Rohit Sharma and Yashavi Jaiswal train with Mumbai Ranji Trophy team

For the fixture to be played at BKC, Mumbai have included India captain Rohit Sharma, who will play under Ajinkya Rahane. Similarly, Yashasvi Jaiswal – who was India’s best batsman in Australia – will also play the game and is set to open.

Apart from the two, Mumbai will also have Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube and Shardul Thakur for the fixture. The inclusion of big names means there will be a few compromises to make.

Yashasvi Jaiswal at the Mumbai teams Practice session at MCA ground in Bandra for the forthcoming Ranji trophy.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

If Jaiswal and Rohit are paired at the top then Mumbai will have to take a call on 17-year-old opener Ayush Mhatre who has been amongst their standout performers this season. It won’t be an easy call to leave out a player who has performed consistently across formats.

Sarfaraz Khan, who is suffering from a rib injury, will miss the fixture and so will his brother Musheer Khan who is recovering from a neck injury he suffered during a road accident in September.

With Rohit named in Mumbai’s 17-member squad along with fellow Test opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, a significant crowd turnout can be expected on the match day here at Mumbai Cricket Association’s BKC facility.

Rohit Sharma at the Mumbai teams Practice session at MCA ground in Bandra for the forthcoming Ranji trophy.
(Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

The BCCI has made it mandatory for centrally-contracted cricketers to play domestic cricket and three other Test cricketers.

Earlier this week, Rohit practiced with the Mumbai team at the Wankhede Stadium. The Delhi selectors have also named Kohli in a provisional team but his participation status is still unclear.

Rohit last played for Mumbai in 2015 against Uttar Pradesh. He had a torrid time with the bat during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with scores of 3, 9, 10, 3, 6 during the 1-3 loss in Australia. He opted to sit out of the final Test in Sydney and the team was captained by Jasprit Bumrah.