Ranji Trophy: Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin may play opener

The Ranji Trophy opener between Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu could feature many big names as top players are getting ready to get some playing time under their belt. 

Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara could be the part of the Saurashtra squad, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Vijay have confirmed their availability to Tamil Nadu for the first round of the matches of the Ranji Trophy league stage in the 2017-18 season.

Ashwin and Jadeja's availability is contingent on their selection for the three-match T20I series against Australia, beginning on October 7. The duo was rotated out of India's squad for the ODI series against Australia and Sri Lanka.

Saurashtra coach Sitanshu Kotak revealed that Jadeja was scheduled to join the squad on September 30, while captain Pujara was likely to return to home by the end of the month after finishing his county commitments with Nottinghamshire. Pujara has had a lukewarm season, notching up a total of 333 runs from 12 innings at an average of 27.75 so far. 

Jadeja, on the other hand, made his last competitive outing during the Test series against Sri Lanka, while Vijay had endured a fairly lengthy layoff after undergoing a surgery for a wrist injury he sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in March.

Vijay made a low-key in the Tamil Nadu Premier League before he played for India Green in the Duleep Trophy scalping five wickets and scoring just 17 runs.

Meanwhile, Ashwin played a pivotal role in securing the Division Two title for Worcestershire.