Ajinkya Rahane announces Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal's batting position for Mumbai vs J&K clash

Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane has confirmed Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be opening for the state team in the upcoming Ranji Trophy game against Jammu and Kashmir. The game is scheduled to be played from Thursday (January 23) at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC, Mumbai.

The India stars will be opening the innings for Mumbai in the Ranji clash. The opening combination will be Mumbai's third for the season. At the start of the season, out-of-favor India batsman Prithvi Shaw and Ayush Mhatre opened the innings for the domestic heavyweights.

However, Mumbai were forced to change their top order due to Shaw's poor form. He was replaced by young batsman Angkrish Raghuvanshi at the top of the order. For the upcoming game, both Raghuvanshi and Mhatre will make way for Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order.

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Ajinkya Rahane confirms Rohit Sharma and Jaiswal's batting position:

Speaking to the media ahead of the game against Jammu and Kashmir, Ajinkya Rahane delivered an update on Rohit Sharma and Jaiswal's batting position for the game. When asked whether Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal would open for Mumbai, the Mumbai captain was shocked at first, saying: "Is this even a question?"

Ajinkya Rahane further said: "For any cricketer, getting match preparation (and) game-time is really important. Obviously, there is no red-ball (Test) cricket at this moment. But they are going to play white-ball (competitions)."

Ajinkya Rahane also had a word of praise for Jaiswal, pointing out that the youngster has done well for India in the last couple of years. He also expressed his delight over having the young batsman in the team, saying that it will motivate other young players.

"...(In the) last couple of years, he's been performing well for the Indian team (and) before that, going into the Indian team, he did well for Mumbai as well," he said.

"It's good to have a guy like Yashasvi in the team who is really hungry and determined to score runs. These things will really impact all the youngsters in the dressing room," he added.

Meanwhile, Mumbai are currently in the third spot in Group A after winning three of their five league games so far. They are behind Baroda and Jammu and Kashmir. With Mumbai eyeing a spot in the quarterfinal, Rahane said:

"The challenge is to adapt quickly as a team because everyone has been playing white-ball cricket since last one-and-a-half-months. For us as a team, it's important to be in the moment, focus on our strengths.

"In red-ball (cricket), we've been doing really good as a team so it's all about staying in the moment, not too much thinking about the result and outcome," he added.

Meanwhile, Rohit and Jaiswal are set to play for Team India next when the three-match ODI series against England gets underway. The series will get underway on February 6. After that, both the players will represent the team in the Champions Trophy.