Prithvi Shaw takes over captaincy from Ruturaj Gaikwad in a colossal move

In a massive development, the 26-year-old talented Indian batsman Prithvi Shaw is all set to replace the star batter Ruturaj Gaikwad as the skipper of Team Maharashtra.

Prithvi Shaw will replace Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain and will be leading Team Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 league stage phase.

Ruturaj Gaikwad to miss action for Maharashtra

Gaikwad, who leads the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is among the unfortunate cricketers in India who don't get consistent opportunities despite performing well due to India's stacked line-ups across formats.

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He has played 23 T20Is and 6 ODIs for the India National Cricket Team. His last appearance in ODI cricket came on December 19, 2023, in Gqeberha, and his last T20I outing was against Zimbabwe in Harare on July 13, 2024.

Despite being out of the setup, Ruturaj Gaikwad didn't stop the grind, and now he has been rewarded by the Ajit Agarkar-led Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee.

He has been named in the ODI squad of India for the home series against the South Africa National Cricket Team and will be fighting Yashasvi Jaiswal for a place at the top order.

Ruturaj Gaikwad's selection comes on the back of his heroics for India A in the recently concluded three-match One-Day series against South Africa A, where he finished as the leading run-scorer.

The talented right-handed batsman blasted 210 runs across three innings, with a stunning knock of 117 runs off 129 deliveries in the opening fixture, and won the Player of the Series award as well.

Prithvi Shaw to replace Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 will start on November 26, and it will clash with the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa, which will be played on November 30, December 3, and December 6.

With the exit of Ruturaj Gaikwad from the squad, the Maharashtra selection committee has decided to hand the leadership responsibility to Prithvi Shaw, who is set to lead Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy league phase.

Notably, Ruturaj Gaikwad was initially named captain on Friday when the Maharashtra announced the 16-member squad for the competition, and no vice-captain was named.

"On Sunday, multiple sources within the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) confirmed that Shaw will be elevated to captaincy once Gaikwad departs. The selectors and team management had already sounded out Shaw about taking over the leadership if required, and the opener had been advised to be prepared for the role," the report in Sportstar read.

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Updated Maharashtra Squad:

Prithvi Shaw (C), Arshin Kulkarni, Rahul Tripathi, Azim Kazi, Nikhil Naik (WK), Ramakrishna Ghosh, Vicky Ostwal, Tanay Sanghvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Mandar Bhandari (WK), Jalaj Saxena, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Yogesh Dongare, Ranjit Nikam

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