Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018: Yuvraj Singh set to lead Punjab in Harbhajan's absence

Veteran Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh is set to lead Punjab in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018. Prior to the commencement of the tournament, the selectors had named another veteran Indian cricketer, Harbhajan Singh, as the captain of the side. However, with Harbhajan unavailable for the first two matches, Yuvraj has been named as the stand-in skipper.

Harbhajan has cited personal reasons for not playing the first two games of the tournament. Yuvraj Singh, being his deputy, is set to lead the star-studded Punjab lineup. Earlier in the domestic season, neither Yuvraj nor Harbhajan Singh featured in most of the Ranji Trophy 2017-18 matches. In their absence, Jiwanjot Singh had led the team in the competition.

However, both the veterans were back in action in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018. In the T20 competition, team Punjab was firmly led by Harbhajan Singh. And now, with the 50 overs competition coming up, Bhajji is missing the first two matches. He is expected to join the team before Punjab locks horns with Baroda on February 10 in their third match.

Among the other big names who are featuring in the Punjab squad for the tournament are Shubman Gill and Manan Vohra. Shubman was a sensation in the recently concluded ICC U19 World Cup. He emerged as the top scorer in the tournament. Shubman was also named in the Team of the Tournament for the ICC U19 World Cup.

Commenting on the team’s form, Punjab has not had the best of times this domestic season. They could not qualify for the knockouts in the Ranji Trophy. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, they made it to the Super League stages but could not feature in the finals owing to a poorer net run rate than team Rajasthan. On the personal front, Yuvraj Singh had a decent outing in the T20 competition and mustered 314 runs.

Here is the Punjab squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018:

Harbhajan Singh(c), Yuvraj Singh, Abhishek Gupta, Abhishek Sharma, Manpreet Gony, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Siddarth Kaul, Gitansh Khera, Sharad Lumba, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Markande, Sandeep Sharma, Shubman Gill, Barinder Sran, Manan Vohra.

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