Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 squad: Rishabh Pant and Navdeep Saini named in Delhi squad; Shikhar Dhawan absent

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 squad: Delhi have announced their 16-member squad for the upcoming domestic tournament.

DDCA (Delhi & Districts Cricket Association) have announced a 16-member squad for the imminent season of Vijay Hazare Trophy. The biggest development has come in the form of India wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant and fast bowler Navdeep Saini being named in the squad.

The presence of the duo is most likely to bolster the squad for they will bring with them experience of the highest level. Both the players are currently part of India’s T20I squad for the South Africa series which will end on September 22. Delhi will play their first match on September 24 against Vidarbha in Baroda.

While it was announced yesterday that senior opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has made himself available for the tournament, him being absent from the squad is surprising. The reason behind the same remains unknown.

It is worth mentioning that Dhawan was severely criticized by former Indian cricketers in Sunil Gavaskar and Gautam Gambhir for skipping the Vijay Hazare Trophy as he was with his family in Australia.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 squad

Despite the presence of Pant in the squad, batsman Dhruv Shorey has been named as the captain of the team which also includes batsman Nitish Rana and all-rounder Pawan Negi.

Having captained Delhi in the 2016-17 season, Pant had decided to not continue the job citing it bringing additional pressure. Pant, who is part of India’s Test team for the upcoming three-match series against South Africa, is unlikely to be available for throughout the tournament. Hence, not making him the captain seems to be a sensible decision.

As far as the last season is concerned, Delhi ended up as the runner-up team after they failed to defend a 178-run target against Mumbai at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.