Parthiv Patel to lead Gujarat in West Zone T20 tournament

Ahmedabad: Diminutive wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel was today named capatin of Gujarat for the West Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament which will begin here on Sunday.

Gujarat will be bolstered by the presence of Manpreet Juneja, who was a part of the West Zone team that won the Deodhar Trophy recently, and U-19 World Cup winning member Smit Patel. They will hope to continue their good run against neighbours Maharashtra in the opening encounter at the Motera B ground here. On Sunday, in a day-night encounter, Ranji Champions Mumbai will take on Baroda at Motera A ground. On Monday, Gujarat will take on Mumbai at Motera B ground while Saurashtra will be up against Maharashtra in a day-night encounter at Motera A on the same day. Ranji runners-up Saurashtra will take on Ranji champions Mumbai at Motera B on March 19 while in the evening Gujarat will take on Baroda. Saurashtra will take on Baroda on March 20 followed by a match between Mumbai and Maharashtra on the same day. Baroda and Maharashtra will clash in the penultimate match of the tournament while Gujarat will complete their league engagements against Saurashtra in the last match of the league stage. Gujarat Squad: Parthiv Patel (Captain), Manpreet Juneja, Smit Patel, Himalay Barad, Jesal Karia, Rush Kaleria, Niraj Patel, Jaspreet Bumrah, Chirag Gandhi, Mehul Patel, Abhay Patel, Akshar Patel, Asad Pathan, Ahad Malik, Rakesh Dhruv. Mukund Parmar - coach, Rajiv Desai - assistant coach, Dr Abhishek Thakar - physio, D R Shah - manager. PTI