Eyeing Team India return, Hardik Pandya to skip Ranji Trophy 2021-22 with focus on white-ball cricket

The Ranji Trophy 2021-22 will be held in a couple of phases from February 10. Hardik Pandya will not play for Baroda. He will focus on white-ball cricket for India return.

The 2021-22 Ranji Trophy is set to start from Thursday. Meanwhile, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has decided to skip the tournament, and Baroda will not have his services. He is looking to focus on white-ball cricket in his bid to make the return for Team India, having been dropped from the side since India's poor outing during the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

Baroda has named Kedar Devdhar as the side's skipper, while Vishnu Solanki was named the deputy. Pandya has failed to play as an all-rounder, as his fast bowling abilities have been restricted due to his back injury, undergoing surgery in 2020. He has entered further rehabilitation to recover from the injury entirely and will only make him available for selection after he has resumed his full-time bowling duties.

Pandya has missed out on red-ball cricket since 2018 due to his injuries of late. He aims to get completely fit as an all-rounder ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL), where he will be representing the new Ahmedabad franchise and leading it. In the meantime, Pandya's brother Krunal will feature Baroda in the Ranji Trophy.

Baroda squad for Ranji Trophy 2021-22: Kedar Dhevdhar (c), Vishnu Solanki (wk), Pratyush Kumar, Shivalik Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Abhimanyusingh Rajput, Dhruv Patel, Mitesh Patel, Lukman Meriwala, Babasafikhan Pathan (wk), Atit Sheth, Bhargav Bhatt, Parth Kohli, Shashwat Rawat, Soyeb Sopariya, Kartik Kakade, Gurjindersingh Mann, Jyotsnil Singh, Ninad Rathwa and Akshay More.