Vijay Hazare Trophy: Young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad to lead Maharashtra

PUNE: Young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead a 20-member Maharashtra squad in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, the state's cricket association said on Saturday.

The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) announced its squad for the national ODI championship, beginning February 20, on its Twitter handle.

The 24-year-old Rurutaj, an upcoming opener, had grabbed the attention in last year's Indian Premier League (IPL), when he starred for the Chennai Super Kings.

Besides Ruturaj, the batting department comprises the experienced Kedar Jadhav, Rahul Tripathi, Ankeet Bawane, Naushad Shaikh, while Nikhil Naik and Vishant More have been named as the two stumpers.

The bowling attack will include slow-left arm orthodox spinners Satyajeet Bachhav, Jagdish Zope, pacers Ashay Palkar, Manoj Ingle, Pradeep Dadhe and left-arm speedster Mukesh Choudhary.

Maharashtra are placed in Elite Group D for the tournament along with Delhi, Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Pondicherry and will be playing their matches in Jaipur.

Their campaign starts against Himachal Pradesh on February 21.

Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Rahul Tripathi, Ankeet Bawane, Naushad Shaikh, Kedar Jadhav, Azim Kazi, Nikhil Naik (WK), Vishant More (WK), Satyajeet Bachhav, Ashay Palkar, Taranjeet Singh Dhillon, Shamshuzma Kazi, Pradeep Dadhe, Mukesh Choudhary, Manoj Ingle, Rajyavardhan Hangargekar, Jagdish Zope, Yash Nahar, Yash Kshirsagar, Ranjeet Nikam.

Head coach: Santosh Jedhe.