Punjab has announced its 18-member squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh are also included in this squad. The arrival of three international star players puts the Punjab team in a strong position, as does the power-hitting team of Prabhsimran Singh, Naman Dhir, and Ramandeep Singh. Most surprisingly, Punjab has not announced a captain for the upcoming tournament.
Ahead of their squad announcement, there were heavy speculations that Shubman Gill can appoint as the captain of the team. That would be confidence booster for the batter after being snub from the T20 World Cup squad.
Gill to get captaincy?
Punjab’s 18-member squad includes Indian ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill, who was not included in the BCCI’s squad for the T20 World Cup. This year, Gill has scored 490 runs in 11 ODIs at an impressive average of 49. Meanwhile, Gill’s T20 form in 2025 was disappointing. He scored only 291 runs in 15 T20 matches, failing to score a century or even a half-century.
Looking at the Punjab squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, it boasts two in-form players in Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh. This will be Gill’s first time playing the field since being dropped from the T20 World Cup squad. However, Gill remains the captain of the ODI and Test teams.
Punjab has been placed in Group C for the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy. This group also includes Maharashtra, Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh, and Sikkim. Punjab will play their first match against Maharashtra on December 24.
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, Jashnpreet Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Harpreet Brar, Raghu Sharma, Krish Bhagat, Gaurav Chaudhary, Sukhdeep Bajwa