Delhi squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy announced; Shikhar Dhawan opts out of initial phase

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) on Wednesday announced the squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019 and talented batsman Dhruv Shorey was named as its captain. Explosive wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and impressive paceman Navdeep Saini were also included in the squad.

The tournament will be played between September 24 and October 13.Veteran opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, however, opted out of the squad for at least the initial phase because of family reasons. Dhawan had initially confirmed his availability for the domestic tournament along with Pant and Saini and it gave a big boost to the side.

But a Times of India (TOI) report cited agencies quoting Delhi senior team’s chairman of selectors Atul Wassan as saying: “Shikhar needs to go back to Australia to attend to some family matters. He has said that he will join the squad at a later date.”

Pant will be off for national duty in middle of tournament

It will be interesting to see how Pant plays in the tournament since he is part of the Indian Test squad which will be busy playing South Africa in a three-match series starting October 2. Saini is not part of the Test squad while Dhawan is no more a part of India’s red-ball set-up.

Delhi play Vidarbha on the opening day of the tournament and they expect to get the services of both Pant and Saini, who recently made his India debut in T20Is in the West Indies, in the initial games. Other players picked in the squad include: Nitish Rana, Subodh Bhatt, Hiten Dalal, Pawan Negi and others.

“Pant is expected to play at least first two to three games for Delhi as he will then report for the national team. Rishabh himself said that he wanted to play,” Wassan said. He also added that Dhawan will travel to Australia after the conclusion of the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. He is expected to meet the Delhi team in the middle of the tournament.

Delhi squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019:

Dhruv Shorey (captain), Nitish Rana, Rishabh Pant, Himmat Singh, Subodh Bhati, Hiten Dalal, Kunal Chandela, Pawan Negi, Lalit Yadav, Anuj Rawat, Navdeep Saini, Manan Sharma, Kunwar Bhiduri, Kulwant Khejroliya, Vikas Tokas, Tejas Baroka.

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