Ranji Trophy: Batsman Suryakumar Yadav named Mumbai skipper

In-form batsman Suryakumar Yadav was on Monday named the captain of Mumbai's Ranji team a week ahead of the start of the domestic powerhouse's campaign in the prestigious cricket tournament. The 29-year-old batsman was in a red-hot form during the just concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a T20 competition in which Mumbai were out in the Super League stage. Though the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is yet to officially announce the 15-member Ranji squad, Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane and young batsman Prithvi Shaw are said to be among those included in the team.

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Since India's next Test assignment is in New Zealand in February, 31-year-old middle-order batsman Rahane is easily available to play for his home team for the next two months.

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"Going by the new constitution, they (ad-hoc selection committee) invited Surya and appointed him as the captain," a senior Mumbai Cricket Association official, privy to the development, told PTI. Yadav was replaced as the captain during the 2014-15 Ranji season mid-way and was also dropped in the last edition of the tournament.

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But all that is now past and Yadav would like to make a fresh start and turn the fortunes of the 41-time Ranji champions in the 2019-2020 season. A prolific batsman, Yadav's leadership skills will be tested in the new season. Yadav, who made his Mumbai debut against Delhi way back in 2010, is one of the senior players of the team. In 72 first-class matches, he has amassed 4,818 runs with 12 hundred and 24 half-centuries. Meanwhile, it has been reliably learnt that the Milind-Rege led ad-hoc selection committee of the MCA has finalised the Mumbai squad, though the association was yet to put it on its website. Mumbai begin their Ranji Trophy campaign against Baroda in Vadodara from December 9. 

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