As the date for the Irani Cup 2023 draws closer, the BCCI have confirmed the full Rest of India (ROI) squad list, featuring Mayank Agarwal as the captain and Sarfaraz Khan’s exclusion following his injury
The BCCI confirmed that they would exclude Sarfaraz Khan for the upcoming cup match due to a hairline fracture.
Irani Cup 2023 Rest of India vs Madhya Pradesh match schedule, date, time, teams squad players list, captains, venue, live stream telecast in India
Mayank Agarwal to lead Rest of India team in the Irani Cup 2023. #IraniCup #MayankAgarwal #indiancricket #squad #SkyExch pic.twitter.com/uCyUmB1JNF
— SkyExch (@officialskyexch) February 26, 2023
The guy we should look forward to and invest in is #SarfarazKhan pic.twitter.com/1UXe0Bg3tl
— Puneet Bansal (@PuneetSbansal) February 20, 2023
The BCCI have instead decided to choose Abhimanyu Easwaran and Yashasvi Jaiswal as replacements for the injured Sarfaraz Khan. Sarfaraz has also been excluded for the IND vs AUS test series.
BCCI announces Rest of India squad
KL Rahul has currently been under fire for his poor form, but was tipped to join Rest of India squad. Although he will remain with India Squad for the Australia series, the BCCI have drop him for the Irani Cup. They have instead decoded to go with Shubman Gill.
The BCCI also excluded Sarfaraz Khan and confirmed in a statement:
“Sarfaraz Khan was unavailable for selection owing to a hairline fracture on his left little finger. The All-India Senior Selection Committee named Baba Indrajith as his replacement for the tournament.”
Sarfaraz Khan is currently with the Delhi Capitals team in their pre-IPL camp. The 25-year-old will play an important role in DC’s plans following Rishabh Pant’s injury, which will keep him out. Sarfaraz has been keeping wickets in DC’s camp currently at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He is however, still nursing a finger injury, as such, the selectors did not want to risk any further injury.
Sarfaraz Khan has amassed nearly 3,000 runs in Ranji Trophy in 26 games, across teh last three seasons. He has also smashed 12 centuries and 7 half-centuries in that same period. Despite managing a staggering 106.70 average, he continues to be ignored by selectors.
Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep will also feature in the squad against Madhya Pradesh. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar will also feature in ROI squad and possibly make his India debut.
Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar will lead the Madhya Pradesh squad, while both Venkatesh Iyer and Avesh Khan will make a return.
Irani Cup 2023 full squad lists
Rest of India Squad
Captain – Mayank Agarwal
Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yash Dhull, Baba Indrajith, Upendra Yadav(wk), Atit Sheth, Saurabh Kumar, Harvik Desai, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar, Chetan Sakariya, Akash Deep, Mayank Markande, Pulkit Narang, Sudip Kumar Gharami
Madhya Pradesh
Captain – Rajat Patidar
Yash Dubey, Himanshu Mantri (wk), Harsh Gawli, Shubham Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Aman Solanki, Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, Avesh Khan, Ankit Kushwah, Gaurav Yadav, Anubhav Agarwal, Mihir Hirwani.
Irani Cup 2023 Match Details: Date: March 1 to March 5 Venue: Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior Time: 9.30 am IST
The Irani Cup will be broadcast live on Star Sports network from March 1. Indian viewers can live-stream the match on Disney+ Hotstar App and Website.