No Ishant for Delhi against strong Bengal

New Delhi: Delhi will miss the services of its regular skipper Ishant Sharma in the upcoming  Ranji Trophy semi-final against Bengal in Pune, starting December 17.

Ishant has reportedly sustained an ankle niggle during the final Test against Sri Lanka in the capital earlier this month.

With Test regulars Mohammed Shami and Wriddhiman Saha playing for Bengal, Delhi would have loved to get the services of its regular skipper who has taken 20 wickets in four Ranji games this season.

"Ishant has a slight ankle niggle and he would not like to aggravate his injury before the South Africa series. The Delhi team reached Pune this evening without Ishant," a member of the Delhi team management told PTI today.

The BCCI has allowed all the Test regulars whose teams have qualified for the semi-finals to play for their respective states in order to get match time.

The Indian team is not playing any practice game so national selectors wanted Test regulars to play Ranji semi- finals.

KL Rahul will not be available for Karnataka as he is in the T20 squad along with Manish Pandey. For Delhi Rishabh Pant will be leading the side in Ishant's absence. Navdeep Saini will be leading the attack alongside Vikas Tokas. Akash Sudan will be the back up pacer for Delhi.