Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017/18: Baroda Drop Yusuf Pathan For Knockouts

Baroda have dropped all-rounder Yusuf Pathan from the squad for the knockouts of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017/18.

The 35-year-old could just manage 79 runs in six innings during the league stage.

This saw selectors dropping him from the team.

Pathan was making his comeback to the competitive cricket after serving a ban of five months.

He did not have a great run in the tournament and the Baroda selectors took a tough call.

Akshay Brahmbhatt has been called to the side to replace the senior player.

Before the start of the league phase, Pathan had to undergo a fitness test to get a place in the side.

In fact, he was all set to fly to Bangladesh to play in Dhaka Premier League but he was called to join the squad.

Baroda will face Saurashtra in the knockout game on February 22 at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

The Deepak Hoda led side ended their group stage tourney as the top-placed team with five wins in six matches.

Meanwhile, IPL will be the next tournament in which Pathan will ply his trade.

He was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for an amount of Rs 1.90 Crore in the IPL auction.

The Indian all-rounder represented Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous edition of IPL.

Baroda side includes key players like Krunal Pandya, Kedar Devdhar and Swapnil Singh.

The success of the team will highly these three players, apart from captain Deepak Hooda himself.

Last season, Baroda qualified for the knockouts but could not qualify for the finals.

The team will look to end the season on a high this team.

In other quarterfinal contests, Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Maharashtra will face each other on February 21.

On February 22, apart from Baroda-Saurashtra tie, Delhi will also face Andhra Pradesh.

The two semifinals of the tournament will be played on February 24 and 25.

The final will be played on February 27. These three games will be played at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

Baroda Squad for knockouts: Deepak Hooda (Captain), Atit Sheth, Krunal Pandya, Kedar Devdhar, Aditya Waghmode, Akshay Brahmbhatt, Vishnu Solanki, Swapnil Singh, Ninad Rthwa, Urvil Patel (WK), Rishi Arothe, Lukman Meriwala, Soaeb Tai, Dhruv Patel, Viraj Bhosale (WK).

Follow Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018 here –

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