Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara to play for their respective Ranji teams

As the Ranji Trophy season kicks off on October 6, the first round is expected to see a good number of international stars in action. Cricketers like Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Murali Vijay are expected to feature at the start of this year’s Ranji season.

As of now, Ashwin and Vijay have made themselves available for selection as they informed the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) about their willingness to feature in the season opener. On the other hand, Jadeja and Pujara have already been picked in the Saurashtra squad as they play their first game against Haryana from the 6th of October.

However, if either of Jadeja or Ashwin is picked for the T20I series against Australia that starts 7th October, they’ll have to give their domestic duties a miss. As of now, the spin duo has been rested from the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka and Australia to ensure their workload is balanced and are at their best for the Test assignments.

Saurashtra coach Sitanshu Kotak informed that while Jadeja was anticipated to join the squad by 30th of September, Pujara who has been declared the skipper was slated to be back after his county commitments with Nottinghamshire.

Recent form

Pujara had a rough patch in the county season, where he scored just 333 runs from 12 innings that too at an average of 27.75. On the other hand, Ashwin was splendid as he played a good hand in securing the Division Two title for Worcestershire and consequently a promotion in the County Championship. With his 214 runs tally at an average of 42.8 and a total of 20 wickets, Ashwin displayed his valour as a world class all-rounder.

Jadeja hasn’t been in action ever since the Test series against Sri Lanka. He was called in as a cover for injured Axar Patel in the current series, he was with the team for the first three ODIs but didn’t play a game. Murali who got injured during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year didn’t have a great outing at the Tamil Nadu Premier League and later in the Duleep Trophy.

Murali Vijay on comeback

India will tour South Africa for three Tests after playing Sri Lanka at home and the domestic tourney promises to be a good practice for them. “I am looking forward to playing for India soon,” Vijay told ESPNcricinfo. Tamil Nadu are all set to start their season against Andhra Pradesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.