Gill, Abhishek and Arshdeep named in Punjab squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy

Punjab have named Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh in their 18-man squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, which gets underway on December 24 with their opening match against Maharashtra.

The squad features a strong mix of India internationals, power-hitters and allrounders as Punjab look to improve on last season, when they exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage. Alongside Gill, Abhishek and Arshdeep, the selectors have included Prabhsimran Singh, Naman Dhir, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sanvir Singh and Harpreet Brar, giving the side plenty of depth in both batting and bowling. The pace attack will be led by Gurnoor Brar and Krish Bhagat.

However, the availability of Gill, Abhishek and Arshdeep for the full tournament remains uncertain. India are scheduled to tour New Zealand for a white-ball series beginning January 11, with three ODIs followed by five T20Is starting January 21. Gill, who was recently left out of India’s T20I plans for the T20 World Cup and the New Zealand tour, is expected to captain the ODI side. Abhishek and Arshdeep are part of the T20I squad, which could limit their participation in the latter stages of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Punjab will play all seven of their league matches in Jaipur, with the group stage concluding on January 8, just three days before India’s first ODI against New Zealand. Their group includes Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Goa and Mumbai.

Arshdeep Singh was Punjab’s leading wicket-taker in the 2024–25 Vijay Hazare Trophy, and his presence would be a significant boost, even if only for part of the competition. Punjab have not announced a captain in the official squad release.

Punjab 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.