New Delhi: Team India all-rounder Shivam Dube has been withdrawn from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy 2025-26 squad ahead of their season opener against Jammu & Kashmir. He suffered back stiffness and flew home to Mumbai from Srinagar on Tuesday evening.
Dube is part of India’s T20I squad for the five-match series against Australia and is set to leave for the tour on October 23, reports ESPNCricinfo. The reason for his withdrawal is precautionary, as he has been an integral part of India’s T20I setup.
He had a brilliant campaign in the 2025 Asia Cup, where India captain Suryakumar Yadav used him as regular bowler. He played a crucial all-round role in the final against Pakistan, bowling three good overs for just 23 runs. He also scored 33 runs off 22 balls as the Men in Blue won the tense game.
Dube will return to the Ranji Trophy after the Australia tour. In his absence, Mumbai will welcome back all-rounder Musheer Khan, who missed the last season due to a neck and collar-bone injury he suffered during a road accident.
His older brother, Sarfaraz Khan, is also making a comeback from the injury. He was ruled out of contention for the recently concluded Test series against the West Indies due to a quadriceps injury. Shardul Thakur will lead Mumbai’s squad in the Ranji Trophy, taking over the mantle from Ajinka Rahane, who is also part of the team.
Mumbai, runners-up from the last season, are placed in Group D along with J&K, Hyderabad, Delhi, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The opening round of the new season against Jammu & Kashmir has been a rematch of last season’s group match, which Mumbai lost by five wickets at the Bandra Kurla Complex grounds.
Mumbai squad for Ranji Trophy opener against J&K
Shardul Thakur (c), Ayush Mhatre, Akash Anand (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Siddhesh Lad, Ajinkya Rahane, Sarfaraz Khan, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Sylvester D’Souza, Irfan Umair, Musheer Khan, Akhil Herwadkar, Royston Dias.