Ishant Sharma may not have made it into the Indian side but he has been confirmed to captain the Delhi side for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season 17-18. Yes, you read that right! Ranji Trophy 2017-18 will be starting in the first week of October. It came as a surprise to everyone as Ishant will be leading the 15-man squad of Delhi, in the previous season it was Unmukt Chand who led the Indian side. Delhi finished fourth in Group B with just 2 wins from 8 games. Gujarat are the defending champions of the tournament as they lifted their maiden Ranji Trophy in the 2016-17 season.
Ishant has been out of the action for a while now. He did not make it into the limited overs side of India against Australia or Sri Lanka. Though he did made it into the Indian squad for Test series against Sri Lanka but did not get a single game to play. Sharma got the chance to captain the Delhi side after Gautam Gambhir decided to step down from the captaincy role.
“Ishant has played 77 Test matches and now that he is unlikely to be selected for limited overs matches, he will be available for all group league games. Rishabh Pant will have his India A commitments and Unmukt Chand have had too many disastrous seasons to be even considered for a leadership role.”
Twitterati, as usual, did not refrain from trolling Ishant. Here are a few tweets-
Name : ISHANT SHARMA
New CAPTAIN of Delhi Ranji team for 2017/18 season.pic.twitter.com/Gkgfoa6KGL— Devanshi Prajapati (@devanshi_03) September 22, 2017
Finally Khal Drogo of Indian Team is Captain of Delhi Ranji Team. Congo @ImIshant #tallman
— Chaitanya K (@Chaitanyak07) September 23, 2017
Ishant Sharma to captain Delhi Ranji team
My deepest condolences to their fans and supporters
RIP Delhi team
Gautam Gambhir steps down pic.twitter.com/iPuI5ksWBF— VIRAT (@IAmVirat183) September 22, 2017
Ishant Sharma to be the Delhi Ranji Team captain! #TeamIshant pic.twitter.com/PapVx1LjLZ
— Nikhil (@CricCrazyNIKS) September 22, 2017
Ishant Sharma really?
Dere also he gonna make meme ?
His days r over now.
Bumrah and Bhuvi r final and once Ashish Nehra get fit he be back— harish goyal (@harishloveking) September 22, 2017
Anything Possible!!
Ishant Sharma us the New Captain of Delhi #RanjiTrophy …Gambhir Steps down. #IshantSharma.— Manoranjan Behera (@I_m_Chiku) September 22, 2017
Ishant Sharma Captain? He struggles to manage his hair #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/f9HKCTRWLN
— sumeet dhul (@JackoLivesOn) September 22, 2017
Just saw Ishant Sharma trending.. and thought whether he retired from cricket
— Vignesh PV (@imVigneshPV) September 22, 2017
Agar Ishant Sharma Delhi Ranji Team ka Captain ban sakta hai toh main bhi kahin ka CM ban sakta hun
— Soothsayer (@Soothsayer_Uno) September 22, 2017
Ishant Sharma is new skipper of Delhi Ranji Team
Aur kitne #AcheDin chahiye? pic.twitter.com/vIYe5GRWn6— Sahil Mehan (@mehansahil) September 22, 2017
The decision was made after Gambhir wrote a letter to express his desire to step down, a senior DDCA official told News 18, “DDCA administrator Vikramajit Sen, selection committee chairman Atul Wassan and Cricket Affairs Committee (CAC) chairman Madan Lal intimating them about his decision. He made it clear that time is right for someone else to take over as he wants to play purely as a player,”.
Ishant is currently playing under the captaincy of Suresh Raina in the India Blue squad.Ishant will be new to this role together as he has captained a side only once in 2014 during a match between the Indians and Australia XI.
