Ranji Trophy 2017/18: Irfan Pathan Named Baroda’s Skipper
Sep 30, 2017 at 12:50 PM
India all-rounder Irfan Pathan will lead the Baroda Ranji side in the upcoming season. Last year as well, Pathan shouldered the duty, but he missed few games due to injury.
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Deepak Hooda, who replaced Pathan as a captain, has been named his deputy. Before the start of the season, there were reports that Irfan was approached by Kerala to play as a professional, but the deal did not finalise, and finally, they imported Arun Karthik as their second professional player.
The faith which selectors have shown on Irfan is visible and with this move, they have confirmed that Irfan is still a need for Baroda side.
The team includes the likes of Yusuf Pathan, Aditya Waghmode, Swapnil Singh and former India U-19 pacer Atit Sheth. Krunal Pandya is probably the biggest name to miss the cut. He made his first-class debut last year against Gujarat and also played for India A in limited-overs against South Africa, but his performances were not enough to earn him a spot in the first-class format.
Surprisingly, the name of Munaf Patel is also missing from the list. He will be playing as a professional for Baroda this season. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya is all set to miss the upcoming season due to international commitments, as Indian team has a great home season planned for the year followed by tour of South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Baroda will take on Madhya Pradesh in their first game of Ranji Trophy season 2017-18.
Squad: Irfan Pathan, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Rishi Arothe, Kedar Devdhar, Lukman Meriwala, Ketul Patel, Mitesh Patel, Babashafi Pathan, Pinal Shah, Atit Sheth, Vishnu Solanki, Swapnil Singh, Soaeb Tai, Aditya Waghmode.
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