NEW DELHI: Prolific batter Hanuma Vihari will lead the Rest of India side against 2019-20 Ranji Trophy champions Saurashtra in the Irani Cup clash, which is returning to the calender after three years.
The BCCI announced a 16-man squad for the red-ball tournament, which is set to be held in Rajkot from October 1-5.
The Irani Cup could not be played in the previous two seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team has a good batting unit with talented red-ball specialist Mayank Agarwal and young Priyank Panchal, who recently led India A against New Zealand A and was also part of the Duleep Trophy winning West Zone squad.
The squad also has talented youngsters in Yash Dhull and Yashaswi Jaiswal, who had scored a double hundred in Duleep Trophy in the Ajinkya Rahane-led West Zone.
Emerging fast bowler Umran Malik, big-hitting Sarfaraaz Khan are also part of the ROI squad.
Test batter Cheteshwar Pujara is likely to appear for Saurashtra in the match.
ROI squad: Hanuma Vihari (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yash Dhull, Sarfaraaz Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.S.Bharat, Upendra Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, R Sai Kishore, Mukesh Kumar, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Sen, Arzan Nagwaswalla.
