Mumbai: In a stunning development, which perhaps could even signal the end of his red-ball career, India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav was on Friday excluded from the 16-man Mumbai squad for the 2025-26 season-opening Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir at the Sher-E-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar from Oct 15.Led by Sanjay Patil, the senior selection committee—which also included former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar—named India’s Under-19 captain Ayush Mhatre in the squad. Mhatre will fly straight to Srinagar with the rest of the Mumbai team after arriving from Australia, linking up with the side at the Mumbai airport. The team will be led by India’s out-of-favour Test allrounder Shardul Thakur.
“No, SKY hasn’t been dropped. It’s just that his availability wasn’t confirmed for this match. The Mumbai Cricket Association’s staff tried to contact him (to ask if he would play in the match), but he didn’t give his availability for this match to us,” MCA secretary Abhay Hadap told TOI. An indication that SKY will possibly not be in the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team for the J&K match came when he didn’t feature in Mumbai’s three-day practice match against Maharashtra at Gahunje in Pune (which concluded on Thursday) either. “It’s fine because in any case, there’s no chance that he would be picked for India in Tests, or even the ODIs. He’s 35 now, and is playing only in the T20 format for India,” a source tracking developments told TOI.Surya scored 109 runs in three matches @21.80, including a top score of 70 in the quarterfinals against Haryana, but managed only 0 & 23 as Mumbai lost to eventual champions Vidarbha in the semifinals last season. In his nearly 15-year first-class career since debuting against Delhi in Dec 2010, he has scored 5,758 runs in 86 matches @42.33, with 14 hundreds, 30 fifties, and a top score of 200 against Orissa (now Odisha). He also featured in one Test for India, against Australia in 2023. This will thus be the first time in many years when Mumbai will play without their India’s white-ball batting stars Suryakumar and Shreyas Iyer, who has sought a six-month break from red-ball cricket due to back issues. Meanwhile, in a big boost to Mumbai, Sarfaraz Khan has returned to the squad after completing his injury rehab at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Sarfaraz had suffered a quadriceps injury while scoring back-to-back hundreds in the Buchi Babu Trophy and was forced to miss the Duleep Trophy and the Irani Trophy as a result. Also in the squad is all-rounder Shivam Dube, fresh off his heroics for India in their Asia Cup triumph in UAE last month. Led by new captain Shardul Thakur, the Mumbai team will travel on Saturday to Srinagar for the match. Veteran batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who quit the Mumbai captaincy in Aug, while pacer Tushar Deshpande and allrounder Musheer Khan are making their comeback to domestic cricket after missing the entire 2024-25 domestic season due to injuries.The squad: Shardul Thakur (Captain), Ayush Mhatre, Aakash Anand (WK), Ajinkya Rahane, Siddhesh Lad, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Sylvester Dsouza, Hardik Tamore (WK), Irfan Umair, Musheer Khan, Akhil Herwadkar, Royston Dias.
About the Author
