Ranji Trophy 2017-18: Pre-season Best XI of the uncapped players

Ranji Trophy 2017-18 promises to be bigger and better than the previous editions of the tournament. A lot of changes have been incorporated in the format of the competition for this home season. The home venues are back, which in essence means that the players will get a chance to perform in front of their home fans. Also, the groups have been made bigger and the total number of pools have been reduced. All of this is expected to result in an optimum number of fixtures for each team and at the same time, will give proper recovery period for the players between two successive matches. Well, the stage is set and the arrangements have been made. Now, it is time for the domestic talent to perform on the biggest stage in Indian domestic circuit. Ranji Trophy is rated as the breeding ground for cricketers in the country and expect this edition to be no different. While the big names, the players who have already played for India in some or the other format of the game, are expected to come out great guns, the eyes will be on the rookie uncapped players to grab the limelight. Every season, a new star emerges from the competition. So who will it be this season? Here we pick the pre-season Best Uncapped XI of Ranji Trophy 2017-18: 1. Rahul Tripathi (Maharashtra) Rahul Tripathi of Rising Pune Supergiants in action. (Photo: IANS) Young hard-hitting batsman from Pune, Rahul Tripathi, became a household name among the Indian cricket fans after a very successful IPL stint earlier this year with Rising Pune Supergiant. The opening batsman has been playing in the Indian domestic circuit for quite some time now. However, a big season is yet to come his way. With the limelight already hogging on him, expect the 26-year old to finally make a Ranji Trophy season his own with his batting. Tripathi made his First Class debut for Maharashtra back in the year 2012. Since then, he has played 26 matches to amass 1245 runs at a mediocre average of 31.92. But, given the form that he has been in, expect Tripathi to call the shots this season. 2. Abhimanyu Easwaran (Bengal) (Photo Source: CricFit) Abhimanyu Easwaran – the 22-year old batsman from the Bengal side is fearless and consistent. Having made his First Class debut at a very young age of 18, Easwaran has slowly found his way to being a regular face in the Bengal setup. The opening batsman has been in prime form this season. Playing for the India Blue in the finals of the Duleep Trophy, he recently hit a fighting 127 to win a lot of praise. Easwaran has played 24 FC matches and has 1664 runs to his name with an average of 42.66. He is a consistent run getter who knows how to absorb pressure when needed. The Bengal team will bank on his services big time this season. 3. Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai) Shreyas Iyer. (Photo Source: Twitter) Mumbai’s batsman Shreyas Iyer is a perennial run getter for his team in the Ranji Trophy for the last 3 seasons. His impressive performances have seen being on the fringes of the international debut for the Indian team. Iyer had a dream season a couple of years ago when he had mustered record number of runs in a single season. Last year, in the 2016-17 season, he had a relatively low profile outing. However, if you go by the numbers, they are still very good. In the 10 matches that he played last season, Iyer aggregated 725 runs with a top score of 194 to his name. He averaged over 42 in the tournament with two fifties and as many hundreds to his name. 4. Shubham Gill (Punjab) Shubham Gill. (Photo Source: Hindustan Times) Young Punjab batsman Shubham Gill is being tipped as one of the top crops in the current India U19 set up. He is a certain starter for the India U19 team for the ICC U19 World Cup next year. But before that, the 18 year old is very fortunate to play in the Ranji Trophy this year. He has been an impressive top order batsman. He has centuries in the Youth Tests and Youth ODIs to his name. He would be eager to rub shoulders with the big boys and share the dressing room with the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. 5. Ankit Bawne (Maharashtra) Maharashtra’s Swapnil Gugale and Ankeet Bawane. (Photo Source: Twitter) Maharashtra’s middle-order batsman Ankit Bawne has been around for quite some time now in the Indian domestic circuit. Bawne, who has played for the India U23s, is currently a part of the India A team that is hosting New Zealand A. He will be joining team Maharashtra following his India A engagements. He hammered an unbeaten 162 in a recent FC fixture against New Zealand A. Bawne shot to fame last year when he had put on a record partnership with Swapnil Gugale against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy. He had remained unbeaten on 258. He averages almost 53 with the bat and the 73-match veteran is surely one to look forward to this season. 