The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) selectors on Friday announced the team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Cricket tournament to be played at Indore from January 10 to 19.
Experienced batsman Ganesh Satish will lead the 18-member squad. Long-standing Vidarbha skipper Faiz Fazal has opted out of the T20 format and will concentrate on the longer formats now.
The Vidarbha team is in Elite Group ‘D’ and will play its first match against Rajasthan on January 10 at the Emerald Heights Cricket ground, on the outskirts of Indore. The match will begin at 12 noon.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the safety measures and systems are being implemented to ensure that the squad will get a safe environment.
Other teams in Elite Group ‘D’ are hosts Madhya Pradesh, Services, Saurashtra and Goa.
The Ganesh Satish-led team has been practicing hard at the VCA Civil Lines ground for the last couple of weeks under the watchful eyes of new coach Trevor Gonsalves. The team will depart on January 2, 2021 for Indore.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will start the delayed domestic season 2020-21 with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The teams are required to assemble in their respective host cities on or before January 2, 2021 and will be needed to undergo Covid-19 testing procedures and quarantine in accordance with the state regulatory authorities.
Every player has to undergo three RT-PCR test before they begin their practice on January 8, 2021, said BCCI in a press release circulated to all the affiliated state units.
Vidarbha team: Ganesh Satish (captain), Jitesh Sharma, Atharva Taide, Akshay Wadkar, Siddhesh Wath, Rishabh Rathod, Yash Rathod, Apoorv Wankhede, Akshay Karnewar, Akshay Wakhare, Nachiket Bhute, Darshan Nalkande, Mohit Raut, Yash Thakur, Aditya Thakare, Mohit Kale, Lalit Yadav, Raj Chaudhari. Coach: Trevor Gonsalves.
Vidarbha’s schedule
January 10: Vidarbha vs Rajasthan (12 pm)
January 13: Vidarbha vs Saurashtra (12 pm)
January 15: Vidarbha vs MP (12 pm)
January 17: Vidarbha vs Services (7 pm)
January 19: Vidarbha vs Goa (12 pm).
Groupings
Elite A: Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Railways, Tripura. Venue: Bangalore.
Elite B: Odisha, Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Hyderabad. Venue: Kolkata.
Elite C: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Baroda, Uttarakhand. Venue: Vadodara.
Elite D: Services, Saurashtra, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa. Venue: Indore.
Elite E: Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala, Puducherry. Venue: Mumbai.
Plate: Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh. Venue: Chennai.
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