Rohit Sharma marks his return to Ranji Trophy cricket after nearly 10 years, but he won’t be the only senior India player to watch out for in the round of games starting January 23. After the implementation of a 10-point guideline by the BCCI, which stressed on domestic cricket being mandatory, several India stars are returning to India’s premier domestic competition. Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are some of the big names back, while Virat Kohli is set to make his own Ranji Trophy comeback in the following round.
Ranji Trophy 2024/25: India stars in action
Mumbai vs Jammu and Kashmir
Rohit Sharma may be the India Test captain, but he will play under the experienced Ajinkya Rahane for Mumbai. Yashasvi Jaiswal will also feature, making it a star-studded squad for the record Ranji champions.
Delhi vs Saurashtra
Rishabh Pant will feature for Delhi, and will go up against India teammate Ravindra Jadeja, who will play for Saurashtra. Pant will play under Delhi’s young captain Ayush Badoni.
Virat Kohli has all but confirmed his return to Ranji Trophy for the first time since 2012, and will play for Delhi in their following game against Railways from January 30.
Karnataka vs Punjab
Shubman Gill also returns to the domestic circuit, featuring for Punjab. He will face the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Devdutt Padikkal, both of whom played in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
KL Rahul was set to return for Karnataka as well, but an elbow injury ruled him out.
Full list of Ranji Trophy fixtures: (January 23-26)
Elite Group A:
Tripura vs Services
Maharashtra vs Baroda
Mumbai vs Jammu and Kashmir
Meghalaya vs Odisha
Elite Group B:
Gujarat vs Uttarakhand
Hyderabad vs Himachal Pradesh
Puducherrry vs Andhra
Rajasthan vs Vidarbha
Elite Group C:
Karnataka vs Punjab
Bengal vs Haryana
Bihar vs Uttar Pradesh
Kerala vs Madhya Pradesh
Elite Group D:
Assam vs Railways
Tamil Nadu vs Chandigarh
Jharkhand vs Chhattisgarh
Saurashtra vs Delhi