Shardul Thakur Removed As Mumbai Ranji Captain

Seasoned middle-order batter Siddhesh Lad has replaced Shardul Thakur as Mumbai captain for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season and either Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side in white-ball domestic tournaments depending on their availability.

Thakur has been replaced to manage his workload since the Mumbai think tank aims to maximise his value as the premier bowler in the red-ball team. He has also contributed heavily with the bat in crunch situations in the past.

It is for a second consecutive season that Mumbai will enter the Ranji Trophy with a new captain at the helm. Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Thakur had replaced Ajinkya Rahane.

Rahane, who retired this year in July from all formats, had led Mumbai to their record-extending 42nd Ranji Trophy title win in 2023-24 with a compelling victory over Vidarbha in the summit clash.

Mumbai will also be looking to maximise their leadership options in white-ball cricket with the incumbent India T20I captain Shreyas and his predecessor Suryakumar both in fray for the captaincy role.

“We have both Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav as the choice for white-ball captaincy, but it depends on their availability,” a senior official from the MCA told PTI.

Iyer had earlier replaced Suryakumar as the captain of the Indian T20I team, a few months after the latter guided the national side to their second consecutive and overall third title win in T20 World Cup in February this year.

Iyer, meanwhile, had also led Mumbai to Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy victory in 2024-25.

Under Thakur, Mumbai had finished at the quarterfinal stage of the Ranji Trophy 2025-26, losing to eventual runner-up Karnataka in the last eight clash at home.

The Ranji season will kick off on October 11. Mumbai will take on Chandigarh in their opening match of Elite Group D. The other teams in this group are Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Railways, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.

The 34-year-old Lad has been heralded as the new leader for his qualities of being calm and composed under pressure while also being consistent. He had joined Goa for the 2022-23 season but returned to Mumbai after one-year stint. Having spent the mandatory one-year cool off in 2023-24, Lad joined Mumbai ranks again in 2024-25.

Lad had a stellar season with the bat last Ranji Trophy season, scoring 774 runs in eight matches at 77.40 with five centuries and one fifty.