Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021: Baroda announces squad; Krunal Pandya to lead

Baroda, on Wednesday, announced their 22-member squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s premier domestic 50-over tournament. Ace allrounder Krunal Pandya has been named as the captain of the team. The tournament gets underway on February 20. Baroda is placed in Elite Group A alongside Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad, Tripura, and Goa.

The Krunal Pandya-led side will be playing their matches in Surat. Last month, Krunal was leading the team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy but had to leave mid-tournament after his father’s death. He played three games in the tournament before leaving the team to be with his bereaved family. In his absence, Kedar Devdhar led the team.

Without Krunal, Baroda punched above their weight and made it to the final where they lost to Tamil Nadu. The India all-rounder had also landed in a huge controversy on the eve of the tournament when his teammate Deepak Hooda accused him of bullying and using abusive language. Later, Baroda Cricket Association suspended Hooda for the rest of the ongoing domestic season on grounds of “indiscipline.”

Apart from Krunal Pandya, the Baroda squad also comprises of batsmen Vishnu Solanki, Abhimanyusingh Rajput, and young wicket-keeper batsman Smit Patel along with all-rounder Babasafi Pathan. In the bowling department, the likes of Atit Sheth, Lukman Meriwala will shoulder the responsibility of the pace department while the likes of Ninad Rathwa, Kartik Kakade, and Bhargav Bhatt will take care of the spin department.

With form and momentum on their side, Baroda will be looking to deliver the goods in the upcoming tournament. They are still waiting for their first-ever Vijay Hazare Trophy and are also yet to make it to the final of the competition.

Baroda Squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021:

Krunal Pandya (Captain), Kedar Devdhar (Vice-Captain), Pratyushkumar, Vishnu Solanki, Abhimanyusingh Rajput, Smit Patel (WK), Ninad Rathwa, Atit Sheth, Kartik Kakade, Lukman Meriwala, Babasafi Pathan, Dhruv Patel, Bhargav Bhatt, Bhanu Pania, Chintal Gandhi, Parth Kohli, Jyotsnil Singh, Mitesh Patel (WK), Soeb Sopariya, Shivalik Sharma, Pradeep Yadav and Pratik Ghodedra