Naman Ojha to Lead BPXI in Three-Day Practise Game Against Sri Lanka
Oct 23, 2017 at 4:16 PM
Madhya Pradesh’s veteran wicket-keeper batsman Naman Ojha will be captaining a strong Board President’s XI team against Sri Lanka in a three-day practise game scheduled to be held in Kolkata from 11th November. It will be part of the preparations of the Sri Lankan side ahead of the Test series scheduled to start on 22nd November.
The squad comprises of 13 players mostly from the states of Hyderabad, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab as these are the four teams who won’t be featuring in the 5th round of the Ranji Trophy. The team comprises of some big names, and the Sri Lankans might be tested ahead of the Test series. They have played miserably in India and especially after getting whitewashed in their den a few months ago; it will require a monumental task for the Islanders even to save a Test match if the weather is not inclement.
Indian Junior team and A team coach Rahul Dravid said that Ranji Trophy is extremely important from every player’s point of view and the players should always be ready to play for their state teams. The pattern has been the same even during the series against New Zealand A when the selectors named two different India A squads to make sure that the players don’t have to miss the Ranji Trophy ties.
The squad features youngster from Kerala Sanju Samson who has shown his grit and talent in the shorter formats but hasn’t been consistent enough in the longer versions. Along with Samson, Punjab opener Jiwanjot Singh was also named in the 13 man squad. The free-flowing batsman led Punjab in their opening Ranji Trophy clash against Himachal Pradesh in the absence of regular skipper Harbhajan Singh and vice-captain Yuvraj Singh.
Indian Board Presidents XI Squad: