Jaydev Unadkat will lead the Saurashtra side in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.
Pujara has is a part of the 21-member squad, announced by the Saurashtra Cricket Association. The right-hander has been struggling for big runs in Test cricket lately. Regaining his form at the Ranji Trophy can certainly help India’s No. 3 ahead of the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka at home.
Pacer Chetan Sakariya, who made a mark in the 2021 edition of IPL, has also been named in the squad, which features Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Kamlesh Makwana, Chirag Jani, Prerak Mankad, Harvik Desai, and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja as well.
Slotted in Elite group D, Saurashtra play their league matches in Ahmedabad. Apart from Saurashtra, Mumbai, Odisha and Goa are also part of the Elite group D.
As expected, the selectors have named seasoned campaigner Jaydev Unadkat as the skipper of the side.
The Ranji Trophy was originally slated to kick-off on January 13 but postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases in the country.
The premier First-Class tournament will now be held in two phases, with the first phase beginning on February 17 and will run till March 15. The second phase will be played from May 30 to June 26.
Saurashtra Squad:
Jaydev Unadkat (Captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Arpit Vasavada, Chirag Jani, Kamlesh Makwana, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Chetan Sakariya, Prerak Mankad, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, Harvik Desai, Kevin Jivrajani, Kushang Patel, Jay Chauhan, Samarth Vyas, Parthkumar Bhut, Yuvrajsinh Chudasama, Devang Karamta, Snell Patel, Kishan Parmar and Aditya Jadeja.