'Is this even a question?' - Rahane confirms Rohit, Jaiswal as openers for Mumbai's Ranji game vs J&K

Mumbai will take on Jammu & Kashmir in their sixth group-stage clash of the 2024-25 edition of the Ranji Trophy at the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in Mumbai on Thursday, January 23. For the unversed, Indian cricketers, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal, will be featuring for the particular fixture.

Mumbai skipper, Ajinkya Rahane, was rather startled at the query of the two Indian cricketers opening.

Is this even a question? For any cricketer, getting match preparation (and) game-time is really important. Obviously, there is no red-ball (Test) cricket at this moment. But, they are going to play white-ball (competitions)," stated Rahane, as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Also Read: 'He is hungry' - Ajinkya Rahane backs Rohit Sharma to score big on Ranji Trophy comeback

These things will really impact all the youngsters in the dressing room: Rahane

Rahane stressed on the importance of Rohit and unyielding youngster like Jaiswal's impact on the entire Mumbai unit. For the Mumbai captain, he believes that the challenge will lies in adaptation to the changing scenario

"(In the) last couple of years, he's been performing well for the Indian team (and) before that, going into the Indian team, he did well for Mumbai as well. It's good to have a guy like Yashasvi in the team who is really hungry and determined to score runs. These things will really impact all the youngsters in the dressing room," added Rahane.

Rahane emphasised on the ideal temperament the squad members should be possessing for the remainder of the campaign.

"The challenge is to adapt quickly as a team because everyone has been playing white-ball cricket since the last one-and-a-half-months. For us as a team, it's important to be in the moment, focus on our strengths. In red-ball (cricket), we've been doing really good as a team so it's all about staying in the moment, not thinking too much about the result and outcome," he noted.

Coming to Mumbai's standing in the current season of India's premier domestic red-ball competition, they stand third on the points table with three victories in five games. Ahead of the fifth round, Baroda and J&K lead Mumbai in Group A, who have accumulated 22 points so far. Their final league clash will be against Meghalaya.