SMAT 2025-26: Shardul to lead Mumbai, Suryakumar likely to feature in four group league fixtures
Shardul Thakur will continue to lead Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, while Suryakumar Yadav is likely to feature in four group league fixtures before joining the Indian team for the T20I series against South Africa.
As reported earlier by Sportstar, the selection committee decided to continue with Shardul as the captain, as Suryakumar wouldn’t be available for the entire duration of the tournament. In the Ranji Trophy this season, Mumbai has had a successful run under captain Shardul, and the selectors believe that the continuity in leadership will help the team.
While Suryakumar and Shivam Dube are the major additions, the team also features Ajinkya Rahane, Siddhesh Lad, and Sarfaraz Khan. Rahane had a stellar performance last season, scoring 469 runs in nine matches at an average of 58.62 and a strike rate of 164.56. In the first phase of the Ranji Trophy this season, Rahane scored 209 in six innings, with a highest score of 159 against Chhattisgarh.
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The bowling department features the regulars in Tushar Deshpande, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian. However, Himanshu Singh, who played a couple of Ranji Trophy fixtures in place of Kotian, has missed out.
Among the youngsters, Musheer Khan, Ayush Mhatre and Suryansh Shedge feature in the team, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been named the wicketkeeper, along with Hardik Tamore. Raghuvanshi has been leading the Mumbai Under-23 team this season.
The defending champion will begin its campaign against Railways on November 26, and will take on Vidarbha (November 28), Andhra (November 30), Assam (December 2), Kerala (December 4), Chhattisgarh (December 6) and Odisha (December 8).
MUMBAI SQUAD
Shardul Thakur (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane, Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Siddhesh Lad, Musheer Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Atharva Ankolekar, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Suryansh Shedge, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Sairaj Patil, Irfan Umair.
Published on Nov 21, 2025
