The veteran all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, has been dropped from the Baroda Ranji Trophy squad. The decision comes as a surprise because he was appointed as the captain of the side for the season but selectors took a tough call just after two games.
Deepak Hooda, the former U19 player, has been appointed as the captain of the team. He led Baroda last season in the absence of Irfan for few games.
Along with Irfan, Baroda will also miss out on the services of Yusuf Pathan, who has opted to miss this game. He suffered typhoid a few days back and wanted rest.
Yusuf scored a century in both the innings in the first game of the season against Madhya Pradesh.
Sudden unavailability of the duo has now surely left a big hole in the team and it would be surprising if Baroda will keep its hopes alive by winning the next game.
While Hooda has been elevated to the post of captain, experienced player Kedar Devdhar has been given the job of Vice-captain. He has played a total of 48 first-class and 46 Lists A games till now.
Baroda will face Tripura in their third game of the season. Baroda haven’t had a good start to the season. They lost the first game to Madhya Pradesh despite Yusuf Pathan’s twin centuries.
Madhya Pradesh posted a total of 551 in their first innings which proved to be vital to their success. In the second game, Baroda again allowed their opposition to score big and as a result, Andhra Pradesh went on to post a total of 554 in the second innings of the game, which meant that they took three points by virtue of first innings lead.
Baroda just has one point in two games and they need to win their contest against Tripura so as to be in contention to qualify for the next round.
Squad: Deepak, Kedar Devdhar (VC), Aditya Waghmode, Vishnu Solanki, Swapnil Singh, Mitesh Patel, Atit Sheth, Rishi Arothe, Sagar Manglorkar, Abhijeet Karambelkar, Lukman Meriwala, Ketul Patel, Viraj Bhosle, Vijay Halal and Rudresh Waghela.