Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Onus on Saurashtra, HP in Group C

The 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season starts on October 1, running until the end of the league stage on December 4; then the knockouts from February 3 to 28. In the final of a three-part series, TOI Sports previews Group C. Jharkhand
What they did last season: Finished fourth with 21 points from eight matches.
Fixtures: v Services (away) Oct 1-4; v Saurashtra (away) Oct 8-11; v Kerala (away) Oct 15-18; v Goa (home) Oct 30-Nov 2; v Jammu & Kashmir (home) Nov 7-10; v Tripura (away) Nov 15-18; v Himachal Pradesh (away) Nov 23-26; v Hyderabad (away) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: In an inconsistent side, the potential of young batsmen such as Ishank Jaggi and Ishan Kishan is key. Jaggi, 26, scored 670 runs at 74.44 last season and should be ready to use his best returns to deliver more this year. Kishan, just 17, tallied 451 runs in six matches during his maiden season and Jharkhand will hope he doesn’t suffer the proverbial sophomore slump. When available, skipper Varun Aaron will be extremely crucial to Jharkand’s success.
Squad: Varun Aaron (capt), Kumar Deobrat (v/c), Shiv Gautam (wk), Ishan Kishan, Ishank Jaggi, Jaskaran Singh, Kaushal Singh, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rameez Nemat, Samar Quadri, Rahul Shukla, Saurabh Tiwary, Vinayak Vikram, Virat Singh, Ajay Yadav
Saurashtra
What they did last season: Came in last in Group B to be relegated to the Group C.
Fixtures: v Tripura (home) Oct 1-4; v Jharkhand (home) Oct 8-11; v Hyderabad (home) Oct 22-25; v Services (away) Oct 30-Nov 2; v Goa (home) Nov 7-10; v Himachal Pradesh (home) Nov 15-18; v Kerala (away) Nov 23-26; v Jammu & Kashmir (away) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: Dropped from all three formats for India, allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has a statement to make. Cheteshwar Pujara made his statement on return to the Test team last month, scoring an emphatic match-winning hundred in Colombo, and now has four matches for Saurashtra before the first Test against South Africa to pile up more runs. Crucial to Saurashtra’s chances of making it back to the top tier will be, along with Jadeja and Pujara, the performances of batsman Sheldon Jackson (819 runs last season), pacer Jaydev Unadkat, and spinners Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Kamlesh Makwana.
Squad: Mohsin Ahmedbhai Dodia, Arpit Vasavada, Abhishek Bhat, Avi Barot, Sheldon Jackson, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Ravindra Jadeja, Chirag Jani, Vandit Jivrajani, Sagar Jogiyani, Kamlesh Makvana, Cheteshwar Pujara, Deepak Punia, Jaydev Shah, Jaydev Unadkat

Hyderabad
What they did last season: Fifth place with 20 points from eight matches.
Fixtures: v Goa (away) Oct 1-4; v Kerala (home) Oct 8-11; v HP (away) Oct 15-18; v Saurashtra (away) Oct 22-25; v Services (away) Nov 15-18; v Tripura (home) Nov 23-26; v Jharkhand (home) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: With Pragyan Ojha having switched to Bengal, Hyderabad are more dependant on the likes of Akash Bhandari, Ashish Reddy and Chama Milind. With the bat, the captain Hanuma Vihari (780 runs last season) can be expected to deliver again, but whether or not Hyderabad can get more from Tanmay Agarwal (558 runs) and Akshath Reddy (624 runs) on the road could be decisive in the team’s campaign.
Squad: Hanuma Vihari (capt), Habeeb Ahmed (wk), Vishal Sharma, Himalay Agarwal, Tanmay Agarwal, Balchander Anirudh, Anwar Ahmed, Ashish Reddy, Akash Bhandari, Mehdi Hasan, Chama Milind, Akshath Reddy, Bavanaka Sandeep, T Suman, Sudeep Tyagi
Kerala
What they did last season: Sixth place with 20 points from eight matches.
Fixtures: v J&K (away) Oct 1-4; v Hyderabad (away) Oct 8-11; v Jharkhand (home) Oct 15-18; v Services (away) Oct 22-25; v Tripura (home) Oct 30-Nov 2; v Goa (away) Nov 15-18; v Saurashtra (home) Nov 23-26; v HP (home) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: Now that he’s played for India, the talented wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson must be determined to produce more than he did last season. And yet it is the support cast of Amit Verma, Sachin Baby and Rohan Prem that could influence Kerala’s fortunes more because their roles are crucial to Samson’s success. Kerala struggled to take wickets in 2014-15, but with Sandeep Warrier fit they should expect more success.
Squad: Sanju Samson (capt), Nizar Niyas, Ahmed Farzeen, Akshay Chandran, Fabib Ahmed, Robert Fernandez, Raiphi Gomez, VA Jagadeesh, Akshay Kodoth, K Monish, MD Nidheesh, Rohan Prem, Sachin Baby, Sandeep Warrier, Nikhilesh Surendran

