The Delhi Ranji team is in dire straits. Their rough patch carried forward to the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season as they lost to Puducherry by nine wickets in the opening match. As a result, Yash Dhull has been stripped of captaincy. Himmat Singh has been appointed as Delhi’s captain. The senior batter will take over the reins when Delhi face Jammu & Kashmir at Hostel Ground JKCA, Jammu on January 12.
India's Under-19 2022 World Cup-winning captain got the opportunity to lead the side in December 2022. Dhull has scored 1,185 runs at an average of 43.88. In the match against Puducherry, he opened the innings and registered scores of 23 and 2 at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
"Yash is a talented player but is out of form. We wanted him to do well as a batter, that is why we have relieved him of captaincy duties. Himmat is our senior player and has done very well for us. He will captain the side," DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda told PTI.
Dhull has also led Delhi in limited-overs tournaments. The 21-year-old has scored 588 runs from 19 List A games at an average of 49 including one century and two fifties. In the T20 format, he has 588 runs from 18 games at an average of 45.23 including four half-centuries. He was picked by Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but managed to score just 13 runs from three innings in the previous season.
Of late, Dhull has struggled against pacers. There have been reports that he was reluctant to open the innings as well.
The newly-appointed captain Himmat was impressive in the previous season when he led Delhi to a win over Mumbai in Dhull's absence. The 27-year-old who made his First-Class debut in 2017 has played 22 games and scored 1,174 runs at an average of 39.13 including one century and 10 fifties.
Last year, the Delhi state team was in controversy when senior players Nitish Rana and Dhruv Shorey left the team to join Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha respectively.
Ahead of the clash against Jammu & Kashmir, Navdeep Saini has left the squad as he will be playing for India A against England Lions. Also, Ishant Sharma will not travel as he will be available only for home games.
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