Nitish Rana returns in Ayush Badoni-led jumbo Delhi squad for Ranji Trophy

New Delhi: The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) selection committee has announced an unprecedented 24-member squad for Delhi's opening Ranji Trophy match against Hyderabad, starting October 15. Ayush Badoni has been named the captain of the team, while Yash Dhull has been appointed his deputy.

Among the surprise calls was the comeback of senior batter Nitish Rana, who returns in the Delhi fold after a brief stint with Uttar Pradesh. The DDCA selection committee, which met on Thursday, slotted him straightaway into the red-ball squad.

"The selectors have named 24 because they felt that a larger pool is always available for selection during each game. However, when we play home games in Delhi, we will prune it down to 15," DDCA secretary Ashok Sharma told PTI.

Explaining the call to recall Rana, Sharma said: "He is an experienced player and the selectors wanted to check him out. In any case, he will play the white-ball leg. In fact, in the next game, we are expecting Rishabh Pant to play."

However, claims from a DDCA official on Rana's lack of fitness for red-ball cricket have raised some questions about the decision-making of the selectors.

A DDCA official told PTI on condition of anonymity that Rana is not fully fit for the red-ball assignment.

"Nitish Rana isn't even fully fit for red-ball engagements and yet he has been drafted in," said the official.

Despite BCCI's anti-corruption code guidelines that allow only 15 players inside the dressing room, DDCA selectors have named 24 players in the squad, and according to a senior DDCA official, the nine players who will not be chosen for the game will stay at the team hotel for four days or the duration of the game.

"Apart from 15 chosen for the game, the other nine would spend four days in the team hotel," a senior DDCA official said.

It is also understood that neither the coaching staff nor the selection committee has been given contracts.

The press release announcing the squad doesn't include the name of the selection committee chairman, as one former BCCI office bearer is in favour of Services' Yashpal Singh to head the panel, while the current DDCA office bearers want KP Bhaskar to take the role.

Selectors Yashpal Singh, K Bhaskar Pillai, and Manu Nayar, along with chief coach Sarandeep Singh, CAC member Surinder Khanna, and DDCA officials Ashok Sharma (Secretary) and Amit Grover (Joint Secretary) attended the meeting.

"All selected players have been instructed to report to chief coach Sarandeep for practice on October 10 at the St Stephen's Ground," DDCA said in a release.

Delhi squad: Ayush Badoni (C), Yash Dhull (VC), Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Anuj Rawat (wk), Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, Aryan Rana (subject to fitness).

(With PTI Inputs)