India’s veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma has become unreachable it seems when the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) tried to contact him about his availability for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2022 season for Delhi.
DDCA waited to hear from Ishant till Wednesday afternoon before sitting down to pick the team which is scheduled to leave for Guwahati on Thursday morning. Ishant was not played in any of the three Tests in South Africa. He hasn’t attended Delhi’s Ranji Trophy camp either.
Times of India had reported that the new team India management has planned on moving on from the likes of Ishant Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajinkya Rahane, and Cheteshwar Pujara. The news outlet had reported that the team management told both Wriddhiman and Ishant about their chances of playing Test cricket in the future for India.
While Wriddhiman was told that Indian team management is keen on investing in KS Bharat as the backup wicketkeeper for Test cricket and they didn’t want him to become an understudy to Rishabh Pant who has cemented himself as first-choice keeper across formats for India.
However, Pujara and Rahane have been put on notice due to their poor form for the past 2-3 years and may get a chance to come back into the Indian Test side if they score heavily in Ranji Trophy.
“They have been told that the Indian team management is looking to groom the next line of players. Their chances of playing Tests would drop drastically. Things don’t look flowery for Rahane and Pujara too. They are playing Ranji Trophy which is a good sign. They are walking a tight rope though,” a BCCI source told TOI.
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India is due to play two Tests against Sri Lanka at home next month. They will be playing another two Tests in the year. Barring a solitary Test in England in July, India will be playing in Bangladesh and India in the rest of the World Test Championship cycle.
“This is a good chance to give youngsters a longer run. However, the house is still divided on Pujara and Rahane. With Covid playing a big role, the dearth backup middle order batters for the next line is going to be tough,” the source added.
As for the pace attack, it is learnt that Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, and Navdeep Saini are being groomed for the longest format.
(Times of India inputs)
