Top players for 16th DY Patil T20 Cup

MUMBAI: While all eyes will be trained on the likely return of India all-rounder Hardik Pandya on Tuesday morning in the 16th DY Patil Cup, there are a host of other key players who will be representing different outfits in the premier T20 tournament.
The competition assumes greater significance this year given that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is barely a month away.If he plays, Pandya will be joined by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Anmolpreet Singh in the strong Reliance 1 squad. They are scheduled to take on Indian Navy in their opening clash at the DY Patil Stadium at 11am.
Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), meanwhile, will be turning out in full force with the likes of Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi and the India U-19 opener Divyaansh Saxena featuring in the squad.
The hosts too have fielded two teams: DY Patil 'A' and DY Patil 'B'. Dinesh Karthik, Mandeep Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Varun Chakravorthy and the promising youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad will be playing for DY Patil 'A'. The DY Patil 'B' team too has some talented players in their ranks with Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Aaron and Manan Vohra doing duty for them.
Sixteen teams have been divided into four pools for the league stage. The top two finishers in each pool will qualify for the quarterfinals that will be held on March 4 and 5. The semifinals and the final will take place on March 6.