All India senior selection committee has announced the squads of India A and India B for the upcoming DB Deodhar Trophy and the rest of India squad to play in the Irani Cup.
Over the years the format of the concept has changed from zonal to India A-B-C teams competing to now the current where the winner of the Virat Hazare Trophy of the ongoing season competes for the Trophy against India A and India B in a triangular single round Robin format and the final.
The move was done to reward the winning team of the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well as the best performers of it and bring them together for a higher competition which is also the basic thought behind the tournament.
The concept of Irani Cup has always been about a game between the current winner of the Ranji Trophy versus best of talent available from the other teams.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer have been chosen to lead the India A and India B squads in the Deodhar Trophy, the BCCI announced on Tuesday (February 27). The tournament will be held in Dharamsala from March 4 with Karnataka, the Vijay Hazare Trophy winners, being the third side.
Prithvi Shaw, skipper of the India Under-19 side that won the World Cup recently, and Shubman Gill, the player of the tournament held in New Zealand, are both there in India A, which also has Unmukt Chand. While Mohammed Shami has been named in the India A squad, Umesh Yadav will play under Iyer for India B, which will depend on the experience of Manoj Tiwary and Hanuma Vihari with the bat.
It”s a good chance for R.Ashwin to impress in the 50-over format after being recently sidelined from the Indian ODI squad. Curiously Ravindra Jadeja, who has also gone through the same as Ashwin recently, hasn”t been named in any of the squads. But, the Saurashtra allrounder finds a spot in the Rest of India squad which will take on Ranji Trophy winners Vidarbha in Nagpur from March 14 for the Irani Trophy.
Karnataka batsman Karun Nair has been named the skipper of the 15-member squad where he will team up with his Ranji teammates R Samarth and Mayank Agarwal. Andhra gloveman KS Bharat is the designated wicketkeeper-batsman.
Squads
Deodhar Trophy
India A – R Ashwin (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Unmukt Chand, Akshdeep Nath, Shubman Gill, Ricky Bhui, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Krunal Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Basil Thampi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Amandeep Khare, Rohit Rayudu
India B – Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Manoj Tiwary, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (WK), Jayant Yadav, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav, Rajat Patidar
Irani Cup
Rest of India – Karun Nair (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, R Samarth, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, KS Bharat (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Anmolpreet Singh, Siddarth Kaul, Ankit Rajpoot, Navdeep Saini, Atit Sheth
