Bhoite replaces Martin as captain of Vadodara Ranji one-day squad

Vadodara, Feb 6 (UNI) In a surprising decision, the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) selection committee has removed Jacob Martin as captain of the Vadodara Ranji squad for the one-day championship to be played at Mumbai from February 10.

While replacing veteran Martin with all-rounder Ajit Bhoite, the 5-member selection panel headed by Dasrath Pardeshi, has sprung another surprise by dropping its regular opener Satyajit Parab from the 15-member squad announced here.

Taking exception to the manner in which he was removed from the captainship of the team, the 35-year-old middle-order batsman, who has been leading Vadodara Ranji team since 1999-2000 except for a brief period in 2002-03, has threatened to quit the team.

When asked, BCA secretary Kiran More washed his hands off the controversial decision saying he had nothing to do with the selection of the team, More denied having had any dialogue with aggrieved Martin on the issue.

Peeved by the selection panel's decision, Martin held coach Ashok Mankad responsible for his unceremonial removal from the captainship. BCA sources said the axe had fallen on Martin as the captain and the coach were not in good terms in the recent past perticularly after the side lost to Mumbai by 63 runs in the recent Elite Ranji semifinals in the home ground.

Under the captainship of Martin, Vadodara was West Zone champions in the last Ranji Trophy one-dayers played at Lucknow, and in the longer version of the championship this year topped the table in group 'A' with 17 points. But lost to UP and Mumbai respectively in the semifinals on both the occasions.

Team: Ajit Bhoite (captain), Pinal Shahv (vc-wk), Connor Williams, Jacob Martin, Rishikesh Parab, Rakesh Solanki, Rakesh Patel, Rajesh Pawar, Sankalp Vohra, Yusuf Pathan, Ketan Panchal, Hardik Parmar, Irshad Sindhi, Alpesh Patel and Hamid Ali.

UNI