Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Aditya Tare to continue leading Mumbai despite Suryakumar Yadav's return; Abhimanyu Easwaran back as Bengal captain

Mumbai: Senior batsman Suryakumar Yadav has returned to Mumbai’s 15-member Ranji Trophy squad for their game against in-form Saurashtra, after his stint with India A team in New Zealand.

The squad was announced by the Mumbai Cricket Association on its website on Thursday.

Additionally, regular captain Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead Bengal in their Ranji Trophy away fixture against Rajasthan from 4  to 7 February after the opener returned from the same tour as Surya.

Experienced wicket-keeper-batsman Aditya Tare will continue to lead Mumbai, whose game against Himachal Pradesh was called off due to wet outfield in Dharamshala on Thursday.

The 41-time Ranji champions will play Saurashtra next at Rajkot.

Surya was part of the India A limited-overs side, which played three unofficial ODIs and two practice games in New Zealand.

He managed to score just 60 runs in three unofficial ODIs, while he scored 50 and 26 in the practice matches.

Surya, courtesy the New Zealand tour, had missed the Ranji games against Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

He was leading the Mumbai team before he went to New Zealand, after which Tare led the side.

The Mumbai selectors have deposed their faith in Tare’s leadership skills, as he will continue to lead in the game against Saurashtra.

Young batsman Hardik Tamore makes way for Surya, while opener Jay Bista and another young batsman Bhupen Lalwani have retained their places.

Sarfaraz Khan, who notched up a double hundred after a triple ton at the Wankhede Stadium against Uttar Pradesh, is also in the side.

While left-arm spinner Shams Mulani and off-spinner Shashank Attarde continue to be in the side, the pace attack will be spearheaded by Tushar Deshpande with Royston Dias and Deepak Shetty.

Mumbai have a tough ask at hand to enter the knockouts and will need an outright win or even a win with bonus point to remain in the fray.

Former skipper Manoj Tiwary led Bengal in their home match against Delhi in Abhimanyu’s absence that concluded in Kolkata on Thursday. The match ended in a tie with both the teams settling for a point each after two rain-hit days.

Mumbai squad: Aditya Tare (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Jay Bista, Shubham Ranjane, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Parkar, Shams Mulani, Tushar Deshpande, Royston Dias, Shashank Attarde, Vinayak Bhoir, Aquib Kureshi, Bhupen Lalwani and Deepak Shetty.

Bengal squad: Abhimanyu Easwaran (c), Manoj Tiwary, Anustup Majumdar, Shreevats Goswami, Abhishek Raman, Koushik Ghosh, Kazi Junaid Saifi, Arnab Nandi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Writtick Chatterjee, Shreyan Chakraborty, Nilkantha Das, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Geet Puri, Raj Kumar Pal.