Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Abhimanyu Easwaran returns for Rajasthan clash; Aditya Tare to continue leading Mumbai

Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is currently in New Zealand representing the India ‘A’ side in unofficial Tests against New Zealand ‘A’, is all set to return to India and resume his duties as the captain of the Bengal state side, post the commencement of the first unofficial Test on February 2. The 24-year-old opener, who is yet to register a fifty thus far this season, has been named in Bengal’s squad for the Rajasthan encounter and will take over the reins from Manoj Tiwary, who led the side in his absence versus Delhi, a game that ended as a draw.

Bengal, who have registered just two wins thus far this Ranji Trophy season, will take on a struggling Rajasthan side at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on February 4.  

Meanwhile, Mumbai, in an interesting move, have continued to persist with wicket-keeper batsman Aditya Tare as their captain, despite the return of regular skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who was also plying his trade with the India ‘A’ side in New Zealand. Tare has been in an impeccable form of late, having registered scores of 154, 97 and 62 in his last three knocks, and will be looking to help Mumbai register just their second win of the season.

With 13 points, Mumbai are currently tattering at 12th spot in the table and would need an outright win - or a bonus point victory - to have any chance of making it to the quarter-finals. They will, however, be up against a strong Saurashtra side at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.

Mumbai squad: Aditya Tare (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Jay Bista, Shubham Ranjane, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Parkar, Shams Mulani, Tushar Deshpande, Royston Dias, Shashank Attarde, Vinayak Bhoir, Aquib Kureshi, Bhupen Lalwani and Deepak Shetty.

Bengal squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Manoj Tiwary, Anustup Majumdar, Shreevats Goswami, Abhishek Raman, Koushik Ghosh, Kazi Junaid Saifi, Arnab Nandi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Writtick Chatterjee, Shreyan Chakraborty, Nilkantha Das, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Geet Puri, Raj Kumar Pal.