Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017/18: Jadeja, Pujara, Unadkat Named in Star-Studded Saurashtra Side

Saurashtra has named a strong squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament, as the selectors have included team India’s Test specialist, Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Both the players returned to India a few days back after playing the Test series against South Africa.

Pujara played in all the three Test matches where he scored runs 100 runs in six innings. On the other hand, Jadeja spent his time on the bench, as R Ashwin played the first two Test matches while team India went with an all-pace attack in the third Test match.

Both the players are also expected to play Deodhar Trophy and Irani Cup, as they are available to play both the tournaments.

Jaydev Unadkat, who hit the jackpot in the IPL auction, has also been named in the side. Unadkat was bought by Rajasthan Royals for an amount Rs 11.50 Crore. He was the highest paid Indian player in the auction.

The left-arm pacer though will not be playing full tournament and will fly to South Africa after playing a couple of games for his side. Along with him, Suresh Raina will also be flying to South Africa for the T20I series. Though he has not been named in the Uttar Pradesh side, as he is spending his time at National Cricket Academy in Bangaluru.

Jadev Shah will lead the Saurashtra in the tournament. Robin Uthappa, Saurashtra’s recruit, has also been named in the squad. He switched his base to Saurashtra before the start of the season. He recently shone in the IPL auction after bagging a deal worth Rs. 6.40 Crore with Kolkata Knight Riders. He was sold to Mumbai Indians, but Kolkata Knight Riders used their Right to Match (RTM) card on him.

All-rounder Kamlesh Makvana, who played his last games for Saurashtra in the previous season, has made a comeback to the side. Sheldon Jackson will also be playing the List A tournament for a star-studded Saurashtra.

The Jaydev Shah-led side will face Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Jharkhand, Services and Vidarbha in the league phase of the tournament. They will be playing all their games in Secunderabad.

Squad: Jaydev Shah (Captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Arpit Vasavada, Sheldon Jackson, Himalaya Barad, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Ravindra Jadeja, Chirag Jani, Kamlesh Makvana, Prerak Mankad, Hardik Rathod, Shaurya Sanandia, Jaydev Unadkat, Robin Uthappa, Samarth Vyas.

Here is the squad of Odisha for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017/18 –

Govinda Poddar (Captain), Basant Mohanty (Vice-Captain), Deepak Behera, Jayant Behera, Suryakant Pradhan, Sheshdeep Patra, Prayash Singh, Ranjit Singh, Abhishek Raut, Saurabh Rawat (WK), Roshan Kumar Rao (Wicketkeeper), Biplab Samantray, Anurag Sarangi, Shantanu Mishra, Arabind Singh.