BY IANS,
New Delhi: Virat Kohli has been retained the Delhi skipper for the Ranji Trophy Super League tie against Maharashtra beginning here Tuesday despite the return of regular captain Aakash Chopra.
In the squad announced Saturday for the next two matches against Mahasrashtra and Bengal, Chopra replaces Mayank Tehlan while Yogesh Nagar has been drafted in place of Ashish Nehra, who has been selected in the ODI team for the series against Sri Lanka.
Also, out of favour India pacer Ishant Sharma, who has been axed from the one-day side after a prolonged lean patch, will replace Kohli against Bengal, beginning Dec 15 in Kolkata. Kohli has also been selected for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka.
Chopra skipped the last match against Saurashtra at home for his wedding. With vice captain Shikhar Dhawan also ruled out due to a thumb injury, Kohli was appointed the stand-in-skipper, the youngest to lead Delhi at 21 years and 26 days.
The move paid off as under Kohli’s captaincy Delhi registered its first win of the season and it propelled them to the third place in Group B.
Kohli’s captaincy skills has impressed the selectors and the chairman of selection committee Chetan Chauhan says the youngster has “brought a refreshing change to the job”.
“Aakash is just returning after marriage. He has missed a game and is joining the side just a day before the match. We want him in a relaxed state of mind and to score runs,” Chauhan told IANS.
“Virat is a youngster with a lot of maturity. It was a crucial match for us and Virat really impressed the way he led the side. He is full of new ideas and energy.”
But Kohli’s unavailability for the Bengal match does not mean Chopra will get his cap back.
Chauhan said the selectors will “review” the captaincy issue after the tie against Maharashtara.
Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Aakash Chopra, Ankur Julka, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Yogesh Nagar, Puneet Bisht (wicketkeeper), Sumit Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan, Parvinder Awana, Pawan Suyal, Vikas Mishra, Gaurav Chhabra, Aditya Jain, Abhishek Kapoor.