Ranji Trophy 2017: Ajinkya Rahane remains unavailable for Mumbai’s opening encounter

Ajinkya Rahane, who is currently on a holiday, informed of his unavailability (Source: PTI)

Chief selector of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy side, Ajit Agarkar, has revealed that Indian opener Ajinkya Rahane will miss the opening fixture of Mumbai against Madhya Pradesh. Reportedly Rahane, who is currently on a holiday, informed of his unavailability.

Speaking to the TOI, Agarkar said, “He’s informed us that he’s unavailable for selection for this game.”

Rahane’s absence will surely be a big miss for the Mumbai side which will look to begin their campaign on a positive note and aim for a historic 42nd title. Led by skipper Aditya Tare, Mumbai will also miss quite a few notable names. Players like Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, and Shardul Thakur are all set to miss as they are featuring in the India A side.

Earlier, in the finals of the last season, Mumbai suffered a dramatic defeat in the finals after Parthiv Patel hit a magnificent 143. Set a target of 313, Gujarat chased down the total courtesy of Parthiv’s innings and several all-around contributions.

Squad: Aditya Tare (Captain), Surya Kumar Yadav (Vice Captain), Abhishek Nayar, Akhil Herwadkar, Siddhesh Lad, Jay Bista, Sufiyan Shaikh, Vijay Gohil, Akash Parkar, Roystan Dias, Minad Manjrekar, Aditya Dhumal, Shivam Malhotra, Shubham Ranjane, Eknath Kerkar.