Gambhir sacked as skipper; Rishabh Pant to lead

NEW DELHI: Former Test opener Gautam Gambhir has been stripped of captaincy of the Delhi squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Looking ahead, the Delhi selectors surprisingly chose 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant to lead the side.

Insiders reveal that Gambhir could have lost the captaincy before the North Zone T20 at Dharamshala recently. Though Delhi just about managed to qualify for the inter-zonal competition in Mumbai, the axe finally fell on Gambhir.

It is learnt that seniors in the team were not keen to take up the role.

Considering that the team has seniors like Ashish Nehra, Gambhir, if available, Shikhar Dhawan and Unmukt Chand, the decision to handover the reigns to Pant is clearly a bold one.

Playing only his second Ranji Trophy season, Pant scored a triple century against Maharashtra and a blistering 48-ball century against Jharkhand this season. He went on to make his T20 debut for India against England.

It is seen as a welcome move, aimed at the next season, allowing Pant to lead the side for a long time. The selection committee comprised Atul Wasson, Nikhil Chopra and Robin Singh. The meeting, convened by Siddharth Sahib Singh, was also attended by coach K.P. Bhaskar.

The squad will be announced in due course from the 42-player camp, beginning Friday, at the Ferozshah Kotla ground.