Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) announced a jumbo 24-member squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy led by Ayush Badoni, who happens to be the only player in the side retained ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. Badoni, who took over from Himmat Singh during the Ranji Trophy will continue to lead but both remain very much part of the side. The senior pro Ishant Sharma returns for what might be his final hurrah, who knows.
Sharma, who played his last domestic game for Delhi in February, a Ranji Trophy game, didn't make himself available for the red-ball tournament this time around. However, having done well in IPL 2024, Sharma might have an expectation of getting picked again, even though Delhi like all the other sides play just one game before the two-day auction.
Other IPL stars from Delhi including Anuj Rawat, Simarjeet Singh and Suyash Sharma too have been picked. Harshit Rana and Navdeep Saini are with the Indian Test team in Australia while pace sensation Mayank Yadav continues to remain absent.
While these four apart from Harshit (who has been retained by Kolkata Knight Riders) will be expecting a bid from any of the 10 sides in the auction, a few new faces, who impressed one and all in the Delhi Premier League - Priyansh Arya (6 sixes in an over and Orange Cap winner), Mayank Rawat (Man of the Match in the final) and Digvesh Rathi (Most wickets) too are expected to be picked and hence will be keen to get their campaign rolling.
Delhi begin their campaign against Uttar Pradesh on November 23 at the Wankhede Stadium.
Delhi squad: Priyansh Arya, Anuj Rawat (wk), Ayush Badoni (c), Himmat Singh, Mayank Gusain, Mayank Rawat, Jonty Sidhu, Ishant Sharma, Yash Dhull, Simarjeet Singh, Vaibhav Kandpal, Harsh Tyagi, Prince Yadav, Himanshu Chauhan, Vansh Bedi (wk), Akhil Chaudhary, Dhruv Kaushik, Sarthak Ranjan, Suyash Sharma, Digvesh Rathi, Aayush Singh, Prince Choudhary, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk).
