Srinagar, Oct 1: Jammu and Kashmir won the toss and elected to bowl first against Rest of India in the Irani Cup at Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar, on Thursday.
J&K captain Paras Dogra opted to bowl, with the decision expected to give the team’s seamers an opportunity to exploit the early-morning conditions.
The fresh surface and morning atmosphere could offer some assistance to the pace bowlers, particularly in the opening session, and J&K will be hoping their seamers can extract movement and make early inroads into the Rest of India batting line-up.
On the occasion, BCCI president Mithun Manhas was also present.
J&K, the reigning Ranji Trophy champions, have fielded a strong playing XI for the five-day contest, with Abdul Samad, Abid Mushtaq, Qamran Iqbal, Shubham Khajuria and Umar Nazir among the key names in their line-up.
J&K Playing XI: Abdul Samad, Abid Mushtaq, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (wk), Lone Nasir Muzaffar, Paras Dogra (c), Qamran Iqbal, Sahil Lotra, Shubham Khajuria, Shubham Singh Pundir, Sunil Kumar and Umar Nazir.
Rest of India, meanwhile, will be led by India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who will also keep wickets.
The Rest of India XI includes pacers Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar, along with M J Choudhary, M J Suthar, S N Khan, Sanat Sangwan, Saransh Jain, Shikhar Mohan, Smaran R and Sudip Kumar Gharami.
Rest of India Playing XI: Akash Deep, M G Choudhary, M J Suthar, Mukesh Kumar, Rishabh Pant (c/wk), S N Khan, Sanat Sangwan, Saransh Jain, Shikhar Mohan, Smaran R and Sudip Kumar Gharami.
The morning session is expected to be particularly significant for J&K’s seamers, with Umar Nazir and Sunil Kumar likely to lead the pace attack. The hosts will look to exploit any movement available before the conditions become more favourable for batting.
For J&K, the Irani Cup represents another major challenge after their historic Ranji Trophy win last season. The prestigious five-day fixture is being played from October 1 to 5 at SK Stadium, Srinagar.
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