Ranji Trophy 2018-19: JKCA announces 16-man squad for the first two matches

Syed Ashiquie Bukhari, the CEO Jammu & Kashmir cricket, the selection committee which is headed by former Test cricketer, Rashid Patel announced the 16-member squad for the first two matches of the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. The list was announced by a selection committee comprising of five members.

The team is scheduled to play their first two fixtures against Rajasthan and Goa respectively. The other members of the committee included Rizwan Shamshad and Ashish Zaidi, both from Uttar Pradesh and two members from Jammu province.

Jammu and Kashmir begin their campaign against Rajasthan at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on November 1st followed by the match against Goa which begins on November 12th at the Goa Cricket Association Academy Ground in Porvorim. This will be the 85th season of the Ranji Trophy with Vidarbha as the defending champions.

Irfan Pathan in a dual role

Parvez Rasool will lead the team with Irfan Pathan to play the role of player-cum mentor. The experienced wicketkeeper-batsman, Obaid Haroon has made it to the squad while left-handed batsman Owais Shah also finds a place. Senior players including Samiullah Beigh, Abid Nabi, Adil Reshi and Imran Haroon have been left out of the squad for the first two matches but are likely to be considered for the remaining fixtures.

Milap Mewda has been appointed as the coach of the team with Amit Bargotra has been chosen as the fielding coach. Rajesh Dhar will be the manager while Bilal Shamas will assist him in the role. Other roles include that of appointing Dr Aijaz Chillo as the physiotherapist and Mushtaq Ahmad being appointed as the trainer. The video analyst’s role has been given to Sheikh Suhail.

Full Squad: Parvez Rasool (c), Irfan Pathan, Shubham Khajuria, Ahmad Banday, Shubham Pundir, Ian Dev, Owais Shah, Obaid Haroon (wk), Waseem Raza, Amir Aziz, Mohammad Mudhasir, Umar Nazir, Aakash Chaudhary, Fazil Rashid, Rohit Sharma, Paras Sharma.

~Written by Aayushmaan Vishwanathan

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