Baroda name 22-man squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy, Krunal Pandya to lead the side

All-rounder Krunal Pandya is set to captain Baroda in the upcoming edition of tne Vijay Hazare Trophy. The 50-over tournament begins on February 20 with Baroda opening their campaign against Goa.

Karnataka are the defending champions, having won the previous edition by beating Tamil Nadu in the final.

It is no surprise that Krunal Pandya is leading the side as he was also the captain of Baroda in the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. However, the 29-year-old had to leave the domestic T20 tournament mid-way through after his father's demise.

Kedar Devdhar has also found a place in the squad after he led Baroda to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final. Devdhar has been named vice-captain.

The opener performed brilliantly with the bat and finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the domestic T20 tournament behind Narayan Jagadeesan.

Top effort boys! Superb performances in the tournament 👏 We’ve come a long way and there’s a long way to go! @cricbaroda pic.twitter.com/zWHBkzeXLV

— Krunal Pandya (@krunalpandya24) February 1, 2021

Experienced seamers Atit Sheth and Lukman Meriwala also made the cut. In the spin department, Baroda will rely on Ninad Rathwa, off-spinner Kartik Kakade and Bhargav Bhatt.

Krunal Pandya will have a role to play with both bat and ball in the upcoming 50-over tournament.

Krunal Pandya-led Baroda team placed in Group A

Good to get back out on the field again 👊 pic.twitter.com/D8YbFAqIv6

— Krunal Pandya (@krunalpandya24) February 9, 2021

Baroda is placed in Elite Group A where they are set to come up against Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad, Tripura and Goa. All their matches will be played in Surat.

Baroda's squad also comprises of Vishnu Solanki, Smit Patel and Abhimanyusingh Rajput. Solanki was in the news for his last-ball six against Haryana which helped Baroda book their place in the semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

He will look to build on his performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy after catching the eye in the domestic T20 tournament.

Baroda Squad: Krunal Pandya (Captain), Kedar Devdhar (Vice-Captain), Pratyushkumar, Vishnu Solanki, Abhimanyusingh Rajput, Smit Patel (WK), Ninad Rathwa, Atit Sheth, Kartik Kakade, Lukman Meriwala, Babasafi Pathan, Dhruv Patel, Bhargav Bhatt, Bhanu Pania, Chintal Gandhi, Parth Kohli, Jyotsnil Singh, Mitesh Patel (WK), Soeb Sopariya, Shivalik Sharma, Pradeep Yadav and Pratik Ghodedra.