Ajinkya Rahane to play for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy

Indian-middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane will play for Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy Group C match against Odisha next week, starting on Wednesday in Bhubaneshwar. Rahane had earlier ruled out himself from Mumbai’s season opener before joining the Indian squad for the 3-match ODI series against New Zealand. He will fill up the void left by in-form youngster Shreyas Iyer, who received a national call-up for the T20I series against the Kiwis.

Rahane will be available for Mumbai’s next two encounters, and therefore the reliable batter is set to play his first competitive game in a month, after featuring in the ODI series against Austalia. Apart from the senior batsman, paceman Shardul Thakur will also join the domestic set up as he will be playing his first game after missing out due to his inclusion in the Indian squad and India A team.

Selectors were not happy with Rahane

Rahane didn’t feature in the opening game against Madhya Pradesh because he was on a short break to Seychelles with his wife. And this particular move stunned the Mumbai selectors. “Frankly, the selectors were surprised, rather shocked and disappointed about it. They didn’t expect this from a dedicated player like him. India’s last ODI, against Australia, was on October 1. He was dropped for the ongoing T20 International series against Australia, and the first ODI against New Zealand is scheduled to be held in Mumbai on October 22.” a source in the Mumbai Cricket Association told TOI.

Generally, a two-week break is enough for a player. With Mumbai missing a few top players, Rahane’s presence would’ve really helped,” he added. But now that Rahane is back in the side, the 41-time champions will look to earn vital points and get a strong momentum after playing out a dull draw against Tamil Nadu.

Mumbai Squad:

Aditya Tare (c, wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Akhil Herwadkar, Prithvi Shaw, Jay Bista, Ajinkya Rahane, Siddhesh Lad, Abhishek Nayar, Vijay Gohil, Dhawal Kulkarni, Akash Parkar, Royston Dias, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Aditya Dhumal, Sufiyan Shaikh (wk).