Suryakumar Yadav, who is out of the Indian team, had expressed his desire to play for Mumbai in the upcoming Ranji season but he has not been selected for the opening match against Chandigarh. A source in the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) says that his continuous absence from the pre-season camp is the main reason for his exclusion from the team. An MCA source told news agency PTI on Tuesday that he had not participated in the pre-season training camp organized before the team's announcement.

Mumbai's red ball cricketers have been practicing for the last one month. He continued his practice on Tuesday also at the BKC ground of Cricket Club of India and MCA. “After all, it is a team sport,” the source said. He has not had the experience of red ball cricket in the recent past and everyone was unanimous about Suryakumar. The source said that keeping Surya would have meant excluding a young player, which is not appropriate.

Surya first said no then said yes

According to the PTI report, even when Surya was contacted about 10 days ago for the selection of Mumbai team, he did not respond and later he declared himself available. However, due to lack of experience in red ball cricket and not participating in the pre-season camp of 42-time Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, he was not included in the 16-member squad for the match against Chandigarh at the Wankhede Stadium from October 11 to 14. The doors of returning to the Mumbai team are not completely closed for Surya.

Will Surya get a chance in white ball cricket?

Immediately after IPL, he was seen playing in T20 Mumbai League. To get back into contention, they will have to play in club cricket competitions organized by MCA like Police Shield or Purushottam Shield tournaments. However, suspense remains regarding Surya's claim in white ball cricket. Mumbai selectors have told 36-year-old Suryakumar that his name will be considered for the upcoming domestic tournament to be held in the 2026-27 season. Suryakumar, who led India to the third T20 World Cup title under his captaincy earlier this year, is a contender for the captaincy of Mumbai but he will get this responsibility only if Shreyas Iyer is not available.

Meanwhile, former Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur is out for at least a month due to a hand injury suffered during training and will not be able to play some Ranji Trophy matches. Siddhesh Lad is likely to lead Mumbai this season. Apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan, Mumbai's team for the opening match of Ranji Trophy also includes Shams Mulani and Tushar Deshpande. These players were recently part of India A's 1-0 win in the unofficial Test series against Australia A.