Shubman Gill to Play for Punjab in Ranji Trophy Before New Zealand Tour

New Chandigarh, October 17 (Daily Kiran) : Shubman Gill, India’s Test and ODI captain, is set to play for Punjab in the Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh starting Sunday in New Chandigarh. This decision comes as Gill aims to get some red-ball cricket experience before his upcoming tour to New Zealand.

The 27-year-old cricketer was added to the team at the last minute, while Uday Saharan will continue to lead the squad. India’s ODI series in New Zealand runs from November 4 to 15, but Gill will only participate in the first three matches. After that, he will hand over the captaincy in the 50-over format to Shreyas Iyer and focus on the subsequent two-match Test series.

Meanwhile, the India A team will also tour New Zealand, where they will play three unofficial Test matches against New Zealand A. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul have been selected for this series, but Gill will not be part of the squad as he was initially expected to be. The third four-day match from November 7 to 10 clashes with India’s second and third ODIs, making it impractical for Gill to participate.

Playing in the Ranji Trophy offers Gill an excellent opportunity to practice in the longer format before the Test series. He is likely to bat at number four for Punjab, which may lead to Jashanpreet Sidhu being left out of the playing XI.

Punjab’s batting lineup will be further bolstered by the return of wicketkeeper-batsman Prabhsimran Singh, who missed the first match of the season against Assam due to commitments with the India A team. During a recent 50-over series against Australia A, he scored 39 and 17 runs.

Punjab has started their season on a positive note, earning three points in their first match against Assam, thanks to a first-innings lead. In that match, Vihan Malhotra, Imanjot Chahal, and Salil Arora all scored centuries. This game was also significant for veteran Indian fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who made a return to first-class cricket after more than two years, taking five wickets for 70 runs. This marks the 16th time he has taken five or more wickets in a single innings in first-class cricket.

With Gill, Prabhsimran, and the three century-makers from the first match, Punjab’s batting order looks formidable as they aim to maintain their momentum against Chhattisgarh in front of their home crowd at the new PCA stadium.

Punjab Team: Harnoor Pannu, Vihan Malhotra, Shubman Gill, Uday Saharan (captain), Jashanpreet Sidhu, Salil Arora (vice-captain), Ramandeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Harpreet Brar, Imanjot Singh Chahal, Harjas Tandon, Gurnoor Brar, Umesh Yadav, Gursimran Singh, Sanveer Singh, and Sahaj Dhawan.