Pant to lead Delhi, Kohli to play first two matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy

Rishabh Pant has been named captain of Delhi's squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy that starts on December 24. Virat Kohli, as reported earlier, has also been selected in the 20-man squad which was named for the first two games.

According to a statement from the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA), seamers Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini have also confirmed their availability, while Harshit Rana will join the team when available. Rana was part of India's T20I squad for the series against South Africa that will end on Friday.

Delhi are scheduled to play seven games from December 24 to January 8, in Group D. Whether Pant and Kohli will be available for all games is not yet established, with India also playing three ODIs starting January 11 in Vadodara. Delhi's first two games are against Andhra and Gujarat, both to be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Ayush Badoni has been named Delhi's vice-captain, while Tejasvi Dahiya is the second wicketkeeper behind Pant. Anuj Rawat has been included as a standby wicketkeeper in case Pant is unavailable.

The other batters in the squad are Yash Dhull, Priyansh Arya, Arpit Rana, Nitish Rana, Sarthak Ranjan, Divij Mehra and Ayush Doseja.

The bowling line-up includes Simarjeet Singh and Prince Yadav in the pace attack, while Hrithik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi and Vaibhav Kandpal provide spin options. Allrounder Rohan Rana has also been named in the squad.

Rishabh Pant (capt), Ayush Badoni (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Sarthak Ranjan, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Singh (wk), Nitish Rana, Hrithik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi, Simarjeet Singh, Prince Yadav, Divij Mehra, Ayush Doseja, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini.
Anuj Rawat (standby wicketkeeper)