NEW DELHI: The highest run-getter in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy season, Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal will lead Rest of India in the upcoming Irani Cup clash against Madhya Pradesh.
The match starts from March 1 in Gwalior.
Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan, who sustained a finger injury has not been named in the 16-member ROI squad.
Agarwal, who is looking to regain his Test spot, is likely to partner Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran.
The match was initially scheduled to be played in Indore, but was shifted to Gwalior after the Holkar Stadium earned the right to host the third India-Australia Test, starting March 1.
Bengal batter Sudip Kumar Gharami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, B Indrajith and Yash Dhull will form the fulcrum of ROI's batting unit.
Wicketkeeper-opener Harvik Desai and left-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya are the only two players from the current Ranji champion side Saurashtra to feature in the squad.
ROI's fast-bowling department will be led by the Bengal pace duo of Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep and will have Sakariya and Delhi's Navdeep Saini for company.
The selection panel comprising SS Das, S Sharath, Salil Ankola and Subroto Banerjee have also picked Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and Punjab leg-spinner Mayank Markande in the ROI squad.
Madhya Pradesh will be led by wicketkeeper-batter Himanshu Mantri in the absence of regular captain Aditya Shrivastava.
MP have stuck to much of the team's core group that won the Ranji Trophy in June last year, with Rajat Patidar, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Shubham Sharma and Yash Dubey in the squad.
MP, the Ranji champions during the 2021-22 season, were initially scheduled to play their Irani Cup match at the start of the 2022-23 season.
Rest of India squad: Mayank Agarwal (c), Sudip Kumar Gharami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Harvik Desai, Mukesh Kumar, Atit Sheth, Chetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini, Upendra Yadav (wk), Mayank Markande, Saurabh Kumar, Akash Deep, B Indrajith, Pulkit Narang, Yash Dhull.
Madhya Pradesh squad: Himanshu Mantri (c&wk), Rajat Patidar, Yash Dubey, Harsh Gawli, Shubham Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Aman Solanki, Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, Avesh Khan, Ankit Kushwah, Gaurav Yadav, Anubhav Agarwal, Mihir Hirwani.
(With inputs from PTI)
