Pant to captain Delhi in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Pant to captain Delhi in Vijay Hazare Trophy has been named Delhi's captain for the Vijay Hazare domestic 50-overs tournament that begins on February 25. Pant, 19, takes over from Gautam Gambhir, who led Delhi to the final last season. Delhi coach KP Bhaskar said it was a "consensus(आम सहमति)  decision" to blood Pant for the future. "The selectors are looking at the future and they think Rishabh

is the right choice," Bhaskar told ESPNcricinfo. "They were thinking that there are four-five seniors in the team who can groom(चौकसी करना)  him. All the seniors - Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma - are there, and this is the right opportunity, so looking forward to the future."  Bhaskar also said the decision was made with a view to reduce Gambhir's workload. "We think Gambhir still has a lot of cricket left in him, so let him concentrate(ध्यान केंद्रित)  on his batting and get runs for us. Let him have a free mind."

Pant has had a breakout season in 2016-17 that saw him finish as the fourth-highest run-getter (972 from eight matches at an average of 81.00 and a strike-rate of 107.28) in the Ranji Trophy. Pant also earned his maiden international call-up for the T20I series against England and made his debut in the final game in Bangalore.

Delhi, who have named 42 probables(संभावितों) , take on Tamil Nadu in Cuttack in their opening fixture.