Ruturaj Gaikwad named Maharashtra captain for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was adjudged Emerging Player of IPL 2021 for his stellar performance with the bat, has been appointed as Maharashtra captain for the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, which is scheduled to begin on November 4. Gaikwad amassed 635 runs from 16 matches at an average of 45.35 in IPL 2021, and played a pivotal role in leading Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to their fourth tournament title.

Maharashtra, who are pooled in group A will play their league matches in Luknow, and will start their campaign against Tamil Nadu. Naushad Sheikh has been appointed as vice-captain of the team after Rahul Tripathi failed to recover from his groin injury sustained during the playoffs in IPL 2021. Experienced campaigner, Kedar Jadav has also been included in the squad, despite his poor run in T20 cricket in the past.

"Rahul Tripathi, Siddhesh Veer and Rajvardhan Hangargekar were replaced by Swapni Gugale, Pawan Shah and Jagdish Zope," Maharashtra CA secretary Riyaz Bagban was quoted as saying in a media release.

"Tripathi, who was made vice-captain, could not recover from his groin injury which occurred during IPL finals and hence Naushad Shaikh was made vice-captain.

"Siddhesh Veer fractured his middle finger and Rajvardhan Hangargekar was selected to play in the U-19 Challenger Trophy tournament," the release added.

Maharashtra squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Naushad Shaikh (vice-captain), Kedar Jadhav, Yash Nahar, Azim Kazi, Ranjeet Nikam, Satyajeet Bachhav, Taranjitsingh Dhillon, Mukesh Choudhary, Ashay Palkar, Manoj Ingle, Pradeep Dadhe, Shamshuzama Kazi, Swapnil Fulpagar, Divyang Hinganekar, Sunil Yadav, Dhanrajsingh Pardeshi, Swapnil Gugale, Pawan Shah and Jagdish Zope.