Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021: Ruturaj Gaikwad named as captain of Maharashtra team

Ruturaj Gaikwad was announced as the captain of the Maharashtra cricket team for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021. The right-handed opening batsman has been recurring for some time now. He also had a good season of batting performances during the Indian Premier League 2020, where he played for the Chennai Super Kings. 

The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) announced the 20-member side for the premier 50 overs competition which will begin on February 20, 2021. The team was announced on Saturday by the MCA via a tweet, which revealed the name of the skipper for this tournament along with the other 19 players who will play. 

Other than Gaikwad, some other experienced players like Rahul Tripathi, Ankeet Bawane and Kedar Jadhav have also been named in the side. Jadhav has not been picked in the Indian ODI side after the New Zealand tour which happened in early 2020. Nikhil Naik and Vishant More have been selected in the side as the wicketkeepers. 

Experienced Kedar Jadhav, Rahul Tripathi named in the 20-member squad

In the bowling department, selectors have named slow-left arm orthodox spinners Satyajeet Bachhav, Jagdish Zope, pacers Ashay Palkar, Manoj Ingle, Pradeep Dadhe, and left-arm speedster Mukesh Choudhary. Santosh Jedhe has been named as the head coach of the team. 

The Maharashtra side has been placed in the Group D with five other teams namely, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai, Puducherry and Rajasthan. This group seems to be one of the toughest and will see some close contests. Maharashtra’s first match will be against Himachal Pradesh on February 21. All the matches of Group D will be played in Jaipur. 

The group stages of the tournament will be played between February 20 and March 1, 2021. After that, there will be a seven-day gap before the knockout stages begin on March 8, 2021. The final is scheduled to be played on March 14, 2021. The venues of the knockout stages are yet to be finalised. 

Maharashtra squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy

 Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Rahul Tripathi, Ankeet Bawane, Naushad Shaikh, Kedar Jadhav, Azim Kazi, Nikhil Naik (WK), Vishant More (WK), Satyajeet Bachhav, Ashay Palkar, Taranjeet Singh Dhillon, Shamshuzma Kazi, Pradeep Dadhe, Mukesh Choudhary, Manoj Ingle, Rajyavardhan Hangargekar, Jagdish Zope, Yash Nahar, Yash Kshirsagar, Ranjeet Nikam. Head coach: Santosh Jedhe.

Ruturaj Gaikwad appointed as a captain of Team Maharashtra for Vijay Hazare Trophy #VijayHazareTrophy @BCCIdomestic #INDvENG https://t.co/Cz3bewYZJM

— Maharashtra Cricket (@MaharashtraCric) February 13, 2021