Pujara, Jaffer, Vinay within sight of significant Ranji milestones

The Ranji Trophy 2019-20 season will be the biggest one yet, with 38 teams, one more than the 37 that took part last year. As with every year, several players are within sight of important milestones before this season. Here's a look at the prominent ones:

853 - The number of runs Wasim Jaffer needs to reach 20,000 runs in his first-class career. Currently on 19,147 runs, Jaffer had a strong Ranji season last year, scoring 1037 runs for Vidarbha.

Jaffer is also just three catches away from becoming the first fielder to take 200 catches in the tournament's history. The first match that Jaffer plays this Ranji Trophy will be his 150th in the tournament's history - and he'll also be the first player to achieve that milestone.

1 - Cheteshwar Pujara needs just one more ton to complete 50 centuries in his first-class career. Pujara will become the ninth India player to have 50 or more tons in first-class cricket once he accomplishes the feat.

3 - Number of wickets former Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar, who will represent Puducherry this season, requires to complete 400 wickets in his Ranji career. Vinay will become only the second fast bowler to have 400 or more wickets after Pankaj Singh (409), the former Rajasthan seamer who represented Puducherry last year.

6 - Bihar are on a winning streak of six Ranji Trophy matches, having won their last six games (outright) in the last season. The record for most consecutive victories in Ranji Trophy is eight games, achieved by Bombay between the 1961-62 and 1962-63 seasons.

440 - Runs required by Naman Ojha to complete 10,000 runs in his first-class career. Ojha, who is the most successful wicketkeeper in Ranji history, was appointed Madhya Pradesh captain last season and will be leading this year as well.

17 - Number of dismissals needed for Parthiv Patel to complete 300 dismissals as a wicketkeeper in Ranji. He will become the fifth wicketkeeper to do so after Ojha, Vinayak Samant, Mahesh Rawat and Pinal Shah. Parthiv has 283 dismissals in 95 Ranji matches so far.

5000 - Three batsmen are on the cusp of completing 5000 runs in their Ranji Trophy career. Ankit Bawne is the closest, just one short of the landmark, while Ishank Jaggi and Priyank Panchal are 20 and 29 runs short of the milestone respectively.

Other milestones

Amit Mishra needs three wickets to complete 300 wickets in the Ranji Trophy.

Mahesh Rawat's first game of the season will be his 100th Ranji Trophy match.

Dinesh Karthik is three games away from 100 Ranji matches, while Abhinav Mukund (four games short) and Parthiv Patel (five games short) are also closing in on the mark.

Vineet Saxena is two catches short of taking 100 catches as a fielder in Ranji Trophy; Manoj Tiwary is five short of the same milestone.