Vijay Hazare Trophy: Faiz Fazal to lead Vidarbha in tournament

Nagpur: Experienced opener Faiz Fazal will lead the Vidarbha team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy beginning 20 February. Wicket-keeper batsman Akshay Wadkar has been chosen as Faiz’s deputy in the 22-member squad for the national 50-over championship. The squad includes opener Ramaswamy Sanjay and experienced right-handed batsman Ganesh Satish, batsman Atharva Taide even as there are three new faces in all-rounders Harsh Dubey, Kshitiz Dahiya and pacer Suraj Rai. The bowling department is led by right-arm medium pacer Rajneesh Gurbani and comprises slow-left arm orthodox bowler Aditya Sarwate, apart from right-arm pacer Aditya Thakre, young speedster Yash Thakur and seasoned off-spinner Akshay Wakhare. Vidarbha has been placed in Elite Group B, along with Andra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Tamil Nadu and will be playing their matches in Indore. They will start their campaign against Andhra on 20 February. Squad: Faiz Fazal (captain), R.Sanjay, Siddesh Wath, Jitesh Sharma, Ganesh Satish, Yash Rathod, Kshitiz Dahiya, Akshay Wadkar (vice-captain), Darshan Nalkande, Yash Thakur, Aditya Thakre, Suraj Rai, Akshay Wakhare, Harsh Dubey, Mohit Raut, Aditya Sarwate, Nichiket Bhute, Rushab Rathod, Mandar Mahale, Rajneesh Gurbani, Akshay Karnewar and Atharva Taide.