The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) has gone ahead and announced the squad which will be led by Ishant Sharma for the Vijay Hazare Trophy to be played in Himachal Pradesh. The tournament is expected to start from the 5th of February. The selection committee led by Atul Wassan announced the 15 member squad for the same.

Appointing Ishant as the skipper was a bit surprising in the grand scheme of things. The lanky pacer after a spectacular Test series in South Africa is expected to be back to India in time for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Since he is not a part of the Indian bowling setup in the limited overs format, his availability for the full tournament will be a huge boost to the side.

Also read: Ishant is too eratic for Team India

Sharma also went unsold in the IPL auction as he failed to find any takers. On the other hand, Pradeep Sangwan has been elected as the deputy skipper and he was acquired by Mumbai Indians in the auction for a comparatively inexpensive price. He would be looking forward to being at the aid of the skipper.

Gautam Gambhir whose selection had been surrounded by disciplinary concerns was also picked while the Ranji Trophy captain Rishabh Pant is expected to become the wicketkeeper of the side. The selectors have also roped in u19 World Cup winning skipper Unmukt Chand, who was rather surprisingly unsold in the auction. However, he scored an excellent fifty in the final of the Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Kshitiz Sharma’s selection in the team has been amidst lots of debates. All-rounder was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the recently-concluded auction for ₹20 lakhs. The selectors have also roped in Hiten Dalal who was the highest run-scorer in the U-23.

Here’s the 15 man Delhi’s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy:

Ishant Sharma (c), Pradeep Sangwan (vc), Gautam Gambhir, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hiten Dalal, Nitish Rana, Dhruv Shorey, Unmukt Chand, Lalit Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Subodh Bhati, Pawan Negi, Manan Sharma, Kshitiz Sharma.