Pant replaces Gambhir as Delhi skipper for Vijay Hazare Trophy

New Delhi [India], Feb. 10 (ANI): 19-year-old Rishabh Pant has replaced veteran Indian opener Gautam Gambhir as Delhi's captain for the Vijay Hazare domestic 50-overs tournament that begins on February 25. According to Delhi coach KP Bhaskar, Pant's appointment was a "consensus decision" to blood him for the future. "The selectors are looking at the future and they think Rishabh is the right choice," ESPNcricinfo quoted Bhaskar as saying. "They were thinking that there are four-five seniors in the team who can groom him. All the seniors - Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma - are there, and this is the right opportunity, so looking forward to the future," he added. The Delhi coach further said that the decision was made in order to reduce the workload of Gambhir. "We think Gambhir still has a lot of cricket left in him, so let him concentrate on his batting and get runs for us. Let him have a free mind," Bhaskar said. The 19-year-old recently made his debut for India in the third T20 against England but has been around in the domestic circuit for only two seasons. He had a breakout season in 2016-17 that saw him finish as the fourth-highest run-getter (972 from eight matches at an average of 81.00 and a strike-rate of 107.28) in the Ranji Trophy. Delhi will begin their campaign against Tamil Nadu in Cuttack. (ANI)