Delhi are in search of their 8th Ranji title.
The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) have picked the squad for the upcoming season of the Ranji Trophy, which is scheduled to commence from October 15. The Delhi side will be in search of their 8th title, after defeating Uttar Pradesh in the Final of the 2007/08 season.
Though the official team list has not been announced yet, it is understood that the board is set to declare a massive 25-member squad for the season. The teams have a limit of picking 18-25 players for the season, and Delhi have chosen the maximum limit.
The seven-time Ranji Trophy champions will open their campaign against Hyderabad in an away game starting October 15. However, they will return to their home stadium in Delhi for their next fixture against Himachal Pradesh on October 25.
The probable 25-member squad was jotted down in a senior selection committee meeting on Thursday. Ayush Badoni was named as the captain of the side, along with Yash Dhull, who will act as his deputy for the first two games. With this, Delhi have built the foundation for a fantastic core, which they can groom over a period of time to become a part of the leadership group.
To add to that, India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has also been included in the side, and will lead the side after receiving a green signal from the BCCI medical team. But the fact which is making headlines is, the selectors have picked as many as four wicketkeepers for the first two games, which is pretty unusual.
Nitish Rana, who moved base back to Delhi this year from Uttar Pradesh, has been surprisingly included in the squad. To add context to that, Nitish Rana wasn’t even considered for red-ball cricket before moving to Uttar Pradesh. Moreover, he couldn’t get going as a professional in the UP side as well. When asked about the selection of Nitish Rana, DDCA Secretary Ashok Sharma mentioned that he has been getting runs in the Delhi Premier League (DPL).
About the huge squad, he voiced that the Delhi team has always made it a practice to pick a huge contingent for every season. As per the guidelines by the BCCI, only 15 players are allowed to travel to the stadium for the match-day. The remaining players have to stay in the hotel itself, but still end up getting the daily allowance.
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Reportedly, the squad selection done by the DDCA was an extremely rushed exercise. The pool of players who were to be selected from did not even get a chance to play the practice games, and did not have any match simulation. Additionally, there were only normal nets hosted by the association and the team was selected on the basis of that.
The selection of their teams continues to be a messy affair, and it has been showing on the ground. The team has not been performing well in the last few seasons and surely needs a more enhanced structure. Internal politics in the association have never allowed the game to be placed where it should be, and that has led to the team’s disappointing performances.
This season too, the first few selection meetings were a fancy affair. Most of the office bearers did not want Secretary Sharma inside the room for their meetings. The first meeting was postponed after a string of official mails. The association has continued their non-adherence to the BCCI guidelines. Despite a stringent mail from Rohan Jaitley a couple of years back, nothing seems to have changed.
All said and done, the association is expected to drop the final squad soon. But there might be a few surprises in there too.
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