In-form batsman Suryakumar Yadav was on Monday named the captain of Mumbai’s Ranji team a week ahead of start of the domestic powerhouse’s campaign in the prestigious cricket tournament. 

The 29-year-old batsman was in a red-hot form during the just concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a T20 competition in which Mumbai were out in the Super League stage. 

Though the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is yet to officially announce the 15-member Ranji squad, Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane and young batsman Prithvi Shaw are said to be among those included in the team. 

Since India’s next Test assignment is in New Zealand in February, 31-year-old middle-order batsman Rahane is easily available to play for his home team for the next two months. 

“Going by the new constitution, they (ad-hoc selection committee) invited Surya and appointed him as the captain,” a senior Mumbai Cricket Association official, privy to the development, told PTI. 

Yadav was replaced as the captain during the 2014-15 Ranji season mid-way and was also dropped in the last edition of the tournament. 

But all that is now past and Yadav would like to make a fresh start and turn the fortunes of the 41-time Ranji champions in the 2019-2020 season. 

A prolific batsman, Yadav’s leadership skills will be tested in the new season. 

Yadav, who made his Mumbai debut against Delhi way back in 2010, is one of the senior players of the team. In 72 first-class matches, he has amassed 4,818 runs with 12 hundreds and 24 half centuries. 

Rahane, Shaw in Mumbai squad for Baroda game  

Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane and young opener Prithvi Shaw were named in the 15- member Mumbai trophy squad for their lung opener in the Ranji Trophy against Baroda. 

The two made it to the 15-member squad, which was picked by the Milind Rege-led ad-hoc selection panel. 

Mumbai, the 41-time domestic champions, play their first game of the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season against Baroda in Vadodara from December 9. 

Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Shivam Dube have not been picked in the squad as they are in the national team. 

Rahane, India’s Test specialist, will get good game practice as India now play Tests only in New Zealand after two months. 

The game would also be an opportunity for Shaw, who returned to competitive cricket after serving an eight-month doping ban in the Super League stage of Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, to redeem himself. 

The Mumbai squad otherwise looks more or less balanced. 

Regulars Jay Bista, Shubham Ranjane, Shams Mulani, and pacers Shardul Thakur and Dhawal Kulkarni are a part of the squad. 

According to sources, Mumbai’s crisis man Siddesh Lad will not be available for the first game as he is set to get married this Friday (December 6th, 2019). 

Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Aditya Tare (Vice Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw, Jay Bista, Shubham Ranjane, Akash Parkar, Sarfaraz Khan, Shams Mulani, Vinayak Bhoir, Shashank Attarde, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Dhawal Kulkarni and Eknath Kerkar

Vijay Shankar to lead TN in Ranji Trophy

Meanwhile, all-rounder Vijay Shankar was named captain of the Tamil Nadu team for the Ranji Trophy, beginning on December 9. 

The team was announced by the State Selection Committee of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association includes Test star R Ashwin and out of favour opener M Vijay. 

The team was selected for the first two Ranji Trophy matches against Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh which starts from December 9. 

Washington Sundar will join the team for the second match and K Mukunth will be released from the squad. 

Squad: Vijay Shankar (Captain), B Aparajith (Vice Captain), M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, K Dinesh Karthik, N Jagadeesan, R Ashwin, R Sai Kishore, T Natarajan, K Vignesh, Abhishek Tanwar, M Ashwin, M Siddharth, Shahrukh Khan, K Mukunth