Redemption time for Shaw as Mumbai take on Baroda in Ranji opener

Prithvi Shaw

New Delhi: Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara will be looking for some serious game time while wayward talent Prithvi Shaw will aim for redemption in what promises to be an eventful three months of Ranji Trophy starting Monday.

Wasim Jaffer, 41, also gears up to roll back years and make yet another impact in the tournament. With them will be the hundreds of young talent, who will certainly figure out their motivation and purpose during the marathon tournament that will have a record 38 teams including new entrant Chandigarh.

Rahane and Shaw will have their own check lists when Mumbai take on Baroda in an away match. Having made an impressive return in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 post doping ban, Shaw will be vying for the third opener's slot in the Test side or at least a place back in the India 'A' squad for the "shadow tour" of New Zealand in January.

Competition for Prithvi
He will face stiff competition from Gujarat's Priyank Panchal, Bengal's Abhimanyu Easwaran and his former India U-19 teammate Shubman Gill of Punjab, who many consider to be as talented as the Mumbaikar if not more.

Rahane hopeful
Rahane, on his part, will like to make some big hundreds and see if he can sneak into the white ball squad in the wake of some good red ball performance even though it is highly improbable at the moment.

The national first-class championship is BCCI's most high-profile domestic tournament and the months of December and January could be very eventful for India's Test and 'A' team regulars while Men in Blue under Virat Kohli remain engaged in their white-ball battles against West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia.

With India playing two Tests against New Zealand, starting from third-week of February, the likes of Pujara [for Saurashtra], Ajinkya Rahane [Mumbai], Mayank Agarwal [Karnataka] Ravichandran Ashwin [Tamil Nadu], Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma [both rested on BCCI advice for their respective first games] are expected to feature in a significant number of games during the first two months.

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