Vijay Hazare Trophy: 5 IPL stars who will take on captaincy reins- The upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 was confirmed by BCCI earlier this month after the success of the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament. The season, which will witness a host of IPL stars in action is set to begin on February 20 and the group stages will be played until March 1. The final of the tournament will be played on March 14.
In this article, we take a look at top 5 IPL stars who will be bestowed with captaincy duties in the tournament.
Krunal Pandya (Baroda)
Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya will take over the captaincy reins for the Baroda squad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning from February 20.
Krunal had led Baroda initially in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy but then had to leave the tournament’s bio-bubble mid-way due to his father’s demise.
Baroda have picked a 22-member squad for the domestic 50-over championship. The squad comprises opener Kedar Devdhar, who not only performed well in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, but also led the team to the final, where they lost to Tamil Nadu, in Krunal’s absence. Devdhar has been made the vice-captain.
Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai)
Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer will lead Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, while Prithvi Shaw has been named his deputy.
Mumbai, which had a forgettable outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, will be travelling to Jaipur for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which will be the second domestic tournament of the year.
While the side has some seasoned campaigners – including Suryakumar Yadav, Aditya Tare, Shivam Dube, Sarfaraz Khan – it will be a big challenge for them to get off to a winning start. The association named former India international Ramesh Powar as the coach after Amit Pagnis quit, following a disastrous outing in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu)
After leading Tamil Nadu to victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, ex-KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik will once again spearhead a squad that is a mix of experience and youth in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Baba Aparajith will be his deputy. Vijay Shankar has not recovered from his injury yet, while medium-pacer Krishnamoorthy Vignesh has joined the squad after a battle with COVID-19.
Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra)
Experienced left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat will lead the Saurashtra team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The Saurashtra selectors have picked the likes of Arpit Vasavada, Chirag Jani, Avi Barot, Prerak Mankad and Vishwarajsinh Jadeja as specialist batsmen along with young wicket-keeper batsman Harvik Desai, who has also played for India U-19 side.
The bowling attack, to be led by the Rajasthan Royals pacer himself, comprise left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya and 30-year-old slow-left arm orthodox bowler Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, along with off-spinner Kamlesh Makwana. Saurashtra begin their campaign against Jammu and Kashmir on February 21.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (Maharashtra)
CSK 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 24-year-old opener, had grabbed the attention in last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL 2020), when he starred for the Chennai Super Kings at the top of the batting order.