Chopra retained as Delhi captain

Aakash Chopra, the former India opening batsman, has been named the Delhi captain for the first two games of the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy season. The selection committee, led by the former opener Chetan Chauhan, named a 15-man today that included just one new name, that of Pawan Suyal.

Suyal, from the north Indian region of Pauri Garwhal, has been selected just 16 months after landing in Delhi. He played 15 matches for Telefunken in the DDCA league and took 25 wickets, an achievement that got him noticed by the local selectors. "That was a good experience as I got to play on different types of pitches and against stronger batsmen than I had bowled to back home," he told Cricinfo. After playing for the Under-22 side he was added to the Ranji probables camp this year.

The vice-captain's post went to Shikhar Dhawan ahead of Mithun Manhas, who has captained the team in the past. Chopra captained Delhi last season, when they finished fourth in the Ranji Super League points table, winning two of seven games. They first play Baroda from November 3-6 and then host Karnataka from November 10-13.

Delhi squad:
Aakash Chopra (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia, Yogesh Nagar, Mayank Tehlan, Gaurav Chhabra, Punit Bisht, Chetanya Nanda, Parwinder Awana, Sumit Narwal, Pradeep Sangwan, Aditya Jain, Darshan Kajania, Pawan Suyal.