Mumbai, November 15 (IANS). Experienced Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane will captain Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) to be held from November 23 to December 5.
Meanwhile, fast bowler Tushar Deshpande is on the road to recovery after ankle surgery. Tushar, 29, performed brilliantly for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024 and played a key role in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy success earlier this year. It is expected that he will join the team in the second phase of Ranji Trophy starting from January 23.
Deshpande’s return will strengthen Mumbai’s fast bowling attack, which includes strong players like Shardul Thakur, Junaid and Mohit.
“Ajinkya will lead our team in the SMAT. He is leading the team well and we have achieved good results in the Irani Cup as well as in the current Ranji season,” a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official told IANS. Tushar is recovering at the NCA in Bengaluru and will be back for the second leg of the Ranji Trophy, which is important for us to have players like Tushar, Shardul and Mohit. “Staying with the main players.”
The biggest thing for Mumbai’s SMAT team is the return of Prithvi Shaw. 25-year-old Prithvi Shaw has played five Tests, six ODIs and one T20 match for India. He was left out of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad due to fitness and discipline issues.
Mumbai Probable: Prithvi Shaw, Ayush Mhatre, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Jai Bista, Shriraj Gharat, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Ishan Moolchandani, Siddesh Lad, Hardik Tamore (wk), Akash Anand (wk), Sairaj Patil, Akash Parkar. , Shams Mulani, Himanshu Singh, Sagar Chhabria, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Awasthi, Sylvester D’Souza, Royston Dias, Yogesh Patil, Harsh Tanna, Irfan Umair, Vinayak Bhoir, Kritik Hanagavadi, Shashank Atarde, Junaid Khan.
–IANS
AMJ/RR
