Shardul Thakur has been named captain of the Mumbai cricket team for the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season, with Sarfaraz Khan and Ajinkya Rahane included in the 16-member squad for their opening match against Jammu and Kashmir. Thakur takes over the leadership from Rahane, who stepped down before the season started.
Mumbai, the 42-time Ranji champions, will begin their campaign against Jammu and Kashmir at the Sher-I-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar from October 15 to 18. The team is placed in Elite Group D alongside Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Pondicherry.
The squad features seasoned players such as Sarfaraz Khan, who has been sidelined from the national Test team, and Shivam Dube, a regular in India’s T20I side. Musheer Khan returns to the squad after recovering from a car accident that kept him out last season.
Ayush Mhatre, who plays for Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings and has led the India U-19 team, is included. Notably absent are Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw, who sat out due to injury and transfer respectively, along with Suryakumar Yadav, who played last season’s Ranji semifinal.
The full Mumbai squad includes Shardul Thakur (c), Ayush Mhatre, Akash Anand (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Siddhesh Lad, Ajinkya Rahane, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Sylvester D’Souza, Irfan Umair, Musheer Khan, Akhil Herwadkar, and Royston Dias.
