Deodhar Trophy 2023: CSK star picked in West Zone squad, Priyank Panchal named as skipper

India and Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube was on Monday included in the 15-member West Zone squad while fast bowler Tushar Deshpande was among the standby players for the Deodhar Trophy beginning July 24. The Deodhar Trophy was last organised in the 2019-20 season and was not held in the subsequent seasons owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The upcoming edition of the inter-zonal 50-over Deodhar Trophy will be held this year entirely in Puducherry from July 24 to August 3. The left-handed batter Dube had a terrific season with the bat for the Indian Premier League winners Chennai Super Kings, scoring 418 runs in 16 matches with a strike rate of 158.33. The 15-member squad features right-handed India and Delhi Capitals’ batter Prithvi Shaw, though he is also expected to fly out for his County stint with Northamptonshire after the conclusion of the Duleep Trophy.

Priyank Panchal was named the captain of the West Zone squad which also includes Sarfaraz Khan and Rahul Tripathi. Right-arm pacer Deshpande was CSK’s top wicket-taker with 21 scalps in 16 matches. He was recently called up into the West Zone squad ahead of their Duleep Trophy semi-final against the Central Zone after left-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya was ruled out due to an elbow injury. Sakariya is also in the list of the five-member standby players for the West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy, which also features Saurashtra’s Yuvraj Dodhiya, Maharashtra’s Abu Kazi and Gujarat’s Kathan Patel.

The 20-year-old Rajvardhan Hangargekar also made the cut. features in the 15-member squad of the West Zone, who will begin their campaign on the opening day against the North East Zone.

Squad: Priyank Panchal (captain), Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tripathi, Harvik Desai, Het Patel, Sarfaraz Khan, Ankit Bawne, Samarth Vyas, Shivam Dube, Atit Seth, Parth Bhut, Shams Mulani, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Chintan Gaja, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.

Standby players: Chetan Sakariya, Tushar Deshpande, Yuvraj Dodiya, Abu Kazi, Kathan Patel. PTI DDV BS BS