The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) selection committee has named a 24-member squad for Delhi’s opening Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad, starting on October 15, with Priyansh Arya earning his maiden first-class call-up.
Priyansh, who has featured in 35 T20 and 8 List A matches, has been rewarded for his performances in the IPL and, more recently, for India A. Explaining the decision to select an extended 24-player squad, DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma said: “The selectors have named 24 players because they felt that a larger pool should always be available for selection during each game. However, when we play home games in Delhi, we will reduce the squad to 15.”
Nitish Rana is set to return to play for Delhi after spending two seasons with Uttar Pradesh.
Rana, who began his domestic career with Delhi, returned earlier this year and dominated the Delhi Premier League (DPL), scoring 393 runs in 11 matches at an average of 65.50. India vice-captain Rishabh Pant is also expected to feature in Delhi’s next game after receiving clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence.
“He (Rana) is an experienced player, and the selectors wanted to assess his readiness,” Ashok told PTI. “In any case, he will be part of the white-ball leg. In fact, for the next game, we are expecting Rishabh Pant to play.”
If available for the second match, Pant is likely to lead the team, while Ayush Badoni has been named captain for the season opener. Yash Dhull has been appointed as Badoni’s deputy.
Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma has been overlooked as he is currently focusing on white-ball cricket.
The DDCA has asked the selected players to report to chief coach Sarandeep Singh for practice on October 10 at St. Stephen’s Ground in Delhi.
Delhi Ranji Trophy squad: Ayush Badoni (captain), Yash Dhull (vice-captain), Anuj Rawat (wk), Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi, Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Dahiya (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, Aryan Rana (subject to fitness).
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