Not Rishabh Pant, but Ayush Badoni to continue leading Delhi in upcoming Ranji Trophy fixtures

Earlier, it surfaced in various reports, that Rishabh Pant will play Delhi’s next two Ranji Trophy fixtures, and there was no clarity on Virat Kohli’s status for the same. It was also predicted that Pant would lead the side, but as per the latest development in the Times of India, the wicket-keeper has refused the captaincy role, and instead, regular skipper Ayush Badoni will continue to lead.

Meanwhile, the squad the two matches, Delhi vs Saurashtra, and Delhi vs Railways will be announced on Jan 17. The report also talks about Virat Kohli sustaining a neck injury, while playing in the Sydney Test. Although he is not ruled out from participating in these Ranji fixtures, the DDCA is yet to contact the player for his availability.

In fact, it is believed that if Virat Kohli is not able to play in these matches, he would train with the team and will join the squad in Rajkot. The last time the Indian star played in a Ranji Trophy match was in 2012 vs UP in Ghaziabad. There he only scored 14 & 43, as Delhi went on to lose that match by six wickets.

As for Rishabh Pant, he last played in the Ranji Trophy way back in 2017-18, during the final of the championship against Vidarbha. There he scored 21 and 32 and Delhi went on to lose by 9 wickets. Not just that, under Pant’s captaincy, the team failed to win the title. In the first innings, Delhi scored 295, with Vidarbha scoring 547 in reply.

Thereafter, in the second innings, Delhi scored 280 and only set a target of 32. The opposition achieved it only in 5 overs.