Priyansh Arya receives maiden Ranji Trophy call-up for Delhi: Details
What's the story
Delhi have announced a 24-member squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season, with 24-year-old opener Priyansh Arya earning his maiden call-up. Arya impressed in this year's IPL with Punjab Kings, scoring a record 475 runs as an uncapped Indian player in his debut season. He also played for India A against Australia A in a series of unofficial ODIs last month, scoring a century on his debut outing.
Fitness concerns
Rishabh Pant misses out
Delhi's Ranji squad was expected to feature Rishabh Pant, but he is missing from the list. The wicketkeeper-batter suffered a foot fracture during the England tour in July. His selection will depend on the BCCI Centre of Excellence clearing him for duty. If fit, Pant could even take over captaincy duties. However, his chances of playing Delhi's first Ranji match against Hyderabad on October 15 are slim at this stage.
Team changes
Rana returns to Delhi squad
Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma has been left out of the squad as he is focusing on limited-overs cricket since last season. However, Nitish Rana has made a comeback to Delhi's squad after two seasons with Uttar Pradesh. Rana, who started his domestic career with Delhi, returned earlier this year and dominated the Delhi Premier League (DPL), scoring 393 runs in 11 matches at an average of 65.50.
Information
Arya yet to play First-Class cricket
Arya, who is yet to play a First-Class match, owns 1,048 runs from 35 T20 games at a strike rate of 172.08 (50s: 5, 100s: 2). He has managed just 178 runs from eight List A games at 22.25.
Leadership roles
Badoni to lead Delhi with Dhull as vice-captain
The Delhi Ranji team will be led by Ayush Badoni with Yash Dhull as his deputy. Badoni took over the captaincy mid-season last year and was Delhi's top performer with 499 runs and 13 wickets. He recently featured in India A's unofficial Test and ODI squads against Australia A, scoring a half-century in three innings. Dhull made a strong return last year after heart surgery, scoring 444 runs in the Ranji season including two centuries and a half-century.
Information
Here is the Delhi Ranji Trophy squad
Delhi Ranji Trophy squad: Ayush Badoni (captain), Yash Dhull (vice-captain), Anuj Rawat (wk), Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi, Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Dahiya (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, Aryan Rana (subject to fitness).