Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022-23 | Ajinkya Rahane to lead Mumbai squad, Prithvi Shaw and Shardul Thakur also included in team

Duleep Trophy 2022 concluded recently and West Zone led by Ajinkya Rahane won the tournament. After being dropped from the national squad earlier this year, Rahane will be available for the domestic season and he will lead Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The tournament starts on October 11 and Mumbai will play its matches in Rajkot. 

Rahane will captain a star-studded team including players like  Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan and Shardul Thakur. The senior selection committee of the Mumbai Cricket Association(MCA) chaired by Salil Ankola, have also selected Shivam Dube as an all-rounder in the team. 

Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal can provide the team with some explosive opening stands while Sarfaraz is known for his attacking style of play coming lower down the order. Shardul Thakur will display his all-round skills while Shivam Dube’s power-hitting will strengthen Mumbai’s lower order. 

Mumbai are grouped together with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Railways, Uttarakhand, Vidarbha, and Mizoram in Group A. The team will leave for Ahmedabad on October 2 and play three practice matches against Gujarat and Rajasthan to prepare for the event. 

Mumbai SMAT 2022-23 squad: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Shardul Thakur, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Hardik Tamore (wk), Prashant Solanki, Dhaval Kulkarni, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Aman Khan, Sairaj Patil, Mohit Awasthi.