Rohit Sharma Returns For Mumbai In Ranji Trophy 2024-25 vs Jammu Kashmir!! Yashasvi Jaiswal Included

The regular Test captain of the Indian side, Rohit Sharma, has returned for Mumbai in their 17-member squad for the next round of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 against Jammu and Kashmir, which will be played at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s BKC ground from January 23 (Thursday). The star batter confirmed his availability for the crucial fixture to the head of the selection committee, Sanjay Patil.

Rohit’s last appearance for Mumbai in the first-class format took place in 2015 at the Wankhede Stadium against Suresh Raina-led Uttar Pradesh, which was decorated with the bowling line-up of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Ankit Rajpoot, Kuldeep Yadav, and Piyush Chawla.

The Nagpur-born drilled a cracked 113-run knock in 140 balls at the number four position at a strike rate of over 80 in the drawn encounter. A recent slump in his form, where he was seen to score 91 runs in six innings at home against New Zealand, followed by 31 runs in five innings in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, pushed him to get back into the drawing board.

Ajinkya Rahane to lead Mumbai against Jammu and Kashmir; Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube return

The veteran got into a match stimulation during the tanning practice with Mumbai last week. The decision came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made it mandatory for the players to be part of domestic games and put their best effort into playing in the remaining domestic first-class season.

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Yashasvi Jaiswal has also found a place in the Mumbai squad. The southpaw was in decent touch in the five Tests down under with the help of 319 runs in ten innings at an average of 43.44 with the help of two fifties and one 161-run knock in Perth. With nearly 1800 runs at the age of 23, the batter has already cemented his position in the national set-up.

With Jaiswal and Rohit in the squad, there is little doubt about the Ajinkya Rahane-led side’s opening combination. The captain’s position alongside Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Shivam Dube have boosted their middle order. The vastly experienced Shardul Thakur has also been named in the squad.

But the star Mumbai side meant that the young opening batter, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, would miss out on the spot, but the MCA’s chief selector, Patil, in an interaction with Sportstar, claimed that the batter wasn’t dropped.

“Since there was no slot available, we could not accommodate Raghuvanshi. With Rohit, Yashasvi, and others available, there were three contenders for the opening spot, and that’s why, we decided to let Raghuvanshi play in the U-23 tournament and come back (hopefully) for the next game. In my tenure, not a single youngster will be dropped without enough opportunities.” Patil claimed.

He was happy to see the star Indian players returning to the domestic structure and felt that it would only strengthen their batting line-up. Hardik Tamore is expected to keep wickets in the fixture, with two potential spinners of Mumbai, Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani, making his comeback.

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Tushar Deshpande, who was injured at the start of the season, continues to miss out on the season. Mumbai is currently in the third position in Group A with 22 points from five games, with Baroda leading the table with 27 points, while J&K is placed second with 23.

A place in the knockouts is up for grabs, and the defending champions will hope to make the most of the home advantage with the experienced player’s comeback.

Mumbai Squad vs J&K In Ranji Trophy 2024-25

Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ayush Mhatre, Shreyas Iyer, Siddhesh Lad, Shivam Dube, Hardik Tamore (WK), Akash Anand (WK), Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani, Himanshu Singh, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Awasthi, Sylvester Dsouza, Royston Dias, Karsh Kothari