Vijay Hazare Trophy | Subhranshu Senapati to lead Odisha; Biplab Samantray dropped
Odisha Cricket Association have announced the team for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy under the leadership of young Subhranshu Senapati, who led the team in the Ranji Trophy last year. Meanwhile, the committee has also taken a huge step by dropping former skipper Biplab Samantray from the squad.
Odisha Cricket Association announced the team for the first two games - against Baroda and Haryana - of the upcoming season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, that starts on September 24, in Vadodara. While Subhranshu Senapati will lead the side, devoid of senior players like Biplab Samnatray and Basant Mohanty, he will be helped by the guidance of another former skipper Govinda Poddar, who has maintained his place in the side despite underperformance in the season gone by.
Rajesh Mohanty, who recently found a place in the India Green squad for the Duleep Trophy, has been added in the squad as has been off-spinner Pappu Roy, who took part in the Deodhar Trophy last year. Sujit Lenka will keep wickets for the team while opening batsman Swastik Samal is in the squad for the first time.
Odisha has been placed in the Elite Group B along with Delhi, Vidarbha, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Baroda, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab and will play its first match against Baroda on September 24, Haryana on September 26, Himachal Pradesh on September 28, Delhi on September 29, Vidarbha on October 3, Uttar Pradesh on October 7, Maharashtra on October 9 and Punjab on October 13.
Squad: Sandeep Pattnaik, Swastik Samal, Shantanu Mishra, Debasish Samantray, Subhranshu Senapati, Abhishek Yadav, Abhishek Rout, Govinda Poddar, Suryakanta Pradhan, Rajesh Mohanty, Debabarata Pradhan, Prayas Kumar Singh, Sujit Lenka, Deepak Behera