Delhi stand in skipper Ayush Doseja and other youngsters get an opportunity to make a statement at MCA's BKC ground in last league match

A depleted Delhi side will be led by youngster Ayush Doseja against Mumbai sans stars in the last Elite Ranji Trophy Group D match at MCA's BKC ground from Thursday. Delhi, already missing the services of injured Rishabh Pant, will be without IPL stars Ayush Badoni and Priyansh Arya, who have been called-up to the India A side for T20 World Cup warm-up matches. Badoni captained Delhi in the absence of Pant.

India A will play against the USA at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium on February 2 before heading to Bengaluru, where they will take on Namibia at the Centre of Excellence.

Badoni had earlier this month received his maiden call-up to the Indian team earlier this month during their three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Arya has already impressed with his exploits for the Punjab Kings in the IPL. Mumbai is also without skipper Shardul Thakur, who has been nursing a groin injury, and Yashaswi Jaiswal, who has experienced stomach problems. Ajinkya Rahane has already opted out of the season due to personal engagements. Experienced middle-order batter Siddhesh Lad, who captained the side to a convincing win in the last game against Hyderabad, will continue to lead Mumbai.

For a youngster like Doseja, it is an opportunity to showcase leadership skills early in his career. Delhi are out of contention for a quarterfinal place while Mumbai are already through to the knockouts. The visitors have 9 points in Group D and are languishing in sixth spot. Mumbai, in comparison are placed at the top with 30 points. Doseja has been the shining light in Delhi's dismissal season with 790 runs in six matches at an average of 98.75. The 23-year-old Virat Kohli fan got to know only on Wednesday, a day before the Ranji match against Mumbai, that he will be leading Delhi for the first time, and he is ready for it.

"I believe in destiny and it is my first captaincy role at the senior level for Delhi. It will be a big experience for me, but I am not taking any added pressure and focus on my batting," he said after a training session at BKC on Wednesday.

Despite a winless season, Doseja is hopeful to put best foot forward. "All are positive about the match against a big side (Mumbai), and we have been doing well. Mumbai and Delhi have given India many players, so it is a big match, and we have to express ourselves on the field. We have been batting well and analysed few weak points in bowling. We have nothing to lose, all are positive to get a good experience and stay positive for a good result," he added.

Virat fan

The youngster revealed it was great to share the dressing room with Virat Kohli with the Delhi team during the Vijay Hazare Trophy. "He is my childhood idol, and I spoke to him a lot about his fitness routine, and he told me to give my best on the field in every manner. His fielding energy even now is unmatchable and gives us motivation to work harder and give our best on the field when we play for Delhi," said Doseja, who was part of the 15-member Delhi squad but got the opportunity to play only after Virat left the squad.

Squads:

Mumbai: Siddhesh Lad (C), Musheer Khan, Sairaj Patil, Akhil Herwadkar, Hardik Tampore (WK), Suved Parkar, Sarfaraz Khan, Aakash Anand (WK), Suryansh Shedge, Shams Mulani, Tushar Deshpande, Himanshu Singh, Mohit Avasthi, Omkar Tarmale, Sylvester D'Souza

Delhi: Ayush Doseja (C), Sanat Sangwam, Vaibhav Kandpal, Sumit Mathur, Pranav Rajvanshi, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Rahul Dagar, Anuj Rawat (wk), Divij Mehra, Aryan Rana, Money Grewal, Rohan Rana, Rahul Chaudhary.