21-year-old Aman Mokhade gets T20 call, Akshay Wadkar to lead Vidarbha

NAGPUR: Among all the players knocking on selectors' door, Aman Mokhade has always made his chances count, which helped him book a place in Vidarbha's T20 team for the forthcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. The team will be led by Akshay Wadkar in the Group 'A' matches to be played in Rajkot from October 11 to 22.The 21-year-old Mokhade's attacking batting clubbed with poise made him stand out as a top-order bat. The right-hander was consistent in all formats with the under-25 team last year. He has developed immensely under one of the most successful VCA coaches — Ranjit Paradkar. Mokhade has played under Paradkar since under-16 days before graduating to the senior team.Recently, the youngster scored a crisp 99 not out in a T20 match under the lights at VCA Jamtha, which pushed his entry into the team. On Friday, he posted another half-century in a crunch situation against Chhattisgarh.VCA selectors have also named Umesh Yadav in the shortest format squad. The pacer's presence is a big boost to the line-up. Another pacer, Shubham Kapse, who played his only First-Class match in 2017, was also named in the squad, while Rajneesh Gurbani has missed out.A 'special entrant' in the VCA set-up — Digjivay Deshmukh from Maharashtra — has been named as a stand-by. It is learnt he got more chances at various batting positions than anyone else in Vidarbha before the squad was declared, and yet did not notch up any notable score.Vidarbha have got their settled spin attack comprising Akshay Wakhare, Aditya Sarwate, Akshay Karnewar and youngster Harsh Dubey. The 20-year-old Dubey made T20 and One-Day debut last season.The Team: Akshay Wadkar (captain), Atharv Taide (vice-captain), Jitesh Sharma, Aman Mokhade, Siddhesh Wath, Apoorv Wankhade, Shubham Dubey, Aditya Sarwate, Akshay Wakhare, Akshay Karnewar, Lalit Yadav, Yash Thakur, Darshan Nalkande, Harsh Dubey, Shubham Kapse, Umesh Yadav.Stand byes: R Sanjay, Rishabh Rathod, Yash Kadam, Digvijay Deshmukh, Suraj Rai. Coach: Sanjeev Sharma.