Shah to lead Saurashtra, Kotak to play his last Ranji match

Aggressive middle-order batsman Jaydev Shah would lead Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy, while veteran Sitanshu Kotak will play his last match in the premier domestic tournament when the hosts take on Rajasthan here from Sunday.
The match, to be played at Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium at Khandheri here, will be the last outing for Kotak in the Ranji Trophy.
The prolific batsman, who started his Ranji career in 1992 against Mumbai, has played 129 matches and is just four short of 8,000 first-class runs.
The 41-year-old has scored 15 centuries and averages a healthy 41.64. He has been the batting mainstay of Saurashtra ever since he debuted over two decades ago.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat, key players for the team, have not been included in the squad as they are on national duty.
"The two are not likely to be available for the entire series because they are part of the national side," Himanshu Shah, SCA Media Managar, said.

However, Cheteshwar Pujara would play a couple of matches before joining Team India for the two-Test series against the West Indies next month.
"We have received confirmation for two matches from Cheteshwar Pujara, who, too, has to join with the national team to play against the West Indies," Himanshu said.

Siddharth Trivedi, another old Saurashtra hand, has been excluded from the squad as he is facing one-year ban for his alleged role in spot-fixing in IPL, he said, adding medium pacer Abhishek Bhatt is the only new face in the 15-member squad selected for the opening match.
Team: Jaydev Shah (captain), Chirag Pathak, Bhushan Chauhan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, Sitanshu Kotak, Arpit Vasavada, Kamlesh Makwana, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Nayan Doshi, Sandip Maniar, Saurya Sanandiya, Sagar Jogiyani, Vishal Joshi and Abhishek Bhatt.