Ranji Trophy Preview | Patidar-led Madhya Pradesh hope to start campaign on positive note against Punjab

‌The spotlight will be on Rajat Patidar as he leads Madhya Pradesh, for the first time in red-ball cricket, in their Ranji Trophy 2025-26 opener against Punjab at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore from Wednesday. After captaining Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their first title in the Indian Premier League, the middle-order batter led Central Zone in a victorious Duleep Trophy campaign.

He was also the captain of the Rest of India side that lost to Vidarbha in the Irani Cup earlier this month. Patidar had a good start to his domestic red-ball season with two centuries and three fifties in the seven innings he played in the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup.

Madhya Pradesh will hope to put on an improved showing after finishing fifth in their group last year and failing to make the knockouts. The 2022 Ranji Trophy champions also have all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer at their disposal, with pacer Kuldeep Sen joining the spin duo of Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain to make them a potent unit.

Meanwhile, Punjab will be led by Naman Dhir, with Prabhsimran Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Ramandeep Singh and Uday Saharan making it a formidable batting side. Punjab are also coming in after a horrific campaign last year, which saw them win just one of their seven group games, finishing a lowly seventh in the group.

Form Guide

MP Form: D W L D D

PUN Form: D L W L L

MP vs PUN head-to-head in Ranji Trophy

Punjab hold a slight edge over Madhya Pradesh with two wins in their last five encounters. MP has one, with two of the remaining games, including their latest match up, ending in draws. 

MP 1 - 2 PUN

Team News

MP are expected to start left-arm pacer Arshad Khan and Kuldeep Sen alongside Kartikeya and Saransh, while Patidar is expected to helm the middle order with Venkatesh Iyer. For Punjab, Gurnoor Brar is expected to spearhead the pace attack, with Uday Saharan expected to make his first-class debut.

MP Expected XI

Harsh Gawli, Himanshu Mantri (wk), Yash Dubey, Rajat Patidar (c), Shubham Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Harpreet Singh, Saransh Jain, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Kuldeep Sen.

PUN Expected XI

Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Anmolpreet Singh, Uday Saharan, Nehal Wadhera, Naman Dhir (c), Jaskaranvir Singh Paul, Ramandeep Singh, Harjas Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Ayush Goyal, Raghu Sharma

Broadcasting Platforms 

The MP vs PUN Ranji Trophy match will be digitally streamed on the Jio Hotstar app and website in India from 9:30 AM IST on Wednesday.