It just seems, that despite a poor run in IPL 2025 with KKR, there is a lot of trust on all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer still. First he was bagged by RCB at the recent IPL 2026 auction, and now he has been elevated to the position of captain for MP in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy – India’s domestic 50-over tournament.
Venkatesh Iyer to Lead MP
The VHT 2025-26 is scheduled to start from December 24, and will end in January next year; Venkatesh Iyer has been named the skipper ahead of Rajat Patidar, who not only led RCB to the title last year, but had been doing a decent job leading MP in Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well.
Yes, there were knee injury concerns for Patidar, between October and November, but he had already received the clearance from the BCCI’s CoE. But then, perhaps MPCA have some plans for Patidar and Iyer; it is still unclear, why the former was not handed over the captaincy in VHT. He is not in the squad as well.
That said, there is presence of notable players in the MP squad for the tournament. There is Mangesh Yadav, who was picked in the recent IPL auction by RCB as well. A seasoned Harpreet Singh will be there too, along with Kumar Kartikeya. Madhav Tiwari has been named in the team as well, but his participation is only subject to fitness clearance.
This year’s VHT is going to witness some big names, after it was made compulsory for the Indian stars to play in domestic cricket, if not on national duty. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, all are certain to play in the tournament, for respective state teams
MP squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy
Venkatesh Iyer (Captain), Harsh Gawli, Himanshu Mantri (WK), Yash Dubey, Shubham Sharma, Harpreet Singh, Rishabh Chauhan, Ritik Tada, Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, Shivang Kumar, Aryan Pandey, Rahul Batham, Tripuresh Singh, Mangesh Yadav, Madhav Tiwari (subject to fitness).
Editor's Pick
Cricket
Virat Kohli to play under Rishabh Pant's captaincy as Delhi announce squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy
Top Stories
