Saurabh Dubey replaces Dhrushant Soni in India U23 squad for the series against Bangladesh

The All-India Junior Selection Committee led by Aashish Kapoor has named Saurabh Dubey as a replacement for Dhrushant Soni in the India U23 squad that is set to play a five-match one-day series against Bangladesh. Soni who was originally named in the squad has been ruled out of the tournament due to a medical illness. Left-arm medium-pacer & right-hand batsman Saurabh Dubey from Vidarbha will replace Soni in the squad.

The hosts are being led by Priyam Garg with even India’s U19 Asia Cup-winning captain Aryan Juyal also part of the squad. The series opener was expected to get underway on Thursday but the rain has played spoilsport in Lucknow where all the matches of the five-match series are scheduled to take place.

Dubey first player from Vidarbha to get picked

Saurabh Dubey who is the son of a priest in Wardha is the first player from Vidarbha to get picked in the India U23 squad. His story is similar to Umesh Yadav who grew up playing Tennis ball cricket and was passionate about fast bowling. However, he was unaware of which route to take according to TOI.

But his induction into Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Residential Academy two years ago worked wonders for the youngster. The support staff at the VCA took care of Saurabh’s fitness as he was not as strong as the fast bowler needs to be. He was also one of the finds of the last season for Vidarbha. The team lost the semi-final of Col CK Nayudu Trophy but Dubey’s performance caught the attention of many.

Saurabh Dubey will now be hoping to make it big in the series against Bangladesh for India U23 and take one step towards realising his dream to play for India.

The updated Indian U-23 squad is as follows:- Priyam Garg (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Madhav Kaushik, B R Sharath (wicket-keeper), Samarth Vyas, Aryan Juyal (wicket-keeper), Ritwik Roy Choudhary, Kumar Suraj, Atit Seth, Shubhang Hegde, Hrithik Shokeen, Saurabh Dubey, Arshdeep Singh, Ananta Saha, Harpreet Brar.

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