Suryakumar Yadav’s hopes of making a comeback to the Indian team suffered a huge blow as he was dropped from the Ranji Trophy team by Mumbai for their opening game of the 2025-26 season, which will take place on October 11 against Chandigarh at the Wankhede Stadium.
This will mark their first match since Siddesh Lad replaced Shardul Thakur as the permanent captain of the team.
Ahead of the selection announcement on Monday (October 5), it emerged that Suryakumar had made himself available for selection for the red-ball after giving the entire 2025-26 season a miss in the longest format while he was leading the Indian team in the T20Is ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup.
While Suryakumar led India to the title for the third time in history earlier this year, he was stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the squad immediately after that, with Shreyas Iyer handed the reigns. The T20 World Cup-winning skipper has not played any competitive cricket since the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) ended, where his struggle for form with the bat continues.
Aiming to make a comeback to the Indian team, Suryakumar will have to wait for the white-ball leg to play again. However, Mumbai’s chief selector Rajesh Pawar did not completely close the door on the 36-year-old and claimed he can make a comeback.
“He is a very big player, but he has not played red ball for 18 months. He needs to play matches and can make a comeback,” said Rajesh in a press conference.
While the squad for the upcoming matches is yet to be selected, Suryakumar could likely play for Mumbai on November 14 when the 2026 Syed Musthaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), India’s premier domestic T20 competition kicks off.
Ayush Mhatre Named Vice-Captain
Meanwhile, Mumbai have a big call in the leadership department and named teenager Ayush Mhatre as their vice-captain just months after he led India to the 2026 U19 World Cup title. He will also make a comeback to competitive cricket after a long layoff following a hamstring injury he suffered during the 2026 IPL while playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Meanwhile, star Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has been selected in the squad after making himself available.
Mumbai Squad for Ranji Trophy opener vs Chandigarh: Siddhesh Lad (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ayush Mhatre (VC), Divyansh Saxena, Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Suved Parkar, Aakash Anand, Hardik Tamore, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Awasthi, Sylvester Dsouza, Onkar Tarmale