All eyes will be on 41-year-old Wasim Jaffer, who is only 853 runs shy of 20,000 first-class runs.
Saker took the unusual step of publicly criticising his bowlers in the fourth and final Test against India in Sydney last month, revealing discord with staff over tactics.
Images from the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, in Chennai, on Wednesday.
On a day dominated by pace bowlers from both sides, Madhya Pradesh held the upper hand over Bengal by taking a handsome first innings lead of 227 runs after skittling out the latter for a paltry 121 in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final, at the Brabourne Stadium, on Thursday.
Pujara overcame ball sighting problems and hit a crisp 166 before state-mate Sheldon Jackson sent the India Green bowlers on a leather-hunt with Blue team piling up a mammoth 707 in a virtual 'semi-final' of the Duleep Trophy, in Greater Noida on Monday.
Veteran Wasim Jaffer became the first batsman to reach the landmark of 11,000 runs in Ranji Trophy during Day 2 of Nagpur's Group A match against Baroda on Wednesday.
It was CSK who denied Delhi a top-two spot in the league standings with a crushing 80-run win at Chepauk and the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side stands in their way again, only the stakes are much higher.
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.
Star batsman Rohit Sharma's finger fracture is not only a blow to the Indian team but a big setback for Mumbai Indians as well, who will be playing their Champions League T20 qualifiers starting September 13, in Raipur.
Karnataka inflicted an innings and 20 runs defeat on Mumbai with more than a day to spare in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Nagpur on Sunday to move into the semi-finals in convincing fashion.
Four batsmen scored half-centuries to take Sri Lanka to 411 for six on Day 1 of their two-day warm-up against Board President's XI in Kolkata.
Images from Sunday's second IPL match, between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals, in Mumbai.
List of players released by IPL teams ahead of next month's auction for 2020 season:
Ishank Jaggi scored an unbeaten century while Ishan Kishan made 83 to hand Jharkhand the crucial first innings lead over Haryana in a Ranji Trophy match.
It was purely a 'Batsman's Evening' with Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund and talented Bengal boy Sudeep Chatterjee's twin tons took India Red to a commanding 354-run lead against India Green on the second day of the Duleep Trophy on Wednesday in Greater Noida. After the bowlers ruled the roost with 17 wickets on the first day, it was the turn of southpaws Abhinav (162 batting, 212 balls) and Sudeep (114, 182 balls) to conjure up a 240-run partnership for the second wicket.
The India captain will become the first Indian cricketer to be bestowed with the honour on three occasions.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Wednesday
Devdutt Padikkal continued his terrific form ahead of the IPL with a third successive century as the defending champions stormed into the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals
Gautam Gambhir scored the 43rd and final first-class century of his career as Delhi ensured at least three points by virtue of first innings lead against Andhra on the third day of their Group B encounter in the Ranji Trophy.
Gautam Gambhir started his new season in the right earnest with a patient century as Delhi made a pedestrian Assam attack toil by reaching 269 for four at stumps on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Group A encounter in New Delhi on Saturday.
Opener Mayank Agarwal continued his rich vein of form with a cracking 161 as India Blue batsmen were engaged in a run-feast scoring 336 for 3 against Green on the first day of the virtual "semi-final' clash of the Duleep Trophy, in Greater Noida on Sunday.
Young chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav kept the opposition batsmen on tenterhooks with a maiden five wicket haul as he took India Red on the cusp of an outright victory against the Green team in the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy encounter in Greater Noida on Thursday. Chasing a mammoth victory target of 497, the Green team was tottering at 217/7 at the end of penultimate evening with another 280 runs to win the match. Suresh Raina was at the crease batting on 35.
A round-up of results from the Ranji Trophy matches played on Sunday.
Pushed to the bottom of the heap after three successive losses, it will take an extraordinary effort from Royal Challengers Bangalore to overpower table-toppers Rajasthan Royals when the two sides clash in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad surprised quite a few by opting to release the fast bowling duo of Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn, while they also let go of England discard Kevin Pietersen.
Markande (5 for 31) spun a web around the visitors to bowl them out for 180 in the second innings on the third day of the four-day match.
A round-up of the fourth and final day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Umesh Yadav starred with a match haul of 12/79 as defending champion Vidarbha routed Kerala by an innings and 11 runs shortly after lunch on Day 2 to storm into the Ranji Trophy final for the second year in a row.
Chennai Super Kings' skipper MS Dhoni powered his team to a final over victory. CSK beat the hosts Mumbai Indians by four wickets at the Wankhede, Mumbai on Saturday night.
Summary of all Ranji Trophy matches played on Saturday
Sreesanth, who was not shortlisted in IPL 2021 auction's final list, returned figures of five for 65 in his first List A game in more than eight years.
A hard-hitting half century from fit-again Hardik Pandya went in vain as Mumbai grabbed a narrow 29-run first innings lead after tea on day three of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches played on Saturday.
All-rounder Stuart Binny tormented the East Zone batsmen with his controlled swing bowling as they lost as many as 14 wickets with South Zone marching towards a comprehensive innings victory at the end of second day in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy.
Madhya Pradesh recovered from the loss of two cheap wickets to a healthy 254 for four at stumps on the first day of their five-day Ranji Trophy quarter final against Bengal at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, on Wednesday.
An upbeat Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to carry on their winning momentum to book a berth in the play-offs when they take on an equally-keen Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial IPL match at Uppal, in Hyderabad, on Friday.
It was an inauspicious start to the inaugural Day/Night Duleep Trophy match with a major floodlight malfunction grabbing more attention than Pink ball making its first class debut in India. A power failure saw two stoppages in play with the second one leading to lights going off completely in a couple of floodlight towers. There was a total 78 minutes of interruption due to power tripping in two towers in two separate phases.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Saturday
Central Zone spinners, led by captain Piyush Chawla, weaved magic on a helpful track to steer the team to the Duleep Trophy title with a thrilling nine-run triumph over South Zone in New Delhi on Sunday.
Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul gave the selectors food for thought before the upcoming Australia tour, scoring a classy century which gave South Zone a vital first innings lead against Central Zone on Day 2 of the Duleep Trophy final, in Delhi, on Thursday. Replying to Central's first innings total of 276, South rode the opener's unbeaten 168 to end the day on 308 for three, a lead of 32 runs, at the Feroz Shah Kotla.