Best of the Rest target Irani Trophy for India comeback

The likes of Robin Uthappa, Manoj Tiwary and Kedar Jadhav will get another chance to impress the selectors and push their case for a comeback to international cricket when Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka clash against Rest of India lock in a five-day Irani Trophy match, in Bangalore, starting on Tuesday.

Karnataka's Uthappa, who narrowly missed the World Cup selection in spite of scoring heavily in the domestic season, would like to continue with his form and make a statement to the selectors. He scored 912 runs in 19 innings at an average of 50.66 per innings, topping the Ranji Trophy batting charts.

Not far behind would be Maharashtra batting mainstay Jadhav, who will be playing for Rest, and he would also be keen to push his case.

In fact, more than Uthappa, Jadhav would be eager to perform and make up for a below-par showing in Ranji Trophy. Last season Jadhav was the highest scorer with 1,223 runs that helped Maharashtra make it to the final where they lost to Karnataka but this time he has managed just one century.

A solid knock against the Karnataka pace trio of Abhimanyu Mithun, R Vinay Kumar and Sreenath Aravind will boost Jadhav's confidence and keep him in the selection fray.

Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha will also get a chance to stake his claim for a place in the Indian Test squad following the retirement of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the longer version of the game.

Himachal Pradesh's Paras Dogra will also try to make his profile stronger by continuing to bat well as he did by making five double hundreds since 2011-12, including two this season.

Dogra's 819 runs was instrumental in Himachal's good showing in the league stages as they nearly missed out making it to the quarter-finals stage.

Meanwhile, Rest captain Manoj Tiwary, who made just two half-centuries for Bengal, would like to regain form by taking a cue from his performance in the Deodhar Trophy, where he topped the batting charts and led East Zone to the title after 11 seasons.

"I am working hard on my batting and I am sure big innings from my blade is round the corner," Tiwary said.

Unmukt Chand, Jiwanjot Singh and Naman Ojha, are others who form the core batting line-up for the visitors.

Vinay Kumar and Shardul Thakur, who have consistently bowled well for their respective sides Karnataka and Mumbai, will be aiming to continue their good recent showing with the ball.

Vinay was the joint highest wicket-taker along with Thakur this Ranji season with 48 wickets at 18.72 in 10 games.

Similarly, Gujarat's Rush Kalaria would like to impress again after he had bagged 33 wickets in eight games at an average of 17.18.

India discard Pragyan Ojha, who has been cleared to bowl by the BCCI after being reported for suspect action, will have the company of spinner Jayant Yadav, who was impressed for Haryana with 13 wickets and a good innings 97 against Saurashtra in Lahli.

On the other hand, Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka appear to have an advantage over the relatively inexperienced Rest side.

The home side, however, will miss the services of injured K L Rahul, who had scored 838 runs in just five games at an average of 93.11 per innings, and Chidambaram Gautam, which paves the way for Abhishek Reddy to make his debut.

Rahul suffered a hamstring injury while sliding to stop a boundary on the opening day of the Ranji final against Tamil Nadu, and Gautam suffered a quadriceps muscle pull.

Karnataka also have a much superior all-round bowling attack, especially with the new ball. Mithun and left arm bowler Aravind, having claimed over hundred wickets among them, have proved a handful for other teams.

Teams:

Rest of India: Manoj Tiwary (captain), Unmukt Chand, Jiwanjot Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Paras Dogra, Naman Ojha (w/k), Rishi Dhawan, Jayant Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Shardul Thakur, Varun Aaron, Rush Kalaria, Baba Aparajith, Jalaj Saxena, Vijay Shankar.

Karnataka: R Vinay Kumar (captain), CM Gautam (w/k), Robin Uthappa, R Samarth, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal, Shishir Bhavane, Abhishek Reddy, Udit Patel, Abhimanyu Mithun, Sreenath Arvind, HS Sharath, Mayank Agarwal, J Suchith, KC Avinash.

Image: Manoj Tiwary