Shubman Gill Returns for Punjab as Second Round of Ranji Trophy Begins

India's Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill is set to return to Ranji Trophy action for Punjab as the second round of the domestic first-class tournament gets underway across the country on Sunday. Punjab will face Chhattisgarh in their upcoming match after securing three points in their opening-round fixture against Assam. Gill enters this contest following a prolific run in India's ODI series win against the West Indies, where he earned the Player-of-the-Series award.

In other tournament fixtures, Shreyas Gopal will lead Karnataka against Saurashtra in Alur, while group leaders Hyderabad travel to face Andhra. In Group D, Mumbai will play Himachal Pradesh without the services of Ayush Mhatre, who suffered a Grade 4 right hamstring tear, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who joined the India A squad. Meanwhile, Delhi and Services face pressure to bounce back from heavy opening-round defeats when they meet Gujarat and Bengal respectively, and Uttar Pradesh prepares to face Goa following a commanding win over Bihar.

As teams head into the second round, various squads are adjusting to player absences and injury returns. Karnataka welcomes back frontline pacers Vidwath Kaverappa and Vyshak Vijaykumar, while Mumbai has added Divyansh Saxena and Angkrish Raghuvanshi to their batting line-up. In the Plate Group, Arunachal Pradesh looks for a fresh start against Sikkim after conceding their opening match due to an administrative dispute.