Himachal Pradesh
What they did last season: Third with 28 points from three games.
Fixtures: v J&K (home) Oct 8-11; v Hyderabad (home), Oct 15-18; v Goa (home) Oct 22-25; v Tripura (home) Oct 30-Nov 2; v Services (home) Nov 7-10; v Saurashtra (away) Nov 15-18; v Jharkhand (home) Nov 23-26; v Kerala (away) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: For a team that has the advantage of playing all but two of its matches at home, Himachal Pradesh can expect to make good progress on the backs of those who have succeeded in familiar surroundings. Think Paras Dogra, Ankush Bains and Rishi Dhawan. Add to the mix a new face in Robin Bist, who left Rajasthan after nine seasons, and the batting looks even better. HP have a good bowling unit in seam-friendly conditions, and with the addition of Karnataka seamer Ronit More, 23, should settle for no less than qualification for the knockouts having narrowly missed out in the last two seasons.
Squad: TBA
Tripura
What they did last season: Third from the bottom with nine points.
Fixtures: v Saurashtra (away) Oct 1-4; v Goa (away) Oct 15-18; v J&K (home) Oct 22-25; v HP (away) Oct 30-Nov 2; v Kerala (away) Nov 7-10; v Jharkhand (home) Nov 15-18; v Hyderabad (away) Nov 23-26; v Services (home) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: The challenge for Tripura once again is to extend the glimpses of potential shown. Skipper Abhijit Dey is coming off a poor season with the bat, leaving Rakesh Solanki and his deputy Kaushal Acharjee to account for himself. The bowling duo of Manisankar Murasingh and Rana Dutta carried the attack in 2014-15 and once again will be expected to deliver.
Squad: Abhijit Dey (capt), Kaushal Acharjee (v/c), Swapan Das, Arindam Das, Udiyan Bose, Subash Chakraborty, Saurabh Das, Manisankar Murasingh, Parvinder Singh, Rana Dutta, Tushar Saha, Abhijit Sarkar, Nirupam Sen, Nirupam Sen Chowdhary, Rakesh Solanki, Subhrajit Roy
Services
What they did last season: Second last with eight points.
Fixtures: v Jharkhand (home) Oct 1-4; v Goa (away) Oct 8-11; v J&K (away) Oct 15-18; v Kerala (home) Oct 22-25; v Saurashtra (home) Oct 30-Nov 2; v HP (away) Nov 7-10; v Hyderabad (home) Nov 15-18; v Tripura (away) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: Senior batsman Rajat Paliwal had another solid season with 623 runs, but barring veteran Yashpal Singh (432) the support was not forthcoming. The demands on the new faces will be high, considering how desperate Services are to get back to the top tier.
Squad: Azaruddin Bloch, Soumik Chatterjee, Anshul Gupta, Vikas Hathwala, Muzzaffaruddin Khalid, Shabad Nazar, Rajat Paliwal, Diwesh Pathania, Raushan Raj, Shashank Sharma, Yashpal Singh
Goa
What they did last season: Last in Group C with just five points.
Fixtures: v Hyderabad (home) Oct 1-4; v Services (home) Oct 8-11; v Tripura (home) Oct 15-18; v HP (away) Oct 22-25; v Jharkhand (away) Oct 30-Nov 2; v Saurashtra (away) Nov 7-10; v Kerala (home) Nov 15-18; v J&K (away) Nov 23-26.
Men to watch: Under a new coach in Hrishikesh Kanitkar and new captain in domestic giant Dheeraj Jadhav this season, Goa should seriously aspire higher. Younger talent such as Amogh Desai, Sagun Kamat and Dharshan Misal - who each enjoyed batting success last season - will hope to prosper under such sound tutelage. The bowling disappointed sorely in 2014-15, and hence former Rajasthan seamer Rituraj Singh and former Kerala pacer Prasanth Parameswaran have big roles to play.
Squad: Dheeraj Jadhav (capt), Amit Yadav, Swapnil Asnodkar, Saurabh Bandekar, Amogh Desai, Shadab Jakati, Sagun Kamat, Snehal Kauthankar, Rahul Keni (wk), Buddhadev Mangaldas, Gauresh Gawas, Darshan Misal, Amulaya Pandrekar, Prasanth Parameswaran, Rituraj Singh

Jammu & Kashmir
What they did last season: Last in Group A, relegated to Group C.
Fixtures: v Kerala (home) Oct 1-4; v HP (away) Oct 8-11; v Services (home) Oct 15-18; v Tripura (away) Oct 22-25; v Jharkhand (away) Nov 7-10; v Goa (home) Nov 23-26; v Saurashtra (home) Dec 1-4.
Men to watch: With over 600 runs last season, Ian Dev Singh remains the team’s batting mainstay, as do seamer Ram Dayal and allrounder Parvez Rasool with the ball. But this season, the addition to Delhi veteran Mithun Manhas - born in J&K - should act as further impetus for the team to bounce back from a disappointing season.
Squad: TBA