India A skipper Rishabh Pant will look to build on the gains from the first match, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav will aim for crucial red-ball game time in the second four-day match against a Temba Bavuma-led South Africa A in Bengaluru from Thursday.
India wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who played in the fifth and final Test at The Oval against England in their last assignment, has been named Iyer's deputy.
Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur will also be aiming to continue his dream run for Mumbai so far.
The ongoing Ranji Trophy season marks the end of an era in domestic cricket with five heavyweights bidding adieu to the game, leaving a huge void to fill.
Unfortunately, his return was marred by a dismissal for just three runs off eight balls.
All eyes will be on the opening fixture between defending champions Saurashtra and record 41-time champions Mumbai in Ahmedabad with Rahane and Pujara on either side, aiming to make the big scores that have deserted them at the Test level for a while.
There was a major security lapse at the Ferozshah Kotla ground in New Delhi on Saturday as fans barged into the field of play on Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Railways to get near batting star Virat Kohli.
Veteran India pacer Mohammad Shami will be rested for Bengal's Vijay Hazare Trophy opener against Delhi on Saturday in Hyderabad, the Cricket Association of Bengal announced on Thursday.
Vidarbha, led by Akshay Wadkar, captured their third Ranji Trophy title, defeating Kerala in the final.
A round-up of the second day's play of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country.
Veteran spinner and Railways captain Murali Kartik was embroiled in a controversy once again after he was warned by the umpires for some "issues" with the ball in an acrimonious day three of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match against Bengal.
Seamers Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay Kumar wreaked havoc as Karnataka reduced Uttar Pradesh to 221 for nine, giving themselves a good chance to grab first innings lead, on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Bangalore.
Jammu and Kashmir alleged that the pitch was tampered with overnight to favor Baroda in their ongoing Ranji Trophy clash.
The highlight of the ceremony was a touching moment between Kohli and his childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma.
Shubman Gill's form in the series is a concern for India as he has now gone six games without a half-century.
Venkatesh Prasad to contest for KSCA president's post, Kumble, Srinath back ex-India pacer's panel
A round-up of the Ranji matches played on Friday
The Ranji Trophy final of this season will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from March 10 to 14, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) informed on Monday.
India batter Shreyas Iyer was on Tuesday added to the Mumbai squad for their next Ranji Trophy game against Andhra to be played in Mumbai from January 12-15.
The Vidarbha batter boasts an incredible average of 752 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, with five centuries from seven games.
Parthiv Patel led from the front and got good support from Manprit Juneja to help Gujarat take a handy 63-run lead over defending champions Mumbai at stumps on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy final in Indore on Wednesday.
Legendary Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday said he was at a loss for words and overwhelmed after his statue was unveiled during the inauguration of the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
'Their friendship is still very strong. Sachin calls and checks on him.'
R Sai Kishore has signed up with Surrey to play two Division One matches in the English County Championship later this month.
Opener Sam Konstas smashed a century to lead Australia's superb showing with the bat on the rain-hit Day 1 of the first unofficial Test match against India A.
Yash Dhull smashed his way to 92 but Vidarbha bowling unit proved too good for Rest of India as they comfortably won the Irani Cup by 93 runs in Nagpur on Sunday.
India captain Rohit Sharma has spoken about his journey from being a young player who would stand outside the Wankhede Stadium to catch a glimpse of Mumbai Ranji Trophy stars, to having a stand named after him at the iconic venue.
'My son looks a little depressed, but that is bound to happen.'
Virat Kohli's unmatched aura dominated the Ranji Trophy fixture between Delhi and Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, in Delhi, on Thursday.
Jaiswal has been part of Mumbai's Ranji squad since the 2018-19 season and in 34 Ranji Trophy matches he has a first-class average of 61.65.
A summary of the third day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches played at various venues across the country.
Mumbai registered their first victory of the season, thrashing Odisha by 120 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group 'C' match at KIIT Stadium, in Bhubaneshwar, on Saturday.
Sarfaraz might have to try batting at No.3 for Mumbai to remain in scheme of things
Skipper Ankit Kumar's brilliant century put defending champions Mumbai on the back foot as Haryana reached 263 for five at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final.
Spinner Shams Mulani (5/71) and Himanshu Singh (4/77) wreaked havoc by sharing nine wickets between them as defending champions Mumbai crushed Odisha.
All the prominent Indian cricketers are contracted with their respective IPL franchises at the moment as the league's knockouts will be played on May 20, 21 23 before the final on May 25.
Rohit Sharma's fiery knock was cut short by Yudhvir Singh, as he was caught at midwicket for a fluent 28 runs off 35 balls.
This will be Virat Kohli's first Ranji Trophy match in 12 years.
Maharashtra secured a resounding 439-run victory over Baroda in a Group A Ranji Trophy match, keeping defending champions Mumbai's hopes alive for the knockout stage.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have roped in all-rounder Harsh Dubey as a replacement for the injured left-hander Smaran Ravichandran.
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