The Indian selectors today named Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel as captains of the India Blue and Red sides for the Deodhar Trophy tournament with senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh coming back in contention after good performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The third team in the tournament will be Vijay Hazare Trophy champions Tamil Nadu.
Veterans Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have been rested while Suresh Raina’s non-inclusion among 28 players raises doubts about his future in the 50-over format.
The three wicketkeepers will be Parthiv for the Red team, Rishabh Pant for the Blue team and Dinesh Karthik for Tamil Nadu. Ishan Kishan is out with a calf muscle injury.
Harbhajan, who is in the Blue side, has been economical in both the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well as the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the 50-over format, he bowled his full quota in all six matches with an economy rate of 4 runs per over, taking nine wickets.
His inclusion means that he is being seriously considered for the Champions Trophy in England.
The tournament, which will be the last 50-over competition before the 50-over Champions Trophy, also features the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu and Manish Pandey, all staking claim for a couple of batting slots that are up for grabs.
According to reliable sources in the BCCI, even Ashish Nehra is not playing the tournament as the selectors have already seen him bowl in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and are happy with his progress.
Nehra is, however, very much in the mix of pace bowlers, considering his experience in English conditions.
Mohammed Shami, who got four wickets in the Hazare final, was not picked, as he may be selected for the final Test against Australia in Dharamsala.
Nehra will next be seen in action during the IPL. The Deodhar Trophy gives the selectors a chance to test some new pacers like left-arm quick Kulwant Khejroliya, who regularly clocks 140 kmph and was impressive for Delhi in the Hazare league games.
For Rohit, it will be some welcome match practice as he is an automatic selection in the limited-overs side. Dhawan, who has been out of favour for some time, also gets a chance to stake a claim for the third opener’s slot.
Batsman Kedar Jadhav is a certainty while Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik are likely to fight for one available slot in the middle order.
The selectors have kept a nice blend of talented players as well as performers in domestic tournaments, such as the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Mandeep Singh, Ambati Rayudu and Manoj Tiwary. Hardik Pandya’s elder brother Krunal, Punjab’s Gurkeerat Mann have been rewarded for good performances in the Hazare Trophy.
The inclusion of Khejroliya, with five List A games and Karnataka’s Prasidh Krishna with seven 50-over matches under his belt shows that the selectors are ready to punt on talent, keeping an eye on the future.
All four matches of the Deodhar Trophy will be played at Vizag, with India Blue taking on India Red for the opening game on March 25. Each team plays the other once, before the final on March 29.
India Blue : Rohit Sharma (Captain), Mandeep Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Rishabh Pant (wk), Deepak Hooda, Harbhajan Singh, Krunal Pandya, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddarth Kaul, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Pankaj Rao
India Red : Parthiv Patel (Captain & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal, Kedar Jadhav, Ishank Jaggi, Gurkeerat Mann, Axar Patel, Akshay Karnewar, Ashok Dinda, Kulwant Khejroliya, Dhawal Kulkarni, Govinda Poddar
