J&K Cricket Association (JKCA) selectors have announced the 19-member J&K cricket team squad that will be taking part in a multi-State tournament in Andhra Pradesh.
The 19-member J&K team was announced by four member selection committee after the conclusion of four match series between Uttar Pradesh and J&K at Sheri-Kashmir Cricket Stadium.
The team includes name of top cricketer Irfan Pathan who has been roped by JKCA as mentor cum player. It will be for the first time that Irfan Pathan will be donning J&K jersey. Young emerging cricketer from Jammu, Shubham Pundir has been named as skipper of the team.
The team was selection by selection committee that included, SP Qaiser as Chairman, Zahoor Bhat, Vidya Bhaskar and Dhruv Mahajan as members.
The team includes Ahmad Banday, Shubham Pundir, Shubham Khajuria, Paras Sharma, Ian Dev, Irfan Pathan, Asif Khan, Fazil Rashid, Waseem Raza, Amir Aziz, Mohammad Mudhasir, Ram Dayal, Umar Nazir, Rohit Sharma, Pranav Gupta, Manik Gupta, Manzoor Dar, Rasik Salam and Aqib Nabi.
The team would be playing the league cum knockout tournament against top sides. They are assured of playing atleast four matches in league phase.
Uttar Pradesh series and now Andhra Pradesh tour are part of Irfan Pathan’s strategy of giving J&K cricketers taste of top quality cricket before the start of National season.
Parvez Rasool is not in the team as he is currently part of the India Reds squad in Duleep Trophy. J&K team is mix of youth and experience. It has some new names like Under-19 cricketer Rasik Salam in it while as it also has experienced players like Mudhasir, Ian dev and Ram Dayal. While Pundir has been named as captain, all the proceedings would be keenly monitored by Irfan Pathan himself.
The 19-member squad is scheduled to leave on Monday from Srinagar and after the conclusion of tournament they are scheduled to head back to Srinagar. It would be in Srinagar that team for Vijay Hazare One-Day tournament would be announced.
