Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) has replaced Faiz Fazal with wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar who will lead the team in the remaining two Ranji Trophy Group ‘D’ League matches against Gujarat and Punjab. As per VCA, Faiz Fazal will con- tinue to open the innings. Atharva Taide has been named the new vice-captain.
Vidarbha will take on Gujarat at VCA’s Jamtha Stadium from January 17-20. They will next travel to Mohali for their last league match against Punjab from January 24-27.
VCA’s senior selection committee, led by chairman Suhas Phadkar, on Saturday also included hard-hitting wicket-keeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma along with U-19 captain and middle-order batter Mohd. Faiz. Jitesh, who has been named in Team India’s T20 squad for the series against New Zealand, will, however, not be available for the Pun- jab match. India pacer Umesh Yadav will return to the Vi- darbha side for the match in Mohali. Vidarbha, whose last match against Chandigarh was badly affected by cold and foggy weather conditions, have 13 points from five matches.
Vidarbha team against Gujarat: Akshay Wadkar (captain), Atharva Taide (vice- captain), R. Sanjay, Faiz Fazal, Jitesh Sharma, Siddesh Wath, Aditya Sarvate, Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute, Akshay Wakhare, Yash Rathod, Harsh Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Subham Kapse and Mohd. Faiz.
Vidarbha team against Punjab: Akshay Wadkar (captain), Atharv Taide (vice-captain), R. Sanjay, Faiz Fazal, Yash Rathod, Siddesh Wath, Harsh Dubey, Aditya Sarvate, Yash Thakur, Nachiket Bhute, Akshay Wakhare, Lalit Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Subham Kapse and Mohd. Faiz.
Coach: Sanjeev Sharma, Manager: Shrish Joshi, Physio: Nitin Khurana, Trainer: Yuvraj Singh Dasondhi, Video Analyst: Aniruddha Deshpande
