Ajinkya Rahane to lead Mumbai's star-studded squad in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy; Shaw, Shardul Thakur included

Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed as the captain of the star-studded Mumbai squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Since he was dropped from the national squad earlier in the year, Rahane will be available for the complete domestic season and will also lead Mumbai.

The former India vice-captain recently led West Zone to a title win in Duleep Trophy and will now don the captain's hat in the T20 tournament. One of the quickest batsmen in Indian cricket at present, Prithvi Shaw will open the innings for Mumbai. The right-handed batsman recently played one-day matches for India A and is close to an India recall. Yashasvi Jaiswal will partner Shaw at the top if Rahane doesn't open the innings.

Shardul Thakur, who isn't in the 2022 T20 World Cup squad, has also been named in the Mumbai squad. The right-arm pacer is likely to be included in the ODI squad for the South Africa series and will miss a couple of matches for Mumbai.

Sarfaraz Khan, who had a dream run in Ranji Trophy, will have the onus to give the finishing touch to the innings. He was in action for India A and West Zone recently. The right-handed batsman will play Irani Cup before the T20 tournament.

Shivam Dube, who has been out of the national team for 2 years, will hope to draw the attention of the selectors again. He can play big shots and can chip in with crucial wickets. Mumbai will open their campaign against Mizoram on October 11 in Rajkot.

Mumbai squad: Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, Shardul Thakur, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Hardik Tamore, Prashant Solanki, Dhawal Kulkarni, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Aman Khan, Sairaj Patil, Mohit Awasthi.