Snehal Kauthankar has been named captain of the Goa team for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy and will replace wicketkeeper-batsman Eknath Kerkar, who led the team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament.
The Goa Cricket Association (GCA) announced the 20-member squad on Wednesday, December 1.
GCA secretary Vipul Phadke believes Eknath's batting was affected in the T20 cricket tournament. Eknath felt overwhelmed in the triple role of captain, wicketkeeper, and batter. Hence, the association considered a change of captaincy.
"Snehal has made a mark as a batter, furthermore with his calm nature, Kauthankar can do justice to the captaincy," said Phadke.
Goa's new captain Snehal Kauthankar is 26 years old and has scored 2300 runs in 37 Ranji matches with five centuries and ten fifties, 943 runs in 30 ODIs with one hundred and six half-centuries and 407 runs in 23 T20s.
Goa is part of the Elite E group with Assam, Rajasthan, Army, Railways, Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The Goan team will start their campaign from 8 to 14 December at Ranchi in Jharkhand.
New faces in the team
Manthan Khutkar and Kashyap Bakhale have been included in the Goa team. These young batters have had successful performances in the Under-25 State A Trophy.
Kashyap scored 141 runs at an average of 47 in 3 innings with scored two fifties while Manthan scored 111 runs at an average of 37 in 3 innings and scored one half-century.
Suyash Prabhudesai, Manthan, Kashyap, Nihal Surlakar and Mohit Redkar will join the team directly from Bangalore to Ranchi after playing in the semi-finals of the Under-25 ODIs.
Goa squad:
Snehal Kauthankar (Captain); Amulya Pandrekar; Darshan Misal; Amit Yadav; Deepraj Gaonkar; Eknath Kerkar; Felix Alemao; Shrikant Wagh; Lakshay Garg; Maliksab Sirur; Samar Dubhashi; Aditya Kaushik; Vishambhar Kahlon; Vijesh Prabhudesai; Subham Ranjane; Suyash Prabhudesai; Manthan Khutkar; Kashyap Bhakle; Nihal Surlaker and Mohit Redkar.