach Rahul Dravid, Batting Coach Vikram Rathour, Bowling Coach Paras Mhambrey all made their debuts along with Sourav Ganguly, Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil Joshi.
Madhya Pradesh created history and captured their maiden Ranji Trophy title,
