Indian cricketer Sanju Samson, who had showcased his red-ball credentials with a hundred in the Duleep Trophy 2024, wasn’t picked in the Rest of India (ROI) squad for the Irani Cup 2024 clash against Mumbai, set to be played at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, from October 1 onwards. The glaring omission of Sanju Samson from the ROI squad came as a shock to fans online, but the reason could be related to his potential involvement in the Indian cricket team during the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh next month.
Notably, India are slated to take on Bangladesh in the three-match T20I series, starting on October 6, at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium in Gwalior, which will be just a day after the Irani Cup 2024 match finishes. With such a short turnaround, the BCCI might have decided to keep Sanju Samson ready for the national commitment next month after not picking him in the ROI squad.
Ruturaj Gaikwad will captain Rest of India squad in Irani Cup 2024
Ruturaj Gaikwad is set to captain the Rest of India squad against Mumbai, he will have some of the best red-ball players, including the likes of Dhruv Jurel, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shashwat Rawat, Yash Dayal, and Khaleel Ahmed, playing for him. The Mumbai squad for the Irani Cup 2024, announced by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), is captained by Indian veteran Ajinkya Rahane, and some of the top players at his disposal are Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Musheer Khan, Shreyas Iyer, Shams Mulani, and Shardul Thakur.
Below are the full squads of both the competing teams for the Irani Cup 2024:
Mumbai: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Prithvi Shaw, Ayush Mhatre, Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, Suryansh Shedge, Hardik Tamore (wk), Sidhaant Addhatrao (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Himanshu Singh, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Avasthi, Mohammad Juned Khan, Royston Dias
Rest of India: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vc), Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Ricky Bhui, Shashwat Rawat, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar