Mayank Agarwal, Yash Dhull included in Rest of India squad
Rest of India have announced a strong 15-member squad for their upcoming clash against Ranji Trophy winners Saurashtra in the Irani Cup. As expected, young batter Yash Dhull and Yashaswi Jaiswal are included in the squad after a string of impressive performances in domestic cricket this year. The experienced India opener Mayank Agarwal is also in the squad which will be led by star batter Hanuma Vihari.
Dhull, the 19-year-old Delhi batter, is enjoying a successful start to his red-ball cricket in the domestic circuit after guiding India to the 2022 U-19 World Cup triumph. Dhull scored hundreds on his debut in Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy this year. He has scored 770 runs in just five First-Class games so far, including a 200* knock against Chhattisgarh in a Ranji Trophy clash.
Yashaswi also continued his red-hot form in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy 2022 tournament by aggregating 497 runs in just three matches for the champions West Zone. His teammate Sarfaraz Khan is also included in the squad as he finished the 2022 Ranji Trohpy season as the leading run-scorer with 982 runs in six matches.
Umran Malik makes the cut again:
Compared to a strong batting unit, the bowling department lacks big names for the Rest of India. Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Sen, Arzan Nagwaswalla, and Umran Malik headline the pace attack while Saurabh Kumar and Jayant Yadav are the specialist spin options. Mukesh and Saurabh have been regular wicket-takers in domestic cricket and were impressive against New Zealand A side with nine wickets each this month.
But Umran, the 22-year-old speedster, has struggled to make his mark in domestic cricket so far. He managed to take only one wicket in three innings against New Zealand A and has only eight wickets in eight First-Class innings to his name. Rest of India and Saurashtra will clash for the Irani Cup 2022 trophy in Rajkot from October 1-5.
Rest of India squad:
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari (c), Sarfaraz Khan, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Yash Dhull, KS Bharat (wk), Upendra Yadav (wk), Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Jayant Yadav, Saurabh Kumar