Arjun Tendulkar included in Mumbai squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Sachin Tendulkar's son, the 21-year-old allrounder Arjun Tendulkar, has been added to Mumbai's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad. Arjun and Kruthik Hanagavadi were the two additions to the original 20-man squad Mumbai's new selection panel had announced on December 26. Suryakumar Yadav will be the captain and Aditya Tare the vice-captain for the tournament beginning on January 10.

Arjun, a left-arm quick and a left-hand batsman, has represented Mumbai Under-19 and India Under-19 in the past but this is the first time he has been picked in the Mumbai senior side. He was first picked for India Under-19 in June 2018 for two four-day matches in Sri Lanka. He has also bowled in the Mumbai Indians and India nets several times.

"We needed a couple of players, so it's better to include fast bowlers," Mumbai's chairman of selectors Salil Ankola told mid-day. "He (Hanagavadi) is a good fast-medium bowler and Arjun is a fast bowler too. He (Arjun) missed out in the first place."

Mumbai is among the six cities to host the league stage of the tournament and will play host to Elite Group E teams Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Puducherry.

Mumbai squad: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Aditya Tare (vice-capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aakarshit Gomel, Sarfaraz Khan, Siddhesh Lad, Shivam Dube, Shubham Ranjane, Sujit Nayak, Sairaj Patil, Tushar Deshpande, Dhawal Kulkarni, Minad Manjrekar, Prathamesh Dake, Atharva Ankolekar, Shashank Attarde, Shams Mulani, Hardik Tamore, Akash Parkar, Sufiyan Shaikh, Kruthik Hanagavadi, Arjun Tendulkar

Raina, Bhuvneshwar set to return to action

Suresh Raina, who hasn't played competitive cricket since IPL 2019, is set to return to action after being named in Uttar Pradesh's squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The 34-year old had been in the news for non-cricketing reasons in 2020. First he had abruptly left the IPL bubble in the UAE and returned to India citing personal reasons, and then more recently, he was arrested - and let out on bail - for flouting Covid-19 rules. Raina's last competitive game was the IPL 2019 final against the Mumbai Indians.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who sustained a thigh injury during IPL 2020, is also set to return to action in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Uttar Pradesh squad will be led by his Sunrisers Hyderabad team-mate Priyam Garg, who had also captained India in the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa last year.

Uttar Pradesh have been placed in Elite Group A alongside defending champions Karnataka, Punjab, Railways, Tripura, and Jammu & Kashmir. They will open their campaign against Punjab in Alur on January 10.

Majumdar replaces Easwaran as Bengal captain

Anustup Majumdar will lead Bengal in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, with the Cricket Association of Bengal saying that Abhimanyu Easwaran, the regular captain, was being relieved of the "burden of captaincy", PTI has reported. Shreevats Goswami will be the vice-captain in the 20-man squad, which includes seam-bowling allrounder Mohammed Kaif, Mohammed Shami's younger brother.

Thirty-six-year-old Majumdar had an outstanding Ranji Trophy 2019-20 season, scoring 704 runs in 13 innings at an average of 58.66, including two centuries and three half-centuries, and played a key part in taking Bengal to the final of the tournament with Player-of-the-match performances in both the semi-final and the final.

"CAB president Avishek Dalmiya and Hony Secretary Snehasish Ganguly spoke to Anustup Majumdar, Shreevats Goswami and Abhimanyu Easwaran and made them aware that the decision taken is only for the length of the tournament in question," the association said in a statement. "The selectors felt that without the burden of captaincy over his head Abhimanyu would be able to play more freely and deliver up to his potential."

Bengal are in Elite Group B of the T20 competition, with Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam and Hyderabad, and will play all their games at home in Kolkata. Their campaign begins with a game against Odisha on January 10.

Bengal Squad: Anustup Majumdar (capt), Shreevats Goswami (vice-capt, ek), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Manoj Tiwary, Sudip Chatterjee, Ishan Porel, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury, Vivek Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arnab Nandi, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Abhishek Das, Mohammed Kaif, Aritra Chatterjee, Suvankar Bal, Writtick Chatterjee, Prayas Ray Barman, Kaif Ahmed, Ravi Kant Singh

Yuvraj not granted NOC for domestic return

Yuvraj Singh, who had been part of the Punjab probables for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, has not made the final cut. Cricday understands that the 39-year-old has not been given an NOC for his domestic return.

Having retired from international - and IPL - cricket in June 2019, Yuvraj was requested by Puneet Bali, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) secretary, to come out of retirement and play for Punjab in domestic cricket. However, with Yuvraj having participated in the Global T20 in Canada and the Abu Dhabi T10 tournaments since retirement, his domestic comeback had to be rubber-stamped by the BCCI. While that hasn't come to pass, Cricday understands that Punjab are hopeful of having Yuvraj on board in some capacity in the backroom.

Mandeep Singh will captain the 20-member squad, with Gurkeerat Singh named as his deputy. Arshdeep Singh, who had a breakout IPL season with Kings XI Punjab earlier this year in the UAE, and fellow left-arm seamer Barinder Sran, who has moved back to Punjab from Chandigarh, were also included in the squad.

