Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rajat Sharma on Wednesday met Delhi cricketers ahead of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which is also the National One Day Championship. Delhi is all set to take on Saurashtra on Thursday in the opening match of Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Mr. Sharma met the cricketers, including captain Gautam Gambhir, at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.
Mr. Sharma encouraged the players by boosting their confidence and he also asked them to focus on their preparations.
"We have a great team with an excellent bunch of boys. The team is united. I thought of meeting the boys to wish them luck for the tournament," Mr. Sharma said.
"I asked the players to keep their focus only on cricket and not to think on the off-field issues. I told the DDCA management to support the players in every aspect and to look after their well-being," he added.
Mr. Sharma also congratulated Shikhar Dhawan for blasting a hundred against Hong Kong in the opening match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2018.
Rising sensation Rishabh Pant, who scored his maiden Test hundred in England, will play the first three matches for Delhi.
However, veteran Ishant Sharma has been rested after a gruelling England series where he sustained an ankle injury on the fourth day of the fifth Test.
The 15-member team will be led by Gautam Gambhir and Dhruv Shorey will be his deputy. Gambhir has been handed back the captaincy after a gap of one year.
Pant, who captained Delhi to Ranji Trophy final last year, didn't take up the leadership role as he is a certainty in the Indian Test squad for the West Indies series, starting October 4.
With the consistent Shorey also expected to travel to New Zealand with the India A team, the selection committee chaired by Amit Bhandari decided to fall back on the experience of Gambhir, who is no longer in national reckoning.
The only new face in the squad is rookie all-rounder Pranshu Vijayran, who bats left-handed and bowls medium.
All the performers of last year along with talented players from the U-22 side has been picked for the tournament.
Reasonably experienced players like Unmukt Chand, Manan Sharma, Nitish Rana and Pawan Negi are all in the squad along with youngsters like batsmen Lalit Yadav and Hiten Dalal. The U-22 pacers Simarjeet Singh and Gaurav Kumar have also found berths in the senior team.
Simarjeet, however, was called for suspect action during last year's CK Nayudu Trophy and had to undergo action correction.
Squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Dhruv Shorey (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Unmukt Chand, Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Manan Sharma, Pawan Negi, Hiten Dalal, Lalit Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Gaurav Kumar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Simarjeet Singh, Pranshu Vijayran
