Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill - (Source: Cricman2/X.com)
In a significant development, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has announced an 18-member Punjab squad for the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The upcoming edition will kickstart from December 24 with Punjab taking on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Maharashtra in the opening game.
Punjab squad features big names such as Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, and Arshdeep Singh. Further, IPL heroes Ramandeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, and Prabhsimran Singh are also part of the 18-member squad.
Punjab’s Squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy
Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Harnoor Pannu, Anmolpreet Singh, Uday Saharan, Naman Dhir, Salil Arora (wk), Sanvir Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Harpreet Brar, Raghu Sharma, Krish Bhagat, Gourav Choudhary, Sukhdeep Bajwa
Punjab Name Vijay Hazare Trophy squad without a captain
In a bizarre move, the PCA has named the squad without an official captain. Usually, it is quite common for a side not to name a deputy, but it is one of the rare instances when an association refrains from declaring their captain two days ahead of a tournament.
Notably, for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, Abhishek Sharma led the side, but last year’s squad didn’t feature Shubman Gill. Now, Punjab have an interesting choice to make; continue with Abhishek or go ahead with Gill, who is also the Indian captain in the fifty-over format.
Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma to feature with limited availability
Since the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2026-26 begins in just two days, star players like Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma will have limited availability as India will host New Zealand for a multi-format series in mid-January.
Gill, who is just a part of the ODI set-up, will skip VHT 2025-26 during the ODI series, and the same goes for Abhishek during the T20Is.
