ROI Favorite Against Ranji Champions Rajasthan

Jaipur: The greenish tinge on the track is quite unlike the Sawai Mansingh Stadium wicket that was presented most of last season. The grass on the wicket blends quite nicely with the outfield to give the ground a serene look.

The green-top also pleased Rest of India skipper Parthiv Patel no end, ahead of the Irani Trophy match against Ranji Trophy champions Rajasthan, which starts, on Saturday. With the fast-bowling options at his disposal, Parthiv would be quite happy with what he saw on Friday. Curator Taposh Chaterjee confirmed to TOI that the grass will remain on the track. "It will be a seaming wicket for the first two days," he said.

That would be music for Varun Aaron, Vinay Kumar and Umesh Yadav, Rest of India pacers, who have been included in the squad for the first two ODIs against England. They would be looking to gain some match practice on this track.

With seven Rest of India players named for the first two ODIs against England, the Irani Trophy will indeed be an occasion for them to hit the straps ahead of India's first home series after World Cup. Apart from Parthiv and the three pacers, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Sharma are the other players in the India squad. Shikhar Dhawan, Abhinav Mukund, Manish Pandey and Pragyan Ojha should make up the rest of the playing XI, all fringe players who stand to be discussed at selection meetings.

Even in the absence of some leading names of Indian cricket, the Rest of India has a formidable look about it. In fact, some of them even fancy finishing off the five-day affair inside three days.

This confidence also comes from the fact that Rajasthan aren't really rated highly, despite being the Ranji Trophy champions. The onus is on Rajasthan to prove that last season's performance is no fluke. With Pankaj Singh, Rajasthan's strike bowler, out with a knee injury, the job of exploiting the green wicket will be on young guns Deepak Chahar and Aniket Choudhury.

Chahar, of course, was a sensation last year and would be expected to repeat at least a part of it. Choudhury, Rajasthan coach Amit Asawa would tell you, is their new find.

Pitch and conditions
The track at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur reportedly has some grass on it, and Parthiv didn't mind that. "We have three very good medium-pacers in side in Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and R Vinay Kumar. So, we are not concerned about the grass," he told PTI.

Stats and trivia

• Rest of India have won the Irani Cup in 10 of the previous 12 seasons.
• The Irani Cup became the curtain-raiser for the Indian domestic season after 1965-66; until then it used to be played at the end of the season.

Teams

Rajasthan HH Kanitkar (capt), A Chopra, VA Saxena, RR Parida, AL Menaria, R Bist, M Khatri, DL Chahar, SO Mathur, A Choudhary, RB Jhalani (wk)

Rest of India A Mukund, S Dhawan, PA Patel (capt & wk), AM Rahane, MK Pandey, Mandeep Singh, PP Ojha, R Sharma, U Yadav, VR Aaron, R Vinay Kumar