Team India captain Shubman Gill to play for Punjab in second round of Ranji Trophy

New Delhi: Team India Test and ODI skipper has confirmed his availability for Punjab in their second-round clash against Chhattisgarh in New Chandigarh. Gill has been added to the squad at the last minute, which will be led by Uday Saharan. The Indian Test captain is looking for some match practice in the red-ball format.

He will then depart for New Zealand for the five-match ODI series, which will run from November 4 to 15. Gill will lead the team in the first three ODI matches before handing over the leadership duties to Shreyas Iyer for the final two games.

The ODI series will run alongside the shadow tour, with India A taking on New Zealand A in the three unofficial Tests. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul are part of the squad for all three matches, while Gill will miss the chance to play even one game as initially planned, as the third unofficial Test is scheduled from November 7-10, alongside the second and third ODIs.

Gill is likely to bat at No.4 for Punjab, which means Jashanpreet Singh has to sit out. The batting line-up also includes Prabhsimran Singh, who missed the season opener against Assam due to his India A duty. Prabhsimran scored 39 and 17 in the two innings against Australia A in Puducherry.

Punjab got all three points on the back of a first-innings lead against Assam, with Vihaan Malhotra, Emanjot Chahal and Salil Arora smashing hundreds. The opening clash also marked the return of Umesh Yadav in first-class cricket after more than two years. Umesh has moved from Vidarbha before the start of the season and picked up 5/70, which is his 16th first-class five-wicket haul.

Punjab squad for Ranji Trophy clash vs Chhattisgarh

Harnoor Pannu, Vihaan Malhotra, Shubman Gill, Uday Saharan (capt), Jashanpreet Sidhu, Salil Arora (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Ramandeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Emanjot Chahal, Harjas Tandon, Gurnoor Brar, Gursimran Singh, Sanvir Singh, Umesh Yadav.