Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019: Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Saini and Shikhar Dhawan confirm their availability for the tournament

Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Navdeep Saini are all set to ply their trade in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. The trio will be representing Delhi in the tournament, which is scheduled to be played from September 24 to October 13. The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) made the announcement via their official Twitter handle.

The DDCA also said that the selection committee will finalise the squad shortly. Rajat Sharma, the president of the state board, was over the moon after Pant, Saini and Dhawan confirmed their participation for the event. He also sounded confident about Indian skipper Virat Kohli and fast bowler Ishant Sharma to come forward in the future as well.

DDCA and the players are on same page

“It’s really heartening to see that Rishabh, Shikhar and Navdeep opted to play for Delhi at first available opportunity. Virat and Ishant also want to help Delhi cricket and I am sure they will also take the field whenever possible,” Sharma was quoted as saying in India Today.

“It was a promise they made to all Delhi cricket fans at the Annual Awards recently. It shows that DDCA and the players are on the same page to take Delhi cricket to greater heights and win titles,” the president added.

Previously, Sunil Gavaskar and many other former cricketers have talked about the importance of the national players, taking part in domestic tournaments. “If the Indian team has to do well, players have to be in prime form and for that they have to play cricket,” Gavaskar had said.

As far as the Vijay Hazare Trophy is concerned, it remains to be seen how many matches Pant plays. The same is for the reason that he’s part of the national Test squad for the series versus South Africa. The red-ball fixtures get underway on Wednesday, October 2 in Visakhapatnam.

It’s also India’s second assignment in the ICC World Test Championship where the team is topping the table with 120 points. Dhawan and Saini aren’t a part of the series and hence, they are expected to be with the Delhi side throughout the tournament. Dhawan has been out of the Test team for the last one year even as Saini is yet to make his debut in the format.

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