Unmukt Chand named as Delhi skipper for first two matches of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season

Unmukt Chand has been named as the skipper of the Delhi team for the upcoming domestic Ranji Trophy season for the first two matches. Chand, who had been on the sidelines for some time due to lack of form has been saddled with the captaincy burden with both first choice captains currently on international duty. The first choice skippers include Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli respectively.

The big news, however, coming from the Delhi camp sees the inclusion of young wicketkeeping batsman Rishabh Pant in the side. Pant, who had a decent outing with the Delhi Daredevils in the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League will have his first bite at the cherry in domestic cricket. Similar to skipper Chand, Pant was a part of the U19 team that reached the final of the World Cup earlier this year.

The bowling department has remained more or less the same. Navdeep Saini, Vikas Tokas, Pradeep Sangwan, and Parvinder Awana are the five pacers who have made their way into the side with the youngsters being kept on the sidelines.

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Opening batsman Mohit Sharma, who made his first-class debut all those years ago in 2012 will be reprising his role as opening batsman once again. Spinner Pulkit Narang has been picked once again despite an indifferent outing in the previous season.

The selection committee consisting of Atul Wassan, Robin Singh Jr, and Nikhil Chopra have also not really had the opportunity to select the experienced likes of Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia who moved away to greener pastures. In a nutshell, the selectors have decided not to experiment too much and have opted with a safe squad to play Baroda in their opening match on the third of October.

The squad: Unmukt Chand (captain), Vaibhav Rawal, Milind Kumar, Nitish Rana, Manan Sharma, Dhruv Shorey, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Mohit Sharma, Pulkit Narang, Varun Sood, Parwinder Awana, Navdeep Saini, Vikas Tokas, Pradeep Sangwan, Pawan Suyal.

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