Duleep Trophy: Nehal Wadhera Replaces Injured Mandeep Singh; Jayant Yadav to Lead North Zone

Punjab batter Mandeep Singh has been ruled out of the upcoming Duleep Trophy due to an injury and will be replaced by talented left-hander Nehal Wadhera in North Zone squad. In the absence of Mandeep, who was also the skipper, Jayant Yadav will lead the team.

“We received intimation this morning from the Punjab Cricket Association that Mr. Mandeep Singh had gotten injured and would be unavailable for the Duleep Trophy. Pursuant thereto a video-conference was organised this evening with all the selectors of the North Zone Selection Committee and the same was chaired by Mr. Chetan Sharma. Selectors discussed the issue and unanimously decided that Nehal Wadhera would be the replacement for Mr. Mandeep Singh,” a media release stated.

Nehal was initially in the eight standbys named after the June 15 meeting. In the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season, Nehal accumulated 376 runs in the five matches he played and also hit two hundreds, including a best of 214. He continued the good run in the Indian Premier League for Mumbai Indians where the left-hander played some useful hands.

With Mandeep out injured, North Zone needed a new skipper for the zonal tournament and the selectors gave the responsibility to India off-spinner Jayant Yadav.

“Since Mandeep Singh was the Captain of the side, the Committee also picked Jayant Yadav to lead the North Zone team in the Duleep trophy,” added the media release.

Also Read | ‘Being Host, Pakistan Should Have..’: Zaka Ashraf Hints PCB Will ‘Honour Commitment’ for Asia Cup Hybrid Model

The Duleep Trophy gets underway in Bengaluru from June 28 and North Zone will play their first fixture against Northeast Zone at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Yadav-led squad wears a formidable look and has all bases covered with the right blend of experience and youth.

Squad: Jayant Yadav (c), Prashant Chopra, Dhruv Shorey, Manan Vohra, Prabhsimran Singh, Ankit Kumar, AS Kalsi, Harshit Rana, Abid Mushtaq, Nehal Wadhera, Pulkit Narang, Nishant Sandhu, Sidharth Kaul, Vaibhav Arora, Baltej Singh.

Standbys: Mayank Markande, Mayank Dagar, Divij Mehra, Anmol Malhotra, Diwesh Pathania, Ravi Chouhan, Kunal Mahajan.

Support staff: Ajay Ratra (coach), Deepak Surya (physio), Rajneesh Mehta (trainer), Amit Sharma (performance analyst), Naresh Kumar Motla (masseur), Col. Irshad A Khan (Manager).