Ajinkya Rahane shall lead Mumbai’s long search of bouncing back after a miserable Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) Trophy campaign in 2020. Prithvi Shaw has also been named Rahane’s deputy for Mumbai’s league stage of the season-opening tournament, decided to be played from November 4 in Guwahati.
Along with Rahane, India’s Test vice-captain, being available, Shaw – who led Mumbai to a creditable Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph last season, was handed vice-captaincy.
Besides, the squad includes renowned performers like internationals Shivam Dube and Dhawal Kulkarni — seasoned pros Aditya Tare, Siddhesh Lad and Sarfaraz Khan — and promising youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Armaan Jaffer, leggie Prashant Solanki and allrounder Atharva Ankolekar.
The selection committee, led by former India pacer Salil Ankola, has made massive changes to the squad that had a forgettable outing in last year’s T20 campaign.
By Mumbai winning a solitary game from its five league encounters and finishing last in the group, the selectors have retained only 11 from last year’s squad of 22.
Left-arm pacer Royston Dias, who was left out last year despite being among the most consistent bowlers in the 2019-20 season, deservingly returns to the squad.
Also, former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha, who is involved in Olympic athlete mentoring, got involved with Mumbai’s squad during its preparatory camp on Monday.
