Mahipal Lomror
Mukul was abruptly dropped and relegated to the Under-23 setup, with selectors bringing in Vishal Harsh to take his place. Sidelined for the first two matches due to a knee injury, Choudhary’s return injects vital experience into a talented yet youthful bowling attack. The erratic shuffling peaked when the squad for the third match was initially announced with his name on the list, only for a revised squad to be released the very next day.
Having secured back-to-back first-innings leads to accumulate six points from their opening two fixtures, Rajasthan face a pressing need to shift gears as they next take on Uttarakhand in their Ranji Trophy Group ‘D’ encounter in Dehradun starting Monday. Placed fourth on the points table, the Kartik Sharma-led side finds itself chasing the front-runners, Mumbai, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu, all of whom have capitalised on at least one outright victory to surge ahead. With draws against Tamil Nadu and Railways yielding only three points apiece, securing dominant, bonus-point wins has become paramount if the side wishes to bridge the gap. The squad received a timely boost ahead of the away match with the inclusion of seasoned seamer Aniket Choudhary . That added maturity will be crucial, particularly after injury to pacer Akash Singh.