Shubman Gill Named in Punjab Squad for Second Round Ranji Trophy Clash

India’s ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill has been added to Punjab’s squad for their second-round Ranji Trophy 2026-27 fixture against Chhattisgarh in New Chandigarh. Gill joins the team as a late addition, with Uday Saharan retaining the captaincy.

Gill is expected to seek valuable red-ball practice ahead of his departure to New Zealand for the upcoming ODI series, scheduled from November 4 to 15. However, his participation in the tour will be limited to the first three ODIs, after which he will hand over the captaincy to Shreyas Iyer to focus on the subsequent two Tests.

While India’s main tour coincides with India A’s shadow tour – featuring three unofficial Tests against New Zealand A – Gill will miss the third unofficial Test (November 7-10) due to overlapping ODI commitments. Notably, both Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul remain part of the India A squad for all three matches.

It is anticipated that Gill will continue batting at No. 4 for Punjab, potentially making way for Jashanpreet Sidhu. The Punjab batting lineup also includes Prabhsimran Singh, who was absent from last week’s season opener against Assam due to India A duties. During that series in Puducherry against Australia A, Prabhsimran scored 39 and 17 in the two innings.

Punjab earned three points from their opening match against Assam, thanks to a first-innings lead. Centuries from Vihaan Malhotra, Emanjot Chahal, and Salil Arora contributed significantly to the win. The game also marked the return of Umesh Yadav to first-class cricket after more than two years. Having switched from Vidarbha before the season, Yadav took 5 wickets for 70 runs – his 16th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.

Punjab Squad: Harnoor Pannu, Vihaan Malhotra, Shubman Gill, Uday Saharan (capt), Jashanpreet Sidhu, Salil Arora (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Ramandeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Emanjot Chahal, Harjas Tandon, Gurnoor Brar, Gursimran Singh, Sanvir Singh, Umesh Yadav

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