Ranji Trophy 2022: U19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull named in Delhi squad, Ishant Sharma unavailable

India’s U19 World Cup captain Yash Dhull has been picked in Delhi’s squad for Ranji Trophy 2022, starting later this month but senior pacer Ishant Sharma has made himself unavailable for selection. Ishant’s decision comes as a surprise, considering India are set to play a 2-Test series against Sri Lanka at home in March.

Yash Dhull’s selection comes after several of his teammates, including Raj Bawa and Harnoor Pannu, getting picked in their respective state sides besides for the Ranji Trophy campaign. Dhull led India to U19 World Cup title in West Indies earlier this month as India defeated England in the final.

The Dhull-led India U-19 side was felicitated by BCCI in Ahmedabad on Wednesday during the second ODI against West Indies.

Since he could not play the domestic red-ball tournament at U-19 level due to his white-ball commitments with the Indian team, Dhull will get a taste of red cherry at the much tougher first-class level.

“His confidence is high and even though he hasn’t played a lot of red-ball matches, we want him to get a taste of first-class cricket,” a selector told the Press Trust of India.

Dhull, who with the rest of the team landed in India on Tuesday morning, will make a quick visit to his hometown Delhi on Thursday morning before joining the squad in Guwahati later in the day. Dhull has to reach Guwahati on Thursday and complete a five-day quarantine along with the rest of the team.

With his future uncertain in the Indian team, veteran pacer Ishant has communicated to DDCA president Rohan Jaitley that he is not available for selection for the state team.

Left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan will captain the side. India pacer Navdeep Saini is also part of the squad.

Squad: Pradeep Sangwan (captain), Nitish Rana, Dhruv Shorey, Priyansh Arya, Yash Dhull, Khsitij Sharma, Jonty Sidhu, Himmat Singh, Lalit Yadav, Anuj Rawat (wicketkeeper), Lakshay Thareja wk, Navdeep Saini, Simarjit Singh, Mayank Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Vikas Mishra, Shivang Vashist, Shivam Sharma.

Covid Reserves: Dev Lakra, Hrithik Shokeen.