New Delhi, Jan 18 Rishabh Pant has been included in Delhi’s squad for its upcoming Ranji Trophy games, whilst Virat Kohli’s name is missing from the 21-member playing list issued by the DDCA on Saturday.
The announcement comes on the day India captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that he would be turning out for Mumbai in their upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir, when the prestigious first-class competition’s league matches resume on January 23.
Both Kohli and Pant were a part of the Indian team that suffered a 3-1 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia. Shortly after that, the BCCI apparently introduced a 10-point policy document making participation in domestic cricket mandatory, and that non-compliance could impact international selection and central contract renewals.
Now in the Delhi’s Ranji Trophy squad selected by Gursharan Singh-led selection panel on Friday afternoon for its matches against Saurashtra (January 23) and Railways (January 30), Kohli’s name is not there, with the word going around that he is nursing a neck strain, which he picked while playing the final Test in Sydney.
Kohli last played a Ranji Trophy match for Delhi way back in 2012, against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad. On the other hand, IANS understands that the decision to retain Badoni as Delhi’s skipper was to maintain the continuity in terms of leadership figure, especially after Pant himself said so to the DDCA top brass.
Pant last played a Ranji Trophy match back in the 2017/18 season, where he led Delhi to runners-up finish in the tournament. The Delhi team is expected to travel to Rajkot on January 20, ahead of facing Jaydev Unadkat-led Saurashtra at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
Delhi are currently at fourth place in the Elite Group D table with 14 points from five games and need wins in their remaining two games to have a chance at qualifying for the knockout stages. Other prominent players in the squad include Navdeep Saini, Himmat Singh and Yash Dhull.
Delhi squad: Ayush Badoni (C), Sanat Sangwan, Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Rishabh Pant, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Navdeep Saini, Money Grewal, Harsh Tyagi, Siddhant Sharma, Shivam Sharma, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Mayank Gussain, Gagan Vats, Ayush Doseja, Rounak Waghela, Sumit Mathur, Rahul Gahlot, Jitesh Singh.
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