Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 18: Talented First Class cricketer Shubham Khajuria has been named skipper of J&K Under-23 cricket team, while another promising First Class cricketer Ahmed Banday will be the Vice Captain of the State team which left today to participate in the North Zone leg of the Under-23 One Day Tournament, being held in Himachal Pradesh from January 21, 2018.
Jammu and Kashmir will face Delhi in their first outing at Cricket Stadium, Amtar in Himachal Pradesh.
It is pertinent to mention here that for the first time in its domestic calendar, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has included a One-Day Tournament at the U-23 level for all States.
All the matches will be played in coloured clothing and white balls will be used. Earlier, limited-overs format (50-overs) in junior cricket was played only at the U-19 level with red ball and only the U1-9 Challengers event featuring India Red, Blue and Green were played with a white ball.
According to the reliable sources, the move to conduct limited-overs tournament at U-23 level was to spot talents for the Under-23 Emerging Cup.
The fact that the men’s U-23 tournament beginning on January 21, 2018 meant that it is being played two weeks prior to the Vijay Hazare Trophy (senior men’s limited-overs event), which is to commence from February 5, meant it would help the respective state selectors to spot young talents ahead of the key event.
The Team: Shubham Khajuria (Captain), Ahmed Banday (Vice Captain), Jatin Wadhawan, Shubham Singh Pundir, Fasil Rashid (wk), Hazik Bhat, Paras Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Momin Mansoor, Akash Choudhary, Vivrant Sharma, Abid Mushtaq, Aman Sharma and Muneeb Muraf.
The team was selected by a panel of selectors including Ashwani Gupta (Chairman), Vivek Sharma, Arshid Bhat and Pradeep Bali.
However, the 15-member J&K team for this prestigious tournament has been selected for the first two matches.
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