New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been named as Delhi’s captain for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting on December 24 in Bengaluru.

Delhi’s squad has also been boosted by the availability of batting stalwart Virat Kohli, as well as senior pacers Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini. With BCCI making a mandate for India players with central contracts to feature in domestic cricket, seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana will link up with the Delhi side once he becomes available, said the DDCA on Friday.

The senior men’s selection committee met at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday to finalise Delhi’s squad from a bumper list of probables announced earlier. The meeting was attended by selectors Yashpal Singh, K. Bhaskar Pillai and Manu Nayar, chief coach Sarandeep Singh, CAC member Robin Singh (Jr.), secretary Ashok Sharma and joint secretary Amit Grover.

Delhi will play its first two Elite Group D games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Andhra and Gujarat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, which serves as Kohli’s home ground when playing for his IPL team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Delhi is also scheduled to play its remaining five games at the Alur Cricket Ground, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Kohli comes on the back of being Player of the Series in the 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa, while Pant will be itching to get some game time after being an unused player in the 50-over fixtures against the Proteas.

The duo will be available for Delhi till India’s ODI series against New Zealand happens from January 11-17, 2026. Kohli last played Vijay Hazare Trophy for Delhi in the 2009/10 season.

Batting all-rounder Ayush Badoni has been appointed as the vice-captain, while the rest of the squad for the first two matches includes Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Sarthak Ranjan, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Singh, Nitish Rana, Hritik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi, Simarjeet Singh, Prince Yadav, Divij Mehra, Ayush Doseja, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana and Anuj Rawat.

Ranjan and Tejasvi had recently bagged IPL 2026 deals after being roped in by three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the recent auction held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Delhi won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2012/13, while being runners-up in 2015/16 and 2018/19 seasons.

–IANS

nr/