New Delhi, Oct 24 (NationPress) Ayush Badoni is poised to lead Delhi in their second encounter of the Elite Group D Ranji Trophy against Himachal Pradesh, set to commence at the Arun Jaitley Stadium this Saturday.

Although Badoni has been selected for the India A squad for the upcoming four-day match against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru from October 30 to November 2, he will participate in the Ranji Trophy match before heading to join the squad.

Sources informed IANS on Friday, "The reporting date for players outside Bengaluru for the first India A game is October 28, the same day the second round of the Ranji Trophy concludes. Hence, Badoni can finish this match and then travel to Bengaluru to join the India A side."

In his first Ranji Trophy match of the season, which ended in a draw against Hyderabad, Badoni scored 53 in the first innings and took 6 wickets for 73 runs in 24.2 overs with his off-spin.

Prior to the Ranji Trophy, Badoni had a successful stint, scoring 63, 204 not out, and 40 for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He also made 21 runs for India A in the first four-day game against Australia A in Lucknow, followed by scores of 50 and 21, along with three wickets in two white-ball games in Kanpur.

There were speculations about Rishabh Pant, the India wicketkeeper-batter and Test vice-captain, rejoining the Delhi team for the game against Himachal Pradesh after recovering from a fractured right foot sustained during the fourth Test against England in Manchester in July.

However, IANS has learned that the plans changed after Pant, who has been at the CoE since mid-September for his rehabilitation, was appointed as the captain for India A for the two red-ball matches against South Africa A.

"It was anticipated that Pant would communicate his availability to the Delhi management for the second round of the Ranji Trophy. Nevertheless, it was decided that Pant playing India A matches at the CoE would be a better approach for assessing his match fitness," sources added.

Delhi earned three points from their drawn match against Hyderabad due to their first-innings lead, with Sanat Sangwan and debutant Ayush Doseja shining as they both scored double centuries.

The pair combined at 113/3, forming a remarkable 319-run partnership, pushing Delhi to a total of 529/5 declared. Sangwan remained not out on 211 off 470 balls, while Doseja scored a commendable 209 off 279 balls in his debut.

On the other hand, Himachal Pradesh also began their campaign with a draw, securing three points after gaining a first-innings lead against Puducherry. The team, led by Ankush Bains, scored 305 runs before bowling out the hosts for 183, with key contributions from Aryaman Dhaliwal, Mukul Negi, and Mayank Dagar.

When: Saturday, October 25, 9:30 AM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

Watch Live: No broadcast; live scores available on bcci.tv.

Squads

Delhi: Ayush Badoni (captain), Yash Dhull (vice-captain), Arpit Rana, Sanat Sangwan, Anuj Rawat (wk), Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi (wk), Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi (wk), Vaibhav Kandpal, and Rohan Rana

Himachal Pradesh: Ankush Bains (captain and wicketkeeper), Innesh Mahajan (wicketkeeper), Ekant Sen, Nikhil Gangta, Akash Vasisht, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Dagar, Arpit Guleria, Aryaman Singh, Divesh Sharma, Ankit Kalsi, Mukul Negi, Pukhraj Mann, Sidhant Purohit, Ravi Thakur, and Vipin Sharma

-–IANS

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