5 things to look forward to in the upcoming Ranji season

#5 Impact Bowlers

Shardul Thakur is the one to watch out for

It’s no secret that Indian domestic competitions have rarely unearthed great talents in the bowling department over the past few years. Most of the bowlers, spinners and pacers alike, have caught the eyes of the national selectors primarily based on their IPL performances.

Prime examples are Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah, who shot into limelight through the IPL and then became regular members of the national team.

But for test matches, what the selectors would really like to keep an eye on will be bowlers who have the talent as well as the temperament to step up to the international level. In the fast bowling department, a bowler who has been making all the right noises consistently is Mumbai’s Shardul Thakur.

His performances over the last couple of Ranji seasons have been exemplary which led to his selection for the tour of the West Indies a couple of months ago, where he didn’t get a chance to break into the playing XI, but another good season might make it almost impossible for the selectors and team management to ignore the youngster’s talent.

Another fast bowler who the selectors would surely have pinned their hopes on is Nathu Singh. We would all want to see him excel in this Ranji season so that team India gets a fast bowler who can win them a lot of tests in the future.

Among spinners it’ll be Kuldeep Yadav, who was the best spinner on show in the Duleep trophy, at the forefront when the selectors look to find backup options for Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra. As this being a very long home test season for India, there are bound to be wear and tears as well as some injuries to first choice spinners considering their workload.

This is where the domestic spinners will have to put their hand up and be counted as next in line for selection.

Jayant Yadav has already been picked in the team for the remaining 2 tests against New Zealand and then there are the likes of Axar Patel and Shreyas Gopal who surely aren’t too far off from a national berth. Their impressive performances in the upcoming season would augur well for the future of Indian cricket.