India teammate and friend Rahul Dravid joins Shikhar Dhawan in honouring Dhawan’s 37th birthday

Shikhar Dhawan, the opener for India, has not participated in a game with a red ball for the past three years, but he has been chosen as one among Delhi’s 39 probables for the Ranji Trophy, which begins on December 13.

Outside of the Indian Premier League, the only format in which Shikhar Dhawan participates for India is the 50-over game. Both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy and the most recent Vijay Hazare 50-over tournament featured the 37-year-old veteran in a number of their matches.

On Monday, the legendary left-handed opener celebrated his 37th birthday with members of the Indian cricket team in attendance.

The final team for Delhi will be published on December 8 or 9, leaving them very little time to prepare for their first match, which will be played on the home turf of Maharashtra and will take place in Pune. This news came as a surprise to certain members of the Delhi camp.

“The team will benefit greatly from Shikhar’s many years of experience. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he will be able to participate in at least some of the upcoming games “said a DDCA source.

According to the probables list that was distributed by DDCA, all 39 members were expected to check in at Roshanara Ground on Monday morning; however, more than half of them did not appear.

The veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma, as well as Yash Dhull and Nitish Rana, who captained the team in both of the white-ball competitions, are all included on the Delhi roster. Along with the naming of the squad, the skipper for the Ranji Trophy will also be selected.

The health of the team’s pacers has been the primary source of concern, and the management is keeping their fingers crossed that players like Simarjeet Singh and Pradeep Sangwan will be able to keep up their level of fitness over the entirety of the season.

This season, under new captain Rana and coach Abhay Sharma, Delhi did well to qualify for the knockout stages of the SMAT tournament. However, their performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was less than impressive.