Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) named their 15-man squad for their second match of the Ranji Trophy 2024 edition against Andhra with just one change. Mumbai have called up Indian batter Shreyas Iyer for the match starting January 12 in place of Shivam Dube, who has been selected in the Indian team for the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan. Iyer, who was ignored for the Afghanistan T20Is with the seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back, had a disappointing Test series against South Africa and will be looking to get into some run-scoring form with England series to follow.
Iyer returned scores of 31, 6, 0 and 4* in the four innings in two Tests against the Proteas and failed to read the moving ball. However, in Indian conditions, he will be the middle-order enforcer the Rohit Sharma-led side will require given there is no Rishabh Pant and pitches are likely to turn square.
Apart from Iyer, another change in the squad was with respect to captaincy as the veteran Ajinkya Rahane has been handed the responsibility, as he replaced all-rounder Shams Mulani, who led the side against Bihar but retains his place in the squad.
Mumbai began their Ranji Trophy 2024 campaign with a bang as they beat Bihar by an innings and 51 runs. Mohit Avasthi was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai as he took a six-wicket haul in the first innings while Shivam Dube added four wickets to his two in the first innings to end up with six wickets himself as the hosts were bowled out for 100 each in both innings. Dube's bowling form is a good sign for India given the Men in Blue continue to find Hardik Pandya's backup.
Mumbai squad for Ranji Trophy match against Andhra: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Jay Bista, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal, Suved Parkar, Prasad Pawar (WK), Hardik Tamore (WK), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Mohit Awasthi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Roystan Dias, Sylvester Dsouza
