Before the start of the season, Baroda selectors decided to trust Irfan Pathan, when they appointed him as the captain of their Ranji Trophy side. The experienced player had someone like Deepak Hooda as his deputy, who has earlier led the team as well.
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Irfan was expected to be the part of the team for the full season, but just after two matches, selectors took a tough call and dropped Irfan as the captain of the side and also axed him from the team.
On captaincy front, though, Irfan did not do well as his team lost one game and conceded first innings lead in another but on a personal front, Pathan had done his bit to be the part of the team.
The sudden ouster from the team has also left Irfan in confusion, the answer to which he is looking for,
“Fitness is not an issue as well. I am performing decently and to my strength. There is no disciplinary issue either. Then what is the reason behind the ouster? I have seen many ups and downs in my career, so these things no longer affect me,” Pathan said.
Along with Irfan, Baroda are all set to miss the services of Yusuf Pathan as well. He was suffering from typhoid and now needs rest to recover, the reason why he opted out of their next game.
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Photo by Shaun Roy / IPL/ SPORTZPICS
Young Deepak Hooda has been handed the captaincy on a permanent basis, as it looks. He led the team in the previous season when Irfan Pathan was not the part of the team on few occasions. However, in Vijay Hazare Trophy, Pathan came back and led the team to the semi-final of the tournament.
Selectors have given the captaincy to Deepak Hooda in the hope of some changes in the result as Baroda are yet to get a steady start. Having lost to Madhya Pradesh and losing out on first innings lead against Andhra Pradesh, Baroda have to win their upcoming games to hope to qualify for the next round.
Squad: Deepak Hooda (C), 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.
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