When India takes on England in the first Test at Ahmedabad, from November 15, home team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be the only player in the side going into the match without playing in the opening round of Ranji Trophy fixtures.
The first round of the Ranji Trophy will be played across various centres from November 2 to 5, but India's captain, who hasn't played for his state even once in the last five years, has decided against playing in Jharkhand's opening match against J&K in Srinagar.
"For the last six or seven years, I have been playing for India regularly and this time the local association asked me whether I was fit or not. I told them that I have cough and cold and not to consider me for selection," said Dhoni, at the opening of a fitness training centre in a south Delhi mall.
For the record, current India players Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina will be playing in the Delhi-UP game in Ghaziabad; Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan will play for Mumbai against Railways, while Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Pragyan Ojha are set to turn out for Punjab against Hyderabad.
Ravichandran Ashwin will be playing for Tamil Nadu in Orissa, while Saurashtra will have the services of Cheteshwar Pujara against Gujarat, and Umesh Yadav is supposed to play for Vidarbha against Haryana at Rohtak.