Suryakumar Yadav appointed Mumbai captain for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026

Suryakumar Yadav has been named captain of Mumbai’s side for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2026 in India, which begins on Saturday, November 14. The move also confirms the return to action of the former India T20I skipper ahead of the domestic tournament.

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is India’s premier domestic T20 competition and will feature 38 teams divided into four Elite groups of eight and one Plate group of six. Organisers have scheduled the tournament to start on November 14, and teams are finalising squads amid headlines including reports that Hardik Pandya has been ruled out with injury concerns and Nitish Rana was not selected for Delhi.

Suryakumar was captain of India’s T20 World Cup side earlier this year in March and led the Men in Blue to what the source describes as their third T20 World Cup title. The tournament final against New Zealand was also noted in the source as his last match playing for India.

The source reports that Yadav’s form and consistency have been issues since the last IPL, with those struggles resulting in him losing his place in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team and featuring in the President’s Cup, a local competition. Those developments preceded Mumbai’s decision to hand him the SMAT captaincy.

According to PTI, Mumbai initially preferred Shreyas Iyer as captain but his unavailability prompted the selection of Yadav. The PTI report is cited in the source as the explanation for the late change in leadership plans.

On Indian Premier League matters, the source cites various media reports saying Rohit Sharma is set to be reappointed as Mumbai Indians captain and that Hardik Pandya will join the Punjab Kings in a trade involving Arshdeep Singh. The same reporting named Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma as other captaincy options for the five-time champions, with the decision ultimately favouring what the source describes as the most experienced player in the lineup.

Mumbai’s squad, as listed in the source, reads: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Divyansh Saxena, Suved Parkar, Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Sairaj Patil, Shivam Dube, Atharva Ankolekar, Shams Mulani, Maxwell Swaminathan, Tushar Deshpande, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Avasthi, Sylvester Dsouza and Hardik Tamore (wk).

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will open with a Plate-group fixture between Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur on Saturday, November 14, the source states.