Sanju Samson Replaces Naman Ojha as Captain of Board President’s XI Squad
Nov 10, 2017 at 11:05 AM
Kerala batsman Sanju Samson has replaced Naman Ojha as the captain of the Board President’s XI squad after an injury to the latter.
Samson was already a part of the team, but an injury to Ojha saw him getting promoted to the post of captain. He had earlier led Kerala Ranji team. Later though, poor results meant that he had to relinquish the position.
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Punjab batsman Anmolpreet Singh has been named as the replacement of Ojha in the side. Anmolpreet forced his way in the team with an innings of 267 against Chhattisgarh. Before that game, he had played an innings of 113 against Goa. In three first-class matches he had played till now, the right-handed batsman had scored a total of 430 in three innings at a fantastic average of 143.33.
The other players in the team from Punjab are Abhishek Gupta and Jiwanjot Singh. Jiwanjot could have been an option for captaincy because he is leading Punjab in the ongoing season, as Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh are not playing the full season.
The 12-member squad team consists of all the players whose teams are not playing Ranji Trophy in the fifth round. It was the idea of India A and U-19 coach, Rahul Dravid, not to allow any player skip Ranji Trophy for any other tournament. Hence, the selectors had limited options to pick from.
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The young pace attack of Avesh Khan and Chama Milind will be put to the test against the Sri Lankans. Avesh though hasn’t played much first-class cricket for his state-side Madhya Pradesh, but he has been given a chance in Board President’s XI squad by the selectors in past few months.
On the other hand, Milind is a left-handed pacer and India bowling coach, Bharat Arun, has already said that they need a left-arm pacer in the side. It is an opportunity for both the players to highlight the game.
Jalaj Saxena, who has been in superb form this season, will also look to make most out of the opportunity and send a reminder to the national selectors ahead of the team selection for the third Test match.
Former India spinner Narendra Hirwani has been named the coach for the Board President’s XI side.
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