Pant, Dhawan & Saini confirm availability for Vijay Hazare

New Delhi: India players Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan and Navdeep Saini have confirmed their availability for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The move comes as a big boost for Delhi going into the tournament which will be played from September 24 to October 13.

#TeamIndia opener @SDhawan25 sweating it out in the nets ahead of the 2nd T20I against South Africa.#INDvSA pic.twitter.com/ibvu9WXT9h

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 17, 2019

It will be interesting to see how many games Pant does manage to play because the Test series against South Africa starts on October 2. While Dhawan is not in the scheme of things as far as the longer format is considered, Saini wasn’t picked for the series against Proteas. Pant though will be a part of the three-match series that will see India play their second series in the World Test Championship.

News alert: Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan and Navdeep Saini have confirmed their availability to play the #VijayHazareTrophy. The senior selection committee will finalize the Delhi squad shortly. @BCCI @BCCIdomestic @RishabhPant17 @SDhawan25 @RajatSharmaLive

— DDCA (@delhi_cricket) September 17, 2019

Hailing the move, DDCA President Rajat Sharma said: “It’s really heartening to see that Rishabh, Shikhar and Navdeep opted to play for Delhi at first available opportunity. Virat and Ishant also want to help Delhi cricket and I am sure they will also take the field whenever possible.

@delhi_cricket president @RajatSharmaLive: "It was a promise they made to all Delhi cricket fans at the Annual Awards recently. It shows that DDCA and the players are on the same page to take Delhi cricket to greater heights and win titles" 2/2

— DDCA (@delhi_cricket) September 17, 2019

“It was a promise they made to all Delhi cricket fans at the Annual Awards recently. It shows that DDCA and the players are on the same page to take Delhi cricket to greater heights and win titles.”

DDCA took to Twitter to make the announcement of the trio’s availability and said that the senior selection committee will finalise the Delhi squad shortly.

@delhi_cricket president @RajatSharmaLive: "It was a promise they made to all Delhi cricket fans at the Annual Awards recently. It shows that DDCA and the players are on the same page to take Delhi cricket to greater heights and win titles" 2/2

— DDCA (@delhi_cricket) September 17, 2019

Former stars like Sunil Gavaskar have always been vocal about how India players should be a part of domestic tournaments when not playing for the country. “If the Indian team has to do well, players have to be in prime form and for that they have to play cricket,” he had said.

Published on: Sep 17, 2019 at 14:47 IST

IANS