Old isn't gold for Delhi's cricket team

NEW DELHI: The current Delhi team looks to be strongest on paper in domestic circuit. Yet, the team has struggled to make serious headway in competitions over the last few years, barring a Vijay Hazare trophy win in early 2013.
The problem, according to some senior DDCA officials, remains the performance of veterans of domestic and international cricket, including the likes of skipper Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia."There are too many ageing players and they get injured frequently .The team hasn't qualified for the second round of Ranji Trophy for the last four seasons and has managed to sneak into the knockouts of the ongoing Vijay Hazare trophy . It's time younger players like Shivam Sharma, Pratyush Singh are given more chances," said a top DDCA official.
No player except Unmukt Chand is on the radar of the national selectors today . According to officials, IPL contracts of these veterans come in the way of selecting the team. "Let the seniors play a few Ranji games to ensure their IPL contracts but players from agegroup teams should be play in limited-overs matches," added another official.