The fast bowler Irfan Pathan has been named as the captain of Baroda on Saturday after Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) has announced the 15-member squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament.
The 21-year-old Rohtak-born right-handed batsman Deepak Hooda who has been part of India A under the tutelage of Ajinkya Rahane has been named as the vice-captain of the side.
The zonal level T20 tournament is scheduled for January 29 at Nadaun to February 06 (Jaipur) in which 28 teams will participate with the inclusion of Chhattisgarh.
The matches will be played in Nadaun, Kolkata, Dharamshala, Chennai, Vadodara and Jaipur.
The 32-year-old left-arm fast bowler Irfan ended last year season as a leading wicket taker with 17 scalps for Baroda in the domestic T20 competition. His partner in bowling will be Munaf Patel.
In the past Baroda has won the domestic title twice. Last season, they lost to Uttar Pradesh in a final.
Uttar Pradesh earned their maiden title last season after winning the match by 38 runs with the help of Suresh Raina’s unbeaten 47 and Prashant Gupta 49 followed by Ankit Rajput’s three wickets with spinner Amit Mishra and Kuldeep Yadav sharing two wickets each.
The T20 competition is also seen as the massive platform for youngsters to showcase their talent in limited-overs cricket.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who’s on the national duty against England for the ongoing three-match T20 series will miss out to be the part of Baroda side this season.
Baroda 15-member squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Cup: Irfan Pathan (skipper), Deepak Hooda (vice-captain), Miten Shah (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Munaf Patel, Monill Patel, Vishnu Solanki, Swapnil Singh, Abhijit Karambelkar, Kedar Devdhar, Aditya Waghmode, Soaeb Tai, Babasafi Khan Pathan, Rishi Arothe and Murtuja Vahora.