Test attractions in this Ranji season

With a chance to play up to three Ranji matches before joining the Indian team in a team-building session ahead of the Test series against South Africa, Pujara should get ample match practice. If he carries forward his form from his match-winning century against Sri Lanka at the SSC last month, the bowling attacks of Tripura, Jharkhand and Hyderabad will see plenty of his broad SG bat. With Saurashtra playing their first three matches at home, Pujara can expect perfect batting conditions as well, if Rajkot's pitch stays true to reputation.

Ishant won't play the first Test against South Africa, thanks to the one-match ban he picked up during the Sri Lanka tour, and will want to return to the side in sharp rhythm and with an uncluttered mind. For that, he will need to put behind him the farcical episode Delhi's selectors dragged him into, and simply bowl. Given the form he brings from Sri Lanka, he might just run through a couple of domestic line-ups before he's back in India's attack.

Wriddhiman Saha (Bengal) and Naman Ojha (Madhya Pradesh)

A hamstring injury cost Saha his place in India's XI for the final Test in Sri Lanka, and though he made two half-centuries in the first two Tests, it isn't entirely certain that he will be back in the side for start of the Tests against South Africa. Ojha, who replaced Saha at the SSC, scored important runs in both innings, helping India clinch a series win. Since the South Africa series is at home, the selectors might name only one specialist wicketkeeper in the initial squad. Whether that name turns out to be Saha or Ojha might just depend on their Ranji performances over the next couple of weeks.

Tamil Nadu feature in each of the first three rounds of the Ranji Trophy, and that just might give Vijay some game-time before the South Africa series. He missed the third Test in Sri Lanka with a hamstring injury and is not fully fit yet, so will miss the first two rounds, but could get a bit of batting in the third if his recovery goes to plan. There is intense competition for the two opening berths in the Test side, and though Vijay is currently first choice ahead of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, he might need to stay in peak form to maintain that position.

KL Rahul and Karun Nair (Karnataka)

Karnataka, gunning for a third straight Ranji title, will not necessarily enjoy an easy start to the season. Their first match is away from home, against the unknown quantity of a promoted Assam side, and their next two games are against Bengal - semi-finalists in 2013-14 - and Vidarbha - quarter-finalists last year. The latter part of that fixtures list could provide Rahul - out of the Assam game with an injured quadricep - a challenging lead-up to the Tests against South Africa, even as he battles the perception that he is an all-or-nothing player - he has made two hundreds and seven single-digit scores in his ten Test innings so far.

Nair, meanwhile, was called up to India's squad for the final Test against Sri Lanka, but didn't get to make his debut. If all of India's first-choice batsmen are fit, Nair may not find a place in the squad for the initial part of the series against South Africa. But if he starts the season well, he will make sure he stays in the selectors' thoughts.

Having come out of the "toughest year" of his career with a successfully remodelled action, Ojha will want to fight his way back into the Indian team. To strengthen his comeback bid, Ojha has moved from Hyderabad - who have been stuck in Group C since their relegation following the 2012-13 season - to Bengal, to compete in the top tier of the Ranji Trophy. Bengal, who have struggled to find a quality spinner to support what is occasionally one of the better pace attacks in domestic cricket, will be enthused by Ojha's arrival, and the form he showed while bowling for India A against Australia A in July.