Former India all-rounder Ajay Jadeja, who is fighting a court case with the Board of Control for Cricket in India against being banned from the game following his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal, has been included in the 16-member Delhi Ranji Trophy team for the 2003-04 season.
"Virender Sehwag has been named the captain but since he is expected to be away on national duty, the team will be led by Mithun Manhas who is the official vice-captain," Surinder Khanna, a member of the Delhi and District Cricket Association Selection Committee, said.
Khanna also said Kunal Lal, son of former India cricketer and coach Madan Lal, who is also the coach of the Delhi team, has been named as cover for Ashish Nehra whenever the left-arm seamer is called up for national duty.
Former India opening batsman Chetan Chauhan, who is chairman of selectors of the Delhi and District Cricket Association, said: "Jadeja has made himself available and as far as we know he is allowed to play domestic cricket.
"Anyway, we are writing to the Board about Jadeja's inclusion. It is a permission seeking letter, and if there is any objection we will proceed accordingly after that."
Jadeja was not among the probables named two weeks ago by the DDCA.
Delhi take on Uttar Pradesh in their first match of the season at Kanpur from November 7 to 10 before hosting Mumbai from November 15 to 18.
Chauhan said the DDCA has booked the Palam, Harbaksh and Jamia Millia Islamia University grounds for home matches as the Ferozeshah Kotla is currently under renovation.
Rajat Bhatia, who had been serving a one-year 'cooling period' after moving from Tamil Nadu last year, also finds a place in the team.
The selectors also named eight stand-byes.
The team: Mithun Manhas (captain), Aakash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Salil Oberoi, Ajay Jadeja, Vijay Dahiya, Sarandeep Singh, Rahul Sanghvi, Ashish Nehra, Amit Bhandari, Sanjay Gill, Pradeep Chawla, Rajat Bhatia, Varun Kumar and N S Negi.
Standbys: Arun Singh, Saket Bhatia, Rajan Gupta, Mukesh Diwan, Vivek Khurana, Abhishek Sharma, Puru Raj Singh and Kunal Lal.
