Rahane will play Ranji Trophy under the leadership of Prithvi Shaw.

Former Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is expected to play for Mumbai in the 2019 Ranji Trophy season but will not be captain. The 33-year-old was heavily criticised following the South Africa Test series for his inconsistency over the previous two years, and he is now back in the Ranji Trophy to rediscover form. Rahane, on the other hand, will be playing for youthful skipper Prithvi Shaw, who won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021-22.

Rahane’s captaincy for India has been a significant bonus since he has yet to lose a Test match and has a perfect record in ODIs. His brave leadership in Australia demonstrated his abilities when things were not going India’s way, and he established himself as the best contender to succeed Virat Kohli as Indian Test captain until he lost his batting form. However, the forthcoming Ranji season would be an excellent opportunity for him to get some runs under his belt and maintain his place on the Indian team.

The Mumbai senior selection committee, consisting of chairman Salil Ankola, Gulam Parkar, Sunil More, Prasad Desai and Anand Yalvigi, picked young opener Prithvi Shaw as the captain of the 21-member squad. The 41-time Ranji Trophy champions and domestic heavyweights, Mumbai, have been placed in Elite Group D along with Saurashtra, Odisha and Goa. They will play their league matches at Ahmedabad.

The official added that Rahane has no objections to playing under Shaw as captain, and that the roster would be named within the next two days.

“Captaincy is not crucial for someone like Ajinkya, who has done what was thought to be impossible for a cricket captain,” an MCA official was cited by Cricbuzz as saying.

“He has committed to play as well as coach the team and assist restore Mumbai’s domestic cricket glory.” “He has no ego issues with captaincy and has no concerns with Shaw being captain,” the person added.

The Mumbai selectors have also put all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, the son of great Sachin Tendulkar, in the team.Other regulars in the squad include veteran wicketkeeper and batter Aditya Tare, as well as bowler Dhawal Kulkarni.

Rahane will be auctioned off for INR 1 crore in the IPL 2022 super auction, and it will be interesting to watch if the veteran finds a buyer despite his poor record now.

Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad: Prithvi Shaw (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aakarshit Gomel, Arman Jaffer, Sarfaraz Khan, Sachin Yadav, Aditya Tare (wicket-keeper), Hardik Tamore (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Aman Khan, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Prashant Solanki, Shashank Attarde, Dhaval Kulkarni, Mohit Awasthi, Prince Badiani, Siddharth Raut, Roystan Dias and Arjun Tendulkar.