6. Ishan Kishan (Jharkhand) Ishan Kishan. (Photo Source: Sportstarlive) Former India U19 skipper Ishan Kishan has come a long way. From being a hard hitter of the ball, to a more sensible player – Kishan has fine tuned his game big time. Coming into the 2017-18 domestic season, the wicketkeeper-batsman is set to be one of the key members of the Jharkhand team. He had a disappointing Duleep Trophy this year and would hope to cover up for that with an improved Ranji season. Kishan has a top score of 273 in First Class cricket which is a testimonial of his batting might. In 26 FC matches, he has 1613 runs to his name at an average of over 40. 7. Deepak Hooda (Baroda) Deepak Hooda. (Photo Source: Twitter) Deepak Hooda is not a new name for the Indian cricket fans. Hooda has shown his big hitting might in the IPL before. Come the 2017-18 season, the Baroda all-rounder would look to aim consistency this time around. Hooda fits the list and could be the potential skipper in this list of players. He had a brilliant season for Baroda last year. Hooda featured in only 8 matches and had returned with 789 runs to his name at a staggering average of 71.72. This was largely dominated by his top score in the season which was an unbeaten 293. Hooda would want to replicate his heroics yet again and get a shade better this season. 8. Washington Sundar (Tamil Nadu) Washington Sundar. (Photo Source: Twitter) Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar announced his arrival in grand style in the Indian domestic circuit this season. Sundar’s all-round show helped India Red win the tournament final against the India Blue. In the finals, he became the second youngest player to hit a fifty in the competition finals. Also, he bagged five wicket haul in each of the two innings during the game. Needless to say, this 18 year old lad will be a key member for Tamil Nadu team in this season. Prior to the Duleep Trophy, the other moment of fame for the youngster was in the IPL earlier this year where he bowled economical spells for Rising Pune Supergiant. 9. Shahbaz Nadeem (Jharkhand) Shahbaz Nadeem. (Photo Source: Indian Express) Shahbaz Nadeem is arguably the most consistent bowler in the Indian domestic circuit in the last couple of years. Nadeem has been consistently delivering the goods for his team across all the formats of the game. He has managed to be among the leading wickets takers in the last couple of Ranji Trophy seasons. Nadeem returned with as many as 56 wickets in the 10 matches that he played in the 2016-17 season. He bowled 101 maidens in the competition and bowled with an economy of 2.90. It is only unfortunate for the veteran left arm spinner that he has not got a look in for the national set up till now. However, another good season this year could do the trick for him. 10. Basil Thampi (Kerala) Basil Thampi of Gujarat Lions. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Kerala pacer Basil Thampi made his First Class debut back in the year 2014. But his claim to the top ranks came after a decent 2016 home season of cricket. Consistent showings in all formats of the game fetched him an IPL contract with the Gujarat Lions. He managed to impress many big names with his sheer pace and aggression with the ball. Now, with the premier tournament coming up, Thampi has a very good opportunity to make things count in his favor. His numbers in domestic cricket do not justify his talent one bit and only an improved season can make amends to those statistics. Currently, he has only 20 wickets to his name in the 13 FC matches that he has played thus far. 11. Mohammad Siraj (Hyderabad) Mohammad Siraj. (Photo Source: telanganatoday. news) Mohammad Siraj is one of the most promising young fast bowlers in the country at the moment. It was his superlative time with the ball in the last Ranji Trophy season that fetched him an IPL contract with the then defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad. He did not disappoint there either. He has been consistently performing at the domestic level and looks like a good candidate for the Indian team too. In the previous season, he had emerged as the third leading wicket taker with 41 wickets to his name. He had bagged those 41 scalps in just 9 matches. Siraj bowled with an average of 18.92 in the previous season – the second best among all bowlers last year.

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Ranji Trophy 2017-18: Pre-season Best XI of the uncapped players

The list features players who have not played for India yet.

10. Basil Thampi (Kerala)

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