Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Named in Punjab Squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy

Indian ODI skipper Shubman Gill, world’s number 1 T20 batter Abhishek Sharma and pacer Arshdeep Singh were on Monday named in the Punjab squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in line with BCCI’s diktat of mandatory participation in the National One-Day Championship.

Gill, who was dropped from India’s T20 World Cup squad and Arshdeep, who is a white-ball regular might just be available for two to three games with ODIs against New Zealand set to start on January 11.

Punjab, clubbed in group C along with favourites Mumbai, will play their first two games against Maharashtra (December 24) and Chattisgarh (December 26). These are the games in which Gill and Arshdeep’s availability is expected.

Abhishek, who will only be summoned for T20Is, might be available for more games. The marquee Mumbai vs Punjab match in Jaipur is slated for January 8 and by that time both Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma and Punjab’s Gill won’t be available.

Punjab’s VHT squad: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Harnoor Pannu, Anmolpreet Singh, Uday Saharan, Naman Dhir, Salil Arora (wk), Sanvir Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Harpreet Brar, Raghu Sharma, Krish Bhagat, Gourav Choudhary, and Sukhdeep Bajwa.