Mumbai, Maharashtra to play three-day practice match ahead of Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season

Pune, Oct 6 (PTI) India batter Prithvi Shaw will be up against his former domestic side Mumbai when he turns up for Maharashtra in a three-day practice match at the MCA Stadium in Gahunje from October 7 to 9.

Shaw, who made his First-Class debut for Mumbai in 2016-17 followed by his Test debut in 2018-19, had left his domestic side after the last season and joined Maharashtra, along with former Madhya Pradesh and Kerala spin-bowling all-rounder Jalaj Saxena.

Both Shaw and Saxena have been named in the Maharashtra squad which will also feature India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Mumbai are expected to be led by India all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who is slated to become the full-time captain of the domestic giants after Ajinkya Rahane stepped aside from the role in red-ball cricket.

However, Mumbai are set to be without India star Shreyas Iyer who has taken a break from red-ball cricket due to a back issue. Iyer had pulled out of India A’s second four-day unofficial match against Australia A as well as India’s two-Test series against the West Indies.

The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) has announced free entry for fans for this match.

Mumbai are expected to announce their squad for their Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season opener after this practice match, either on October 10 or 11.

The 42-time Ranji Trophy winners Mumbai, who are placed in Elite Group D, will face Jammu and Kashmir in their first match of the season in Srinagar’s Sher-I-Kashmir Stadium from October 15-18.

The other teams in Group D are Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Pondicherry.

Maharashtra, on the other hand, are placed in Elite Group B along with last year’s finalists Kerala, Saurashtra, Chandigarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Goa.

Maharashtra will take on Kerala in their first match of the season at Thiruvananthapuram from October 15-18.

Squads: Mumbai: Shardul Thakur, Musheer Khan, Akhil Herwadkar, Suved Parkar, Siddhesh Lad, Shivam Dube, Akash Anand, Hardik Tamore, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Himanshu Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Irfan Umair, Sylvester D’Souza, Royston Dias.

Maharashtra: Prithvi Shaw, Arshin Kulkarni, Siddhesh Veer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ankeet Bawane (c), Saurabh Nawale (wk), Jalaj Saxena, Vicky Ostwal, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dhade, Hitesh Walunj, Mandar Bhandari (wk), Harshal Kate, Siddharth Mhatre, Rajwardhan Hangargekar, Rajneesh Gurbani. PTI DDV ATK