By Vipul Kashyap
New Delhi [India], January 4 (ANI): Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) has allowed the fans to watch Ranji Trophy matches for free. The premier domestic red-ball event kicks off on Friday.
Ranji season will start with the Delhi team facing Paundicherry in their first clash. Young batter Yash Dhull will lead the Delhi team lead by will be ready to face this year’s challenge. Ishant Sharma who once led India’s pace attack along with Navdeep Saini is also a part of the squad.
Ahead of the clash, on being asked about fans watching Ranji games, a senior DDCA official told ANI “Yes this time also the entry for fans free to watch Ranji games held up in delhi they can come and enjoy the game in stands, only they have to carry their authentic I cards like aadhar, voting, driving licences or student ID cards.”
In this year’s Ranji Trophy, the experienced batting duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara making their return.
Pujara and Rahane were the two players who were a part of India’s Test team in the early months of 2023 but were sidelined for the two-match Test series.
Pujara made his last Test appearance during India’s World Test Championship final loss against Australia. Rahane made his last Test appearance during India’s tour of the West Indies.
Rahane made 94 runs in the two Test appearances, while, Pujara scored 41 runs across both innings in the WTC final. Along with this, Karnataka’s Mayank Aggarwal who was last season’s highest run scorer with 990 runs will look to make his mark in the competition once again.
Teams and groupings: Elite Group A: Saurashtra, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Vidarbha, Haryana, Services, Manipur.
Elite Group B: Bengal, Andhra, Mumbai, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar.
Elite Group C: Karnataka, Punjab, Railways, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Gujarat, Tripura, Chandigarh.
Elite Group D: Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Baroda, Delhi, Odisha, Pondicherry, Jammu & Kashmir.
Plate Group: Nagaland, Hyderabad, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh. (ANI)
