NEW DELHI: The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has picked its squad for the upcoming
Ranji Trophy and, while the list isn’t official yet, it is understood that the state cricket body is set to announce a jumbo 25-member contingent for the first two games. Delhi will open their Ranji Trophy 2025-26 campaign in an away match against Hyderabad from October 15, and then will play their first home match at the against Himachal Pradesh from October 25.
In the senior selection committee meeting held on Thursday, Ayush Badoni was given the captaincy nod, with Yash Dhull named as his deputy for the first two fixtures. Rishabh Pant has also been included and will lead the side once he gets clearance from the
BCCI medical team. Interestingly, the selection panel of Yashpal Singh, KP Bhaskar, Manu Nayyar has picked as many as four wicketkeepers for the two fixtures.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!It is worth noting that the squad selection was such a rushed exercise that the pool of probables didn't even play the practice games or have any match simulation.
There were just normal nets and selections were done on the basis of that. The prime reason for the matches not happening was DDCA's delay in finalising he the list of support staff for the upcoming season.
After a lot of deliberation and infighting amongst some former and current office bearers, a jumbo list was released but it happened only on September 27 - just a couple of weeks before the senior squads were supposed to be finalised and days before men's U-19 and women's T20 teams were to be selected.
The list raised a lot of questions as Kshitiz Sharma, who was playing for Delhi till last year, was appointed the batting coach for Ranji Trophy. Sharma has played only a handful of games for Delhi and pipped the likes of former India A cricketer and domestic stalwart Robin Bisht, who had to settle for a role with the U-19 team. There were a lot of issues in U-19 team selection too and intervention of senior office bearers restored order before the team left for the away assignment.
As far as the Ranji Trophy squad is concerned, Nitish Rana, who moved base back to Delhi this year, has been surprisingly picked in the Badoni-led squad.
Before moving to Uttar Pradesh, Rana wasn't considered for red-ball cricket by the then Delhi selectors and the southpaw couldn't get going as a professional in UP too. When questioned on his selection, DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma said he scored runs in state's T20 league - DPL. It well could have been the first time that a selection for four-day cricket was done on the basis of a T20 tournament.
"Nitish Rana is an experienced player and he scored runs in the DPL," said Sharma.
When asked about picking more than 20 players, Sharma maintained that the extras were mere backups but confirmed that they will travel with the team. As per the BCCI guidelines, only 15 are accommodated on the ground on match days and rest are asked to stay back in the hotel. This has been an age-old practice at the DDCA where they continue to pick big squads and a large contingent travels even for one away game.
"They are backup players. But as per BCCI guidelines they will not go to the ground. They will stay back in the team hotel but will continue getting the Daily Allowance which the rest of the players get," added Sharma.
Delhi has been struggling in the domestic circuit and are yet to put up a noteworthy performance in the last few years. The selection of teams continues to be a messy affair and the internal conflicts have never allowed cricket to take a front-seat. The current and former office bearers have continued to defy BCCI guidelines and even after a scathing email from President Rohan Jaitley in 2023, nothing has changed in the cricket body.
Even this year's first selection meet was a turbulent affair as one group of office bearers wanted Secretary Sharma out of the selection meeting room. The first meeting of the season was postponed a lot of emails later, Sharma continued to attend the meetings which followed. He was in the room today also with joint secretary Amit Grover when the Ranji squad was picked.
The DDCA will upload the squad soon and there could well be last minute modifications.
Catch Lovlina Borgohain's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 5. Watch Here Pratyush Raj is a cricket journalist with TOI Sports, specializin...
Read MorePratyush Raj is a cricket journalist with TOI Sports, specializing in all things cricket, both on and off the field. He began his career with the Business Standard before following his passion as a sports reporter for the Times of India in Chandigarh. Pratyush has also contributed to the sports coverage of India Today Group and his last stint was with The Indian Express. His love for sports was nurtured during his upbringing in flood-prone Saharsa, a district in North Bihar, where Cricket Samrat was his constant companion.
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