Delhi selectors return to playing musical chairs, remove Himmat Singh from captaincy

Staying true to their reputation of being reactive and not proactive, the Delhi cricket authorities have decided to remove Himmat Singh from captaincy after the loss to Chandigarh last week. They have replaced him with batsman Ayush Badoni.

Delhi have also removed Hrithik Shokeen, Shivank Vashisht, and Kshitiz Sharma from the squad. They have brought in Mayank Gusain, who is having a stellar season for the Delhi under-23 team. Simarjeet Singh and Shivam Sharma have also been added to the squad that will play Jharkhand from November 13.

The decision was taken after a meeting at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.

Under Singh, who led the team in first four matches, Delhi registered one win, one loss, and two draws in the season and are placed fourth in the table with 11 points. Delhi have three more games left in the season.

Last season too, Delhi removed Yash Dhull from the captaincy and replaced him with Himmat, who led the team to three wins.

Himmat Singh has led Delhi to five wins in 11 matches

It was a given that Himmat Singh, who also led East Delhi Riders to title win in the Delhi Premier League, will lead the team for the whole season.

However, the selectors have decided to give the reins to Badoni for just one match before the teams go for a two month break from multi-day format.

“We wanted Himmat to focus on batting and decided to take the additional responsibility of captaincy off his shoulders,” said Bhaskar Pillay, a member of the selection panel that is chaired by Gursharan Singh.

Gursharan, who was attending the under-23 game that Delhi won against Gujarat at the Jamia Millia Islamia’s MAK Pataudi Sports Complex ground on Monday, refused to elaborate on the decision.

The decision, taken in haste, is surprising since Himmat has been Delhi’s most successful captain since Gautam Gambhir’s retirement.

He has led Delhi in 11 matches and secured five outright wins. The historic win against Mumbai that came after a gap of 43 years was under his leadership.

While the loss against Chandigarh was a shocking one, the change in captaincy appears drastic and a bit in haste. The team was grappling with injuries to its key players.

Badoni’s deputy is Yash Dhull, the man removed from captaincy last year to ensure he returns to form. Now that he is among runs, the DDCA is planning to further burden him with leadership responsibilities.

Himmat captained the team in six matches last season. He was brought in to captaincy role after the team’s loss to Puducherry in the first match of the season. He led the team to wins against Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Odisha, loss against Madhya Pradesh and the team conceded lead against Baroda. The game was J&K was abandoned without any result. The team ended in third place in the table.

In the 2022-23 season, Himmat led the team in one match, against Mumbai when regular skipper Dhull wasn’t available. The team registered their first-ever win against Mumbai in Ranji Trophy in 43 years. Following that match after Dhull returned, Delhi got points on first innings lead only against Andhra. They conceded lead to Assam and Tamil Nadu, and lost outright to Maharashtra and lost by bonus to Saurashtra. They finished sixth out of eight teams in points table.

The sudden change will surely impact the dynamics of the team, not least putting pressure on Himmat to perform.

It can be surmised that the decision to change captaincy came from the bigwigs in the association, the very people who love playing musical chairs at the cost of Delhi cricket.

Tags : Himmat Singh, Delhi cricket, DDCA, Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Ranji Trophy, Mayank Gusain,