Deepak Chahar To Captain Rajasthan In The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Deepak Chahar will captain Rajasthan in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with Manav Suthar named vice-captain of a 15-man squad. Rajasthan sit in Elite Group A. Every one of their seven league matches will be played in Mumbai, starting against Uttar Pradesh on 14 November.

Chahar has played 13 one-day internationals and 25 Twenty20 internationals for India. He turned out for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy this season. The leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, his cousin, is also in the squad.

Chahar and Suthar at the top

Suthar, a left-arm spinner, takes the deputy role. The squad keeps Mahipal Lomror and Abhijeet Tomar among the batters, with Kunal Singh Rathore behind the stumps. Honey Pratap Singh, Mukul Choudhary and Himanshu Nehra are also named.

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is India’s domestic Twenty20 competition. It runs through the first half of the season, ahead of the longer formats.

• Deepak Chahar (captain)
• Manav Suthar (vice-captain)
• Ajay Raj Singh
• Kartik Sharma
• Rahul Chahar
• Ramniwas Golada
• Rohan Rajbahar
• Abhijeet Tomar
• Himanshu Singh Rana
• Honey Pratap Singh
• Kunal Singh Rathore
• Mahipal Lomror
• Mukul Choudhary
• Himanshu Nehra
• Abhishek Mund

An all-Mumbai league phase

Rajasthan will not move cities during the group stage. Four matches go to the Mumbai Cricket Association ground at the Bandra Kurla Complex. Three are at the Wankhede Stadium. The Baroda fixture on 20 November is a day-night game, and the only one of the seven scheduled under lights.

A single base removes travel between fixtures. It also compresses the schedule, because the matches fall every second day. Squads carrying 15 have one spare day between games to rotate a seam attack.

The first three games fall inside five days. The last three do the same. Rajasthan have six days to prepare before any of it begins.

Seven matches in 13 days

Chahar leads the seam attack. Rahul Chahar and Suthar give him two spin options. The attack plays a game every 48 hours for a fortnight.

Rajasthan played their Ranji Trophy cricket earlier in the season. Chahar was part of that campaign. He now moves into the shortest domestic format as captain.

Rajasthan’s opponents in the group

Uttar Pradesh come first on 14 November, then Jharkhand on the 16th and Chandigarh on the 18th. Baroda follow under lights on the 20th. Mizoram are on the 22nd, Karnataka on the 24th and Bengal on the 26th.

That is seven opponents in 13 days. Karnataka and Bengal come last, on the 24th and the 26th. Rajasthan open at the Bandra Kurla Complex and close at the Wankhede.

The squad of 15 was named on Sunday. Chahar and Suthar were confirmed in the same announcement. The group stage ends on 26 November. Rajasthan have named no standbys beyond those 15 players.