Sehwag to lead Delhi Ranji team

Virender Sehwag will lead the 15-member Delhi Ranji team that is packed with nine batsmen and six bowlers, including four pacers. The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) selected the team in a ten-minute meeting held at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.

Although the captain and coach reportedly wanted to have five fast bowlers, the selection committee decided in favour of an extra batsman in Aditya Jain, who replaced Kunal Lal in the squad. Kunal, the son of former India medium pacer Madan Lal, has been named as one of the four standbys.

The promising left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan has been picked as the fourth pacer along with Ashish Nehra, Amit Bhandari and Ishant Sharma.

In addition, on the recommendation of the team management, the DDCA has selected five seamers who will train alongside the Ranji team during their home matches. The five selected are Pawan Singh, Parminder Awana, Suhail Sharma, Amit Sharma and Lokendra.

The 30 probables, selected on September 16, have been practicing under the supervision of the coach Vijay Dahiya from September 19.

Delhi begin their campaign with a home game against Rajasthan from November 4.

Squad: Virender Sehwag (capt), Gautam Gambhir (vice-capt), Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra, Mithun Manhas, Mayank Tehlan, Virat Kohli, Puneet Bisht (wk), Rajat Bhatia, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Bhandari, Chetanya Nanda, Aditya Jain.

Standbys: Gaurav Chhabra, Yogesh Nagar, Abhishek Sharma, Kunal Lal.