About Ranji
The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. The competition currently consists of 37 teams, including all the 29 states in India and two of the seven union territories having at least one representative each. The competition is named after first Indian cricketer who played international cricket, Ranjitsinhji, who was also known as ‘Ranji’.
2018-19 Ranji Cricket-
The 2018-19 Ranji Trophy that began from Thursday (November 1, 2018) and it was the most jam-packed edition in the history of the competition. India’s most prestigious domestic tournament that comprises of 37 teams, including nine newbies, and a total of 160 matches that were played across different venues over the course of almost 100 days. The tournament was filled with quite a few international and domestic stalwarts but it also provides the youngsters with an opportunity to get themselves in the selectors’ lens for the international tournaments representing India.
Ishan Kishan
While his competitor Rishabh Pant has already represented India in all the three formats, Kishan is yet to take that next step in his career. The wicketkeeper-batsman from Jharkhand has regularly been featuring in India A squads but this season gave him a chance to push his case for higher things. The left-handed dasher had a terrific 2016-17 edition where he scored 799 runs in 10 matches, decorated with three hundreds and two fifties, to help Jharkhand make their maiden semi-final appearance. That being said, consistency is Kishan’s biggest challenge. He did manage 484 runs in six games next season but not once breached the three-figure mark. Kishan can rip apart any bowling attack on his day but what selectors would want him to do is score runs on a consistent basis. Kishan led Jharkhand in the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy where he smashed 405 runs in nine encounters.
Anmolpreet Singh
With scores of 50, 113, 267, 12, 40, 252* and 19 in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy, Anmolpreet couldn’t have asked for a better start to his first-class career. The right-hander mustered 753 runs at a Bradmenesque average of 125.50 in just five matches to end as tournament’s fourth highest run-scorer. He was then straightaway drafted to the India Blue squad for the Duleep Trophy where he scored an eye-pleasing 96 runs to play a key role in helping his team to beat India Red by an innings and 187 runs in the final.
The 20-year-old has also represented Indian Board President’s XI a couple of times which suggests that he is already on the selectors’ radar. He only played three games in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy but still managed to smash two centuries. Virat Kohli is the epitome of consistency and it comes as no surprise that the India captain is whom Anmolpreet looks up to. Like Kohli, Anmolpreet bats at No. 4 in red-ball cricket, and like Kohli, Anmolpreet will hope his run-scoring juggernaut never ends.
“I don’t really have any goals as such. I just want to focus on the present and do well for my team.” Anmolpreet told Cricketnext.
Tushar Deshpande
The right-arm paceman from Mumbai made his first-class debut against Tamil Nadu in the 2016-17 season and scalped four wickets in the first innings. In total, he picked up 21 wickets at an average of 32.71 in eight games that season but couldn’t find a place in the next edition.
However, it was his performance in this year’s Vijay Hazare Trophy that forced everyone to sit up and take notice. The 23-year-old bowled with some serious pace and was one of the catalysts of Mumbai’s third Vijay Hazare title. In the three knock-out games, Deshpande claimed 10 wickets, including a five-wicket haul. It doesn’t take too long to catch everyone’s eye in Indian cricket fraternity if you have the ability to bowl quick and cause damage and that’s what Deshpande looks forward to in the upcoming tournaments.
