Hanuma Vihari to lead Rest of India squad in Irani Cup

Hanuma Vihari will be leading the Rest of India squad against Saurashtra in a Irani Cup match, starting October 1.

File image of Vihari. (FILE) | Photo Credit: RAGU R

Hanuma Vihari will be leading the Rest of India squad against Saurashtra in a Irani Cup match, starting October 1.

Sportstar understands that under the coaching of Sitanshu Kotak, the Rest of India squad has four top batters in Abhimanyu Easwaran, Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal and Sarfaraz Khan.

The team also features young guns Yash Dhull and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Umran Malik, who was part of the India A squad for the home series against New Zealand A, has also made the cut, along with Kuldeep Sen.

Last week, Jaiswal scored a career-best 265 for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone. In prime form, Jaiswal will be heading into the game with a positive mindset. 

While Cheteshwar Pujara is expected to pad up for Saurashtra, which won the Ranji Trophy title in 2019-20 season, the Rest of India squad features Easwaran and Panchal, who once again stamped their class in the home series against New Zealand A. Both of them have been regular performers for India A.

Rest of India squad: Hanuma Vihari (captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Priyank Panchal, Sarfaraz Khan, Mayank Agarwal, Yash Dhull, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Upendra Yadav (wicketkeeper), KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Jayant Yadav, Saurabh Kumar.