Ruturaj Gaikwad named Maharashtra’s Ranji captain as MCA announces probable team for the upcoming season

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has yet 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 team for the upcoming limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.

However, Gaikwad returned as captain of his state team Maharashtra following another setback given by the national selectors. The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) announced their probable squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season 2024-25.

Maharashtra announces Ruturaj Gaikwad as new Ranji Trophy captain after Indian selection snub

The former Mumbai wicketkeeper batter Sulakshan Kulkarni has been appointed as the new head coach of the Maharashtra Cricket Team for the upcoming season of the Ranjit Trophy 2024-25. On the other hand, Gaikwad has been named Maharashtra captain for the illustrious first-class tournament. He was earlier leading Maharashtra’s List-A and T20 teams.

Gaikwad has replaced Kedar Jadhav as Maharashtra's captain for the Ranji Trophy after the Indian cricketer announced their 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.

Taking to the social media platform on July 25, the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) announced the 28-member probable 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’s guidance and Gaikwad’s fresh red-ball captaincy.

Notably, Gaikwad was also one of the strongest candidates for India’s T20I captaincy, but he was ignored for the role along with a place in the white-ball team, going ahead with Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the T20I with the Gujarat Titans skipper being named vice-captain.

Here’s Maharashtra’s probable squad for the 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's our probable team for the upcoming Ranji Trophy Season 2024-25. The stage is set for another thrilling 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 see a more extended break between matches to give players ample recovery time and ensure top performance from them throughout the season. Additionally, the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 will be conducted in two phases.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said in a statement: “The season will kick off with the Duleep Trophy tournament, featuring four teams selected by national selectors. Following this, the Irani Cup tournament will take place. After these, two tournaments will be held: the first five league games (per team) of the Ranji Trophy, followed by the T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and the 50-over tournament, the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The season will conclude with the remaining two league games of the Ranji trophy and knockout stages.”