Experienced campaigner Faiz Fazal will lead the Vidarbha team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day cricket tournament scheduled to be held at Indore from February 20.
The senior selectors of the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) have selected the following 22-member team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The team will leave for Indore on February 13 (Saturday) after undergoing RT-PCR Covid-19 test. The Coronavirus test was conducted by the VCA on Thursday.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Akshay Wadkar will be Faiz Fazal’s deputy for the annual BCCI one-day cricket tourney. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 cricket tournament held at Indore last month, Faiz opted not to play the shortest format of cricket.
Vidarbha had lost all their five league matches and finished at the bottom of their Elite Group D. The VCA selectors have made a few changes for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The team was picked on the basis of the Guzder League ‘A’ Division tournament held here for the last couple of weeks. Opening batsman R Sanjay along with few others have made a comeback into the team.
There is no mention of the coach’s name in the Vidarbha team. Preetam Gandhe did the duty of a coach in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last month.
Vidarbha will play their inaugural match on February 20 against Andhra Pradesh. After every alternate day, Vidarbha are playing their matches against hosts Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, respectively. The fifth and last league outing will be against Tamil Nadu on February 28. Tamil Nadu had recently emerged champions in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy at Ahmedabad.
Vidarbha team: Faiz Fazal (captain), R Sanjay, Siddhesh Wath, Jitesh Sharma, Ganesh Satish, Yash Rathod, Kshitiz Dahiya, Akshay Wadkar (vice-captain), Darshan Nalkande, Yash Thakur, Aditya Thakare, Suraj Rai, Akshay Wakhare, Harsh Dubey, Mohit Raut, Aditya Sarwate, Nichiket Bhute, Rushabh Rathod, Mandar Mahalle, Rajneesh Gurbani, Akshay Karnewar, Atharva Taide.
Match schedule of VCA team
February 20: Vidarbha vs Andhra Pradesh
February 22: Vidarbha vs Madhya Pradesh
February 24: Vidarbha vs Jharkhand
February 26: Vidarbha vs Punjab
February 28: Vidarbha vs Tamil Nadu.