Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara named in the star-studded Saurashtra squad

The Vijay Hazare Trophy for the 2018 season will be played from 5th February. A total of 91 One-Day matches will be played during the course of the tournament with the finals scheduled to be played on 26th February. Most of the teams have already announced their squads and earlier today, the Saurashtra selectors also named a strong side that will take part in this tournament.

A star-studded team was announced featuring the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Cheteshwar Pujara. Team India‘s Test specialists following the conclusion of the South Africa Test series have no upcoming national assignments. The Men in Blue are currently playing a six-ODI series and will follow that up with another series wroth three T20Is against the Proteas. Both the players returned to India a few days back after the conclusion of the Test series that the visitors lost 2-1.

Some big names in the Saurashtra squad

In the Test series against the Proteas, Pujara didn’t have the best of times. In the six innings that he played, he only managed to score 100 runs. Meanwhile, Jadeja didn’t feature in any of the three Test matches. Ravichandran Ashwin took his place in the first two Tests while India decided to go in with an all-pace attack for the third. Both the players are also expected to play the Deodhar Trophy and Irani Cup in the domestic circuit.

Moreover, Jaydev Unadkat who hit the jackpot in the IPL 2018 auction has also been named in the side. He is the highest paid Indian cricketer in this edition of the tournament and was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 11.50 crores. However, Unadkat will not feature in the entire tournament as he will fly to South Africa to join the Indian team for the T20I series.

Jadev Shah will lead the Saurashtra in the tournament. Robin Uthappa, Saurashtra’s recruit will also ply his trade. He switched his base to Saurashtra before the start of the season. In the IPL auction, the Kolkata Knight Riders retained Robin for INR 6.40 crores.

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 (Hyderabad).

Saurashtra Squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017-18:

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.