Punjab squad: Mandeep Singh (capt), Gurkeerat Singh (vice-capt), Rohan Marwaha, Abhinav Sharma, Prabhsimran Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Anmol Malhotra, Sanvir Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Karan Kaila, Mayanak Markande, Abhishek Sharma, Ramandeep Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Barinder Singh Sran, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Baltej Singh Dhanda, Krishan, Gitansh Khera

Ishant set to return to action in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

India seamer Ishant Sharma, who had missed a major chunk of the IPL and then the entire Australia Test series because of an abdominal muscle tear, is set to return to action in the upcoming 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. According to PTI, the 32-year old has been named in the Delhi squad, which will be captained by another India international Shikhar Dhawan.

Sharma had recently undergone rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, with the BCCI opting against rushing him into action in Australia. The board wanted to ensure Sharma was completely fit and ready in the long-term as India are scheduled to play a four-match Test series against England at home soon after the Australia tour. India will then tour England for another five-Test series in mid-2021.

The jumbo squad also included Unmukt Chand, the former Under-19 World Cup-winning captain, who has returned to Delhi after leading Uttarakhand last season.

Suryakumar Yadav to lead Mumbai

Suryakumar Yadav will captain Mumbai in the forthcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare named as his deputy. The 20-memeber squad features other IPL players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Dhawal Kulkarni and Tushar Deshpande. Shardul Thakur is currently with the national Test side in Australia as a net bowler, so he isn't part of the domestic squad.

Earlier this month, Yadav, Tare, Kulkarni, and Jaiswal had tuned up for the domestic season by leading four squads in the practice matches conducted by the MCA.

Mumbai squad: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Aditya Tare (vice-capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aakarshit Gomel, Sarfaraz Khan, Siddhesh Lad, Shivam Dube, Shubham Ranjane, Sujit Nayak, Sairaj Patil, Tushar Deshpande, Dhawal Kulkarni, Minad Manjrekar, Prathamesh Dake, Atharva Ankolekar, Shashank Attarde, Shams Mulani, Hardik Tamore, Akash Parkar and Sufiyan Shaikh

Former TN and CSK seamer Yo Mahesh retires

Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh, the former Tamil Nadu and Chennai Super Kings seamer, has retired from all forms of cricket a day before his 33rd birthday. He ends his career with 108 wickets in 50 first-class games to go with 93 wickets in List A cricket at an average of 24.67. His last competitive game was in August 2019, when he turned out in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL). His last appearance for Tamil Nadu was a List A fixture against Assam in Chennai in September 2018.

Yo Mahesh was among the first Indian domestic players to enjoy IPL success, emerging as Delhi Daredevils' highest wicket-taker in the inaugural season, with 16 strikes at an economy rate of 8.77. He then joined the Super Kings, and picked up three wickets in five matches, including a match-winning haul of 2 for 21 against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.

Multiple injuries then put him out of action, but after getting his knees operated in London, Yo Mahesh returned to first-class cricket after five years in 2017 and helped Tamil Nadu snatch first-innings advantage against Mumbai with two wickets followed by a career-best 103 not out.

Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma named Delhi coach

Rajkumar Sharma, a former Delhi first-class player but more famous for being Virat Kohli's childhood coach, has been named the head coach of the Delhi senior team for the upcoming 2020-21 season.

Sharma was the bowling coach of the team last season, when KP Bhaskar was the head coach. With Sharma's promotion, former India batsman Gursharan Singh has been named the assistant coach of the team. Singh, who played one Test and one ODI in New Zealand in 1990, coached Uttarakhand last year and has been involved with various state teams since 2007. Sharma had won the prestigious Dronacharya award - the highest government award for sports coaches - in 2016. He has also coached Associate team Malta, won the CK Nayudu Trophy (Under-23) as head coach with Delhi and also been part of a camp with the India A women's team as a coach.

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) also named Ashu Dani as the chairperson of the selection committee.

These appointments were announced after they were recommended on December 19 by the cricket advisory committee of the DDCA, which is now headed by Rohan Jaitley, son of the late Arun Jaitley, who also served as the vice-president of the BCCI and president of the DDCA.

M Vijay to skip Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy because of 'personal reasons'

Tamil Nadu opening batsman M Vijay has pulled out of the upcoming edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament citing "personal reasons", while K Vignesh, the medium-pacer, was not up for selection after testing positive for Covid-19. They have been replaced in the 26-strong list of probables by L Suryaprakash, a 31-year-old batsman who has played three T20s and eight first-class matches for Tamil Nadu, and RS Jaganath Sinivas, a 22-year-old medium-pacer with one first-class appearance.

The squad - headlined by players like Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Sandeep Warrier, M Ashwin and R Sai Kishore - will play three practice matches among themselves on December 19, 20 and 21 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai before the final squad is picked on December 21. Tamil Nadu are in Elite Group B in the tournament, scheduled to start on January 10 next year, along with Assam, Bengal, Hyderabad, Jharkhand and Odisha, and will play all their matches in Kolkata.

Vijay, now 36 and a veteran of 61 Tests, 17 ODIs and nine T20Is, played three matches for the Chennai Super Kings in the latest edition of the IPL, but without a noteworthy performance. He is vastly experienced in the format, having turned out in 169 T20 matches over the years, scoring 4223 runs at an average of 26.22 and strike rate of 122.19, with three centuries.