Axar Patel appointed Gujarat's skipper for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has been selected as the captain of Gujarat for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. This news should make him happy even further after Kings XI Punjab retained him on Thursday for the next edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2018. Moreover, he was picked by the franchise ahead of the likes of David Miller and Glenn Maxwell. However, Axar would look to perform well and justify the decision of the franchise to retain him.

The leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and India A player Priyank Panchal have also been named in the squad. Though the young exciting prospect Siddharth Desai was left out who was the second highest wicket-taker for his side in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy. The tournament will provide the youngsters with a golden opportunity to press their case strongly ahead of the auction of IPL on January 27 and 28.

Axar won’t play the whole tournament

Axar Patel, the newly appointed skipper of Gujarat, won’t be available to play the whole T20 tournament. He will only feature in the zonal league before leaving to South Africa for the six-match ODI series starting from February 1. He would want to fine tune his all round skills ahead of the all-important tour and do well for his team. Even his captaincy traits will be tested as the youngster has been the one to watch out for in the near future. He has been part of the Indian squad for a long time now and has fared decently.

Gujarat will also be without the services of their experienced player Parthiv Patel for the tournament as he is currently in South Africa with the Test side as a backup wicketkeeper for Wriddhiman Saha. His team, however, will miss him a lot while facing the teams like Maharashtra, Mumbai, Baroda, and Saurashtra during the zonal league of the competition.

Squad: Axar Patel (C), Priyank Panchal, Rohit Dahiya, Rujul Bhatt, Ishwar Chaudhary, Piyush Chawla, Chintan Gaja, Chirag Gandhi, Bhargav Merai, Chirag Parmar, Dhruv Raval, Santosh, Shinde, Kshitij Patel, Jayveer Parmar, Karan Patel.

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