Ranji Trophy 2017-18: Irfan Pathan To Lead Baroda

Irfan Pathan has been given the responsibility of leading Baroda in Ranji Trophy. The discarded India allrounder had led Baroda last season too but it turned out to be a forgettable one as the team managed to win just 2 of its 8 games.  Pathan’s performance was not good either as he averaged 22.44 with the bat and managed just 11 wickets in six games at 41.54.

Prior to the squad announcement, media reports were suggesting that Kerala had approached Pathan to ply his trade for them but they eventually settled down with Arun Karthik as their second professional player. However, the Baroda selectors have made it clear that Pathan is still central to their plans as they once again gave him the captaincy duties.

Deepak Hooda, who led Baroda last season in Pathan’s absence, has been named the vice-captain. Some other prominent names in the squad are Yusuf Pathan, Aditya Waghmode, Swapnil Singh and former India U-19 pacer Atit Sheth.

Meanwhile, there are also notable absentees in the squad with Mumbai Indians star Krunal Pandya being the biggest of them. The allrounder, who recently made his debut for India A,  made his first-class debut last year against Gujarat but failed to do well. Another big name to miss the cut is World Cup-winning bowler Munaf Patel.He will be playing as a professional for Baroda this season.

Baroda will kick start their campaign against Madhya Pradesh in their first game of Ranji Trophy season 2017-18.

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Baroda squad for Ranji Trophy 2017-18

Irfan Pathan, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Rishi Arothe, Kedar Devdhar, Lukman Meriwala, Ketul Patel, Mitesh Patel, Babashafi Pathan, Pinal Shah, Atit Sheth, Vishnu Solanki, Swapnil Singh, Soaeb Tai, Aditya Waghmode.

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