A week of new generation and regeneration

There was excitement, and a touch of mystery, surrounding a few uncapped players when India's limited-overs squad for Australia was announced on Sunday. Among the surprise picks was Barinder Sran, the Punjab left-arm pacer, whom Yuvraj Singh compared to a young Zaheer Khan soon after playing his first Ranji Trophy match earlier in the season. After all, Sran has played just seven List A games after he gave up a spot in the prestigious Bhiwani Boxing Club in favour of cricket.

How does Sran bowl? Does he skid it through or does he get extra bounce? Does he swing the ball? A few of these questions might be answered as Sran's Punjab take on Himachal Pradesh in the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Alur, on the outskirts of Bangalore, on Wednesday. Yuvraj himself believes he should be on the plane to Australia with Sran, and not just joining the squad for the T20s. This week might be his chance to put his runs where his mouth is. Should he continue his rich vein of form that has helped him amass 341 runs in five outings in the tournament so far, he could be making a serious pitch for the No. 6 slot in the ODI squad.

Harbhajan Singh, the Punjab captain, received a lease of life when R Ashwin was injured during the ODI series against South Africa. He might even have cause to complain that just when he had started to bowl well on his international comeback, the return of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja has pushed him out of the squad. The selectors have indicated he is still in the mix by picking him for the T20s. With Sri Lanka to come followed by an Asia Cup T20 leading into the World T20 in March, Harbhajan, like Yuvraj, has an opportunity to make the most of the turn in fortunes.

Up against them will be another first-time India selection in Himachal Pradesh allrounder Rishi Dhawan. A skiddy bowler capable of holding the bat lower down the order, Dhawan has been on the fringes of the India A team for the better part of the last three years. This year, too, he has been the shining light in Himachal's road to the quarter-finals and is the side's leading run-getter with 252 runs in five innings. Himachal won four out of their five group games to top Group D.

As Bangalore enters holiday mode in the final week of 2015, this is not all the cricket up for grabs. Because India are not playing any international cricket, star attractions will light up an otherwise low-key knockout round of Vijay Hazare Trophy. All of the cricket will be shared between Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium and Alur.

By topping a tough group that had defending champions Karnataka, Jharkhand, who won five out of their six matches, have shown there is more to them than just MS Dhoni and captain Varun Aaron. Dhoni is yet to fire in the tournament, but Jharkhand's opponents Delhi, led by the doughty Gautam Gambhir, will not be writing him off especially at the business end.

While Virat Kohli won't be available for Delhi in their quest to win the tournament they won two years ago, Shikhar Dhawan's presence at the top of the order will be a fillip. Dhawan, who had modest returns across formats against South Africa, will have an opportunity to get among the runs before getting on the flight to Australia. How Dhawan fares will be of great interest given India do not have a third opener in the Australia tour party.

The story of the tournament so far has been Tamil Nadu, and the manner in which they have managed to put behind the disappointment of missing out on the Ranji Trophy knockouts. Floods across the state even brought several players together in providing relief and assistance, even as many of their own families were stranded.

Two days after winning the Delhi Test, Ashwin, their talisman and captain, was back at training with the state side. With five wins in six matches, the momentum is on their side in their clash against Uttar Pradesh, who have blown hot and cold through the course of the tournament. Having lost his place to Manish Pandey and Gurkeerat Singh Mann in the ODI side, Suresh Raina, who has just 55 runs in four innings in the tournament, has an opportunity to make a telling statement. Like Raina, Bhuvneshwar, too, has been deemed surplus to requirement for Australia. He will be hoping to swing his way into contention.

Gujarat and Vidarbha, the two unheralded sides, may feel a little lost among a battery of stars and players who have pitchforked themselves into the limelight, but a win in the quarter-final could change that and put the focus back on them against the big boys.

With an assortment of limited-overs cricket scheduled over the next six months, and with the national selectors in attendance, eye-catching performances will be high on the agenda over the next week as India's flagship domestic 50-over competition is set to enter its business end with unprecedented popularity and fanfare.