Mumbai have been bolstered by the inclusion of likes of Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Dhawal Kulkarni and Aditya Tare for their encounter against Tamil Nadu in Mumbai. The former three players missed the first game of their side due to Board President’s XI duty while Tare missed the game to be with his new-born baby. Tare’s comeback also means that he will take over the captaincy duties from his deputy Suryakumar Yadav.
However, the comeback of Shaw has created a selection conundrum as he is all set to regain his opening slot. Jay Bista has already scored a century in Mumbai’s first game against Madhya Pradesh, and it means that it will be Akhil Herwadkar who might be benched. Though it will not be an easy task for the captain to choose between the two.
The other comeback players would easily fit in the line-up as though Mumbai achieved the first innings lead in the first game, but the success mainly relied upon Bista and experienced likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Siddhesh Lad.
Dhawal Kulkarni will add much-needed experience in Mumbai’s pace attack, which is still quite young. The absence of Shardul Thakur will continue to hurt the 41-time Ranji champions.
The third round of the Ranji Trophy will start on October 24. Mumbai will face Tamil Nadu at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu have also included players Murali Vijay, Vijay Shankar and Baba Aprajith in the team. Vijay is making a comeback from an injury while the other two players were a part of Iyer led Board President’s XI squad which faced New Zealand in two practice games at CCI in Mumbai before to prepare for international fixtures.
Mumbai squad for Tamil Nadu game: Aditya Tare (Captain,) Suryakumar Yadav (Vice-captain), Abhishek Nayar, Akhil Herwadkar, Siddhesh Lad, Jay Bista, Sufiyan Shaikh, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Vijay Gohil, Dhawal Kulkarni, Akash Parkar, Royton Dias, Minad Manjrekar, Aditya Dhumal.