Ranji Trophy 2022: 5 Players who deserve a chance in India's Test team ​

The 87th edition of the Ranji Trophy concluded in full swing with Madhya Pradesh creating history to clinch their maiden Ranji Trophy title after defeating 41-time champions Mumbai by six wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Meanwhile, some young cricketers have impressed everyone with their brilliant performances and will be aiming to get a chance to play Test cricket for India.

Every Ranji Trophy season comes as an opportunity for young talents to make a strong case for the selectors with their performances. This year as well, several players knocked on the doors of the selectors with their performances in the 2022 Ranji Trophy. Some of them might get an oppurtunity to serve the nationa team in whites.

Let’s look at five Ranji Trophy stars who deserve a place in Indian Test team:

1. Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz Khan has shown tremendous form in the last two Ranji Trophy seasons while playing for Mumbai as he scored 900-plus runs in two consecutive seasons. Sarfaraz’s tally in the successive seasons read 928 and 982 runs, making him the first Ranji cricketer to cross the 900-run mark in back-to-back seasons.

The 24-year-old currently has the second-highest batting average in first-class cricket after Don Bradman, who has scored 28067 runs at an average of 95.14. In the 2022 season, the Mumbai cricketer smashed 982 runs in six matches at an average of 122.75 which makes him the batter with the fourth-highest average in a Ranji season. He scored four centuries and two half-centuries this season. This even includes a fine century in the final against Madhya Pradesh.

Sarfaraz is generally known for his aggressive and unorthodox style of batting, but over the last three years, he has established himself as a batter who can also play the longer form of the game. He ended the 2022 Ranji season as a highest run-scorer and could get his maiden test call up for the Indian Test team after his stellar performances in first-class cricket.

2. Rajat Patidar

After an impressive outing in the 2022 Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajat Patidar continued his incredible form in the 2022 Ranji Trophy for his state team Madhya Pradesh. His brilliant knock of 122 on the fourth day of the summit clash against Mumbai made a difference and in the end, he hit the winning runs to take his team to their first-ever title.

The 29-year-old ended the tournament as the second-highest run-getter and has delivered some fine innings at crucial times for his team. Within a month, Patidar completed a unique double of scoring a century in both the knockout games of the IPL and the Ranji Trophy. He also scored a half-century in both the quarter-final against Punjab and the semi-final against Bengal.

In six matches in the 2022 Ranji Trophy, the Indore-born cricketer scored 658 runs at an impressive average of 82.25 which included two centuries and five fifties. His best performances came against Kerala, where he played an innings of 142 runs. He has been scoring runs consistently for Madhya Pradesh at different levels of the game and also, he seems mature enough to play for the Test team.

3. Shahbaz Ahmed

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s star all-rounder, Shahbaz Ahmed, has shown tremendous all-round performances this season in the Ranji Trophy for his domestic team Bengal. Due to his all-round performance, Bengal reached the semi-finals but lost the match to Madhya Pradesh in a close encounter.

Shahbaz is a slow left-arm orthodox spinner who has the ability to bowl at tight lengths consistently. Besides, he can play useful innings at No. 6 or No. 7. Despite his team losing in the semi-final, the Haryana-born cricketer didn’t miss out on making a mark in India’s prestigious Ranji Trophy.

The 27-year-old all-rounder ended the tournament as the seventh-highest wicket taker and tenth-highest run-scorer in the tournament. Overall, Shahbaz picked up 20 wickets in five matches at an average of 22.10 and with the bat scoring 482 runs at an average of 60.25. His best performance came against Madhya Pradesh, where he recorded figures of 8/165 and scored a lone century in the second innings of the game.

4. Arzan Nagwaswalla

The left-arm medium-pacer is known for his ability to generate swing, stump-crashing yorkers, and throat-threatening bouncers. Despite being impressive the last two domestic seasons, especially the Ranji Trophy, Arzan Nagwaswalla is unknown to many but he made headlines when he was picked last year in the Indian squad as a standby player for the World Test Championship (WTC) final and subsequent England Test Series.

Nagwaswalla has left a mark with brilliant performances in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season and his wicket-taking ability with the new ball has made him a standout performer for the Gujarat team. He picked up a whooping 41 wickets in eight matches at an impressive average of 18.36.

Coming to his 2022 Ranji Trophy, the 24-year-old has scalped 14 wickets in three matches at an average of 27.28. His best performance of the season came against Madhya Pradesh, where he ended his spell with 6/132. Nagwaswalla has experience of rubbing shoulders with the Indian dressing room in the past and his bowling skills to bowl longer spells consistently could give him a chance to play in the senior team.

5. Saurabh Kumar

Saurabh Kumar is another lesser-known name in the cricket fraternity but he has shown a lot of potential to excel on the big stage and perform consistently well on the domestic circuits. Saurabh started his domestic career playing for Services but later joined his home side Uttar Pradesh. He is known for his left-arm spin bowling and along with that, he also has the ability to contribute with the bat.

Due to his remarkable numbers in First-Class cricket, the Uttar Pradesh-born player was named in the Test squad for a two-match home series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. However, he did not get a chance to feature in any match. Earlier, he was picked as a net bowler for the Test series against England in 2021.

Coming to his 2022 Ranji Trophy performance, the 29-year-old scalped 14 wickets in three matches at an average of 34.92. His best performance of the season came against Karnataka, where he recorded figures of 7/109. The spin-bowling all-rounder has immense potential to perform in difficult situations and many are backing him to don Indian colours soon.