Veteran India batter, Ajinkya Rahane, will reportedly play under Prithvi Shaw, who has been named Mumbai captain for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2022. The Salil Ankola-led selection committee is expected to announce the Mumbai squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2022 in a couple of days.
According to Cricbuzz, the decision to retain 22-year-old Prithvi Shaw as the Mumbai captain for the upcoming Ranji Trophy was taken collectively by the selection panel, Amol Muzumdar, and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), in consultation with Ajinkya Rahane.
Notably, Rahane had led India to an inspirational Test series victory in Australia last year, but he was recently sacked as the vice-captain of the Indian Test team due to his ongoing poor form with the bat.
Earlier, Rahane’s availability was a cause of concern for the MCA selection panel as the Ranji Trophy was originally due to begin on January 13 and he was in South Africa at that time, forcing Mumbai to decide to continue with Prithvi Shaw as captain.
However, now the veteran batter is available for the first-class tournament, but the think tank of Mumbai cricket decided to stick with their previous plans with Shaw leading the side in the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2022.
An MCA official told Cricbuzz: “Captaincy is not important for someone like Ajinkya, who has achieved what was considered to be impossible for a cricket captain. He has agreed to play as well as mentor the side and help restore the Mumbai glory in domestic cricket. He has no ego issues over the captaincy and has no problem with Shaw as the skipper.”
Noteworthy, the 41-time Ranji champions Mumbai are placed alongside the defending champions Saurashtra, Odisha, and Goa in Group D, and they will play their three league games in Ahmedabad. The Mumbai team will report in Ahmedabad by February 9.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
