Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018: Varun Aaron named as Jharkhand skipper

The Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) recently announced the 15-member squad of team Jharkhand for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018. In a not so surprising move, the selectors have appointed pace bowler Varun Aaron as the captain of the team. Aaron has been at the helm of the Jharkhand cricket previously as well.

He is now set to lead the state team in the East Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The appointment of Varun Aaron as the captain has brought an end to the speculations that MS Dhoni would be a part of the tournament. The tournament is revered as the premier domestic T20 competition in the Indian cricketing circuit.

Over the last couple of weeks, there were news about former Indian captain MS Dhoni being a part of the tournament as well. Team India’s next international assignment in limited overs cricket will commence after almost two more weeks. They are set to play 6 ODIs and 3 T20Is against South Africa after the conclusion of the Test series.

Hence, Dhoni’s name had started floating in the media for the domestic competition. However, he has not been named in the squad and that confirms his unavailability for the competition. Reportedly, MS Dhoni had himself requested the state association to not consider his name for the competition.

Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament has already commenced with a West Zone encounter between Mumbai and Baroda at Rajkot as the series opener. Commenting on the Jharkhand squad, Varun Aaron is among the senior members in the side.

Aaron has been an out of favor candidate of the national side for quite some time now. The squad also has veteran domestic stars like Saurabh Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi. Tiwary will be the key man in the batting department. Young rising stars like Ishan Kishan will also have a great opportunity to showcase their talent ahead of the big IPL auctions of 2018 season.

Here is the Jharkhand Squad for the tournament:

Varun Aaron (c), Saurabh Tiwary, Ishan Kishan(wicket-keeper), Ishank Jaggi, Sonu Kumar Singh, Ashish Kumar, Babul Kumar, Nazim Siddiqui, Virat Singh, Kaushal Singh, Sumit Kumar (wk), Samar Quadri, Sunny Gupta, Ajay Yadav, Jaskaran Singh.

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