Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has once again been ignored by the Indian selector for doing nothing wrong as he was not considered for the Indian cricket team’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. He was dropped from the Indian squad for the upcoming limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.
However, Gaikwad returned as captain of his state team, Maharashtra, following yet another setback from the national selectors. The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) has announced its probable squad for the upcoming 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season.
Maharashtra announce Ruturaj Gaikwad as new Ranji Trophy captain after being snubbed from Indian squad
Former Mumbai batsman and wicket-keeper Sulakshan Kulkarni has been appointed as the new head coach of the Maharashtra cricket team for the upcoming Ranjit Trophy season 2024-25. On the other hand, Gaikwad has been named as the captain of Maharashtra for the illustrious first-class tournament. He has previously led Maharashtra’s List-A and T20 teams.
Gaikwad has replaced Kedar Jadhav as the captain of Maharashtra for the Ranji Trophy after the Indian cricketer announced his retirement from all forms of the game last month. Notably, Sulakshan Kulkarni has replaced Santosh Jedhe as the head coach of the Maharashtra cricket team.
On July 25, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) announced on social media the probable 28-member squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2024-25. This will be a fresh start for the Maharashtra team as many senior players retired from the game under Kulkarni and Gaikwad’s new captaincy.
Notably, Gaikwad was also one of the strongest candidates for India’s T20I captaincy but was overlooked for the role along with a spot in the white-ball squad, and went ahead with Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the T20Is with the Gujarat Titans captain being named vice-captain.
Here is the probable Maharashtra squad for Ranji Trophy 2024-25:
Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Ankeet Bawane, Nikhil Naik, Siddesh Veer, Sachin Dhas, Harshal Kate, Yash Kshrisagar, Archin Kulkarni, Rahul Tripathi, Digvijay Patil, Azim Kazi, Siddharth Mhatre, Mehul Patel, Murtaza Trunkwala, Saurabh Navale, Mandar Bhandari , Hitesh Walunj, Vicky Ostwal, Satyajeet Bachhav, Taranjit Singh Dhillon, Parashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ramkrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Chaudhary, Pradeep Dadhe, Manoj Ingale, Rajneesh Gurbani, Vaibhav Gosavi.
New season, new squad! 💪 Here is our probable squad for the upcoming 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. The stage is set for another exciting season! #mca #maharashtracricketassociation #ranjitrophy #squadannouncement #maharashtracricket #cricket #ruturajgaikwad pic.twitter.com/DfdYtllcVC
— Maharashtra Cricket Association (@MahaCricket) July 25, 2024
Meanwhile, the 2024-25 domestic cricket season will have a longer break between matches to give players ample recovery time and ensure they perform optimally throughout the season. Also, the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy will be held in two phases.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement: “The season will begin with the Duleep Trophy tournament, which will involve four teams selected by the national selectors. This will be followed by the Iran Cup tournament. These will be followed by two tournaments – the first five league matches (per team) of the Ranji Trophy, followed by the T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and the 50-overs tournament, the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The season will conclude with the remaining two league matches of the Ranji Trophy and the knockout stages.”