Indian pacer Ishant Sharma will lead Delhi cricket team in the upcoming domestic T20 tournament, 2018/19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Delhi will begin the tournament as the defending champions.
On Wednesday (13 February), the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) selection committee announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Indian pacer Ishant Sharma will lead the side while Nitish Rana will play the vice-captain role.
In the last season, Delhi won the T20 tournament under Pradeep Sangwan’s captaincy. Now, while Pradeep Sangwan is absent from the Delhi side, Ishant Sharma will lead them. However, since May 2017, Ishant Sharma hasn’t played a single T20 professional game yet. The pacer remained unsold during the 2018 IPL Auction, but Delhi Capitals has bought him from the 2019 IPL Auction.
Take a brief look on Delhi squad
This time the Delhi side will miss some crucial senior as well as junior cricketers. Apart from Pradeep Sangwan, Gautam Gambhir‘s recent retirement has also created another big empty in the team.
Rishabh Pant, who played an essential role in the last season, is not in the team due to his national duty. The young wicketkeeper-batsman was the joint leading run-scorer in previous season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Playing ten innings, the left-handed batsman scored 411 runs with an average of 45.66. In his absence, another young man, the 19-year-old Anuj Rawat will play the wicketkeeping role for Delhi side.
However, Dhruv Shorey will play for the Delhi side in the upcoming tournament. He was the second leading run-scorer for Delhi in the last season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In seven innings, the right-handed batsman scored 303 runs with an average of 60.60.
Unmukt Chand has also returned to the Delhi squad. Though he played in the 2018/19 Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over format), he hasn’t played a single first-class game in this season.
Delhi squad for 2018/19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Ishant Sharma (Captain), Nitish Rana (Vice Captain), Dhruv Shorey, Himmat Singh, Unmukt Chand, Manjot Kalra, Hiten Dalal, Lalit Yadav, Pawan Negi, Navdeep Saini, Subodh Bhati, Pranshu Vijayan, Varun Sood, Anuj Rawat (WK) and Gaurav Kumar
Delhi’s full group stage schedule of 2018/19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (Group A)
21 February: Delhi vs Jharkhand
22 February: Delhi vs Manipur
24 February: Delhi vs Jammu & Kashmir
25 February: Delhi vs Kerala
27 February: Delhi vs Andhra