Back Stiffness rules out Shivam Dube from Mumbai Ranji opener, with the all-rounder flying back to Mumbai.
Dube ruled out of Mumbai’s season opener due to back stiffness.
Due to back