Injured Shubham ruled out, U-19 star Kartik replaces Kunal

JAIPUR: As Rajasthan take on Uttarakhand in their fifth Ranji Trophy match beginning from Wednesday in Dehradun, they will miss the services of one of the centurions of the previous outing Shubham Garhwal due to injury.

The 29-year-old all-rounder impressed with his aggressive approach in his maiden First Class game against Hyderabad where he scored 107-ball 108. His knock played a crucial role in helping Rajasthan score 400 plus and take a crucial lead of 15 runs that helped them earn three points in a drawn game.

Moreover, wicketkeeper batsman Kunal Singh Rathore has been left out of the squad for lack of runs. In the last four outings where he batted in five innings, his scores were - 23, 25, 19, 35 and 9.

Replacing him is Kartik Sharma , who has been knocking the selectors' door with performances in Vinoo Mankad Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy. The 18-year-old was the top run-scorer in the recently concluded Under-19 one-day tournament with 492 runs in five matches that also included a double century. Kartik also scored 200 runs in the first game of the four-day tournament.

Bharatpur's Kartik is likely to make his debut in the senior side.

Meanwhile, at fourth position with 13 points, Rajasthan cannot afford to lose a game as they have to catch up with Elite Group B table-toppers - Vidarbha (25 points) followed by Gujarat (18 points).

In First Class cricket, Rajasthan have played only once against Uttarakhand. The match played in February 2022 in Kerala saw Uttarakhand trounce Rajasthan by 299 runs.

Squad: Deepak Hooda (captain), Deepak Chahar (vice-captain), Mahipal Lomror, Bharat Sharma, Abhijeet Tomar, Ram Mohan Chauhan, Kanhaiya Lal Swami, Ajay Singh Kookna, Arafat Khan, Aniket Choudhary, Zuber Ali, Rajesh Bishnoi (jr), Kartik Sharma, Sahil Diwan, Rajkumar Saini and Rajveer Singh Rathore.