Rohit Sharma‘s return to Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team came at a cost, as 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre lost his place in the XI despite scoring a century in the previous fixture. Mhatre has had a phenomenal campaign so far that saw him scoring 441 runs in 6 matches at an average of 40.09, but he had to return to the bench as the senior India stars like Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal returned to Ranji Trophy after the national team’s poor Australia tour.
As Rohit flopped with the bat in the Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir, he was trolled by fans on social media for costing Mhatre a place in the Mumbai team. However, the teenage batter only had good things to say about Rohit, the man he idolises.
“Started playing cricket by watching him bat on television to sharing a dressing room with my idol was such an unreal moment. Lots of learning to take forward,” Mhatre wrote on Instagram while also sharing a picture with the Hitman.
In Mumbai’s last Ranji Trophy match, Mhatre scored 116 runs against Services. He has also made heads turn in white-ball cricket, scoring 458 runs since making his List A debut, averaging 65.42.
Not just Rohit but other senior India stars playing for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy also flopped. Be it Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube or even skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who is no longer on the national team’s radar, also failed to make their outing count.
It was another out-of-sort all-rounder, Shardul Thakur, whose century in the match, gave Mumbai a fighting total against J&K.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made domestic cricket mandatory for players, subject to availability, in its new 10-point diktat. Even Indian cricket stalwart Virat Kohli will be playing the Ranji Trophy in the next match.