Siddhesh Lad will lead Mumbai in the upcoming season of the Ranji Trophy after previous captain Shardul Thakur was sacked. The selectors decided to remove Thakur due to his workload. He was given the responsibility for the 2025-26 season following the end of Ajinkya Rahane’s tenure.
Mumbai have won the Ranji Trophy 42 times and made it to the quarterfinals under the leadership of Shardul. The new Ranji Trophy season will start on October 11, with Mumbai to compete against Chandigarh in their campaign opener.
A senior official of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has confirmed Lad’s captaincy move.
The 34-year-old had to serve a one-year cooling-off period before joining Mumbai as he played for Goa. Lad was magnificent with the bat in the last Ranji Trophy season. He amassed 774 runs from eight matches at an average of 77.40, including five hundreds and one fifty.
Meanwhile, Mumbai will have to pick between Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav for the leadership post in white-ball formats. The two players will be available, and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) have two quality options in front of them, but the international commitments will play a big role in deciding who gets the charge.
Iyer is India’s T20I captain, and he replaced Suryakumar Yadav after the 2026 T20 World Cup. Although India won the global tournament under SKY, the national men’s selection panel not only sacked him as skipper but also dropped the batter from the team.
Suryakumar is a proven leader, as India won all the bilateral assignments when he was leading the Men in Blue. He is also an experienced campaigner in domestic cricket.
Iyer has also been impressive as skipper and led Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in 2024-25. Mumbai defeated Madhya Pradesh in the final.
“Everything will depend on their availability. Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav are good leaders,” a senior MCA official told PTI.
Iyer is now leading India in T20Is, and Suryakumar is aiming to return to the national side. Mumbai will have to plan things accordingly rather than making a straightforward decision as availability would play a crucial part.