Shreyas Iyer got a spleen injury during the Australia tour, and that kept him on the sidelines for over two months. On Monday, the secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Association, Dr. Unmesh Khanvilkar, made the announcement that the Indian batter is going to return to the field and also take the captaincy for the match between Himachal Pradesh and Mumbai in Jaipur. This announcement comes after the regular captain, Shardul Thakur, has been declared unfit for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 due to a calf issue.
“The Mumbai Cricket Association is very happy to inform that Shreyas Iyer is named as the Captain of the Mumbai senior men’s team for the rest of the league matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy,” said Khanvilkar in a statement.
Shreyas Iyer To Lead Mumbai In Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 First, the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence gave Shreyas Iyer a conditional clearance for play. He was then scheduled to be on the field for the Mumbai match on January 6. Besides that, the middle-order batter was also picked for the Indian squad for the New Zealand ODIs with the first one starting on January 11.
This match will be Iyer’s first competitive game since he left the ground in Sydney during the second ODI. If he manages to get through without any pain, then he will receive full clearance to join Shubman Gill & Co. for the three-match ODI series.
Shardul Thakur Injury Update
The 34-year-old fast bowler gave in to a calf injury on Monday. If Shardul Thakur stays away from the 50-over tournament, it will still be a question of who will lead Mumbai when Iyer returns to the international arena. The curler is anticipated to be sidelined for approximately three weeks.
As a substitute, off-spinner Shashank Attarde has been brought into the squad. The 34-year-old has so far taken one wicket in two List A games at an average of over 100 runs per wicket.
Thakur was the captain of Mumbai in their last match played against Maharashtra on January 3. He bowled 25 runs without success. The team faced a heavy defeat of more than 100 runs in their very first match of the tournament. In VHT 2025-26, Shardul Thakur has a total of 11 wickets which he obtained through five games.
Currently, Mumbai holds the second place in the Elite C Group of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. Having earned 16 points through four victories out of five matches, they are just below Punjab due to a slight difference in the NRR. To secure a place in the knockout stage, Mumbai has to win at least one of their two remaining matches against Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, which are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
Sarafaraz Khan, who was unable to play in Mumbai’s last match against Maharashtra due to quadricep pain, is also expected to be fit for the next game. He is the leading run-scorer for Mumbai with 220 runs in three matches, comprising a century and a half-century.
Download the CricInformer app
Take CricInformer with you. Get our app for cricket news and updates on your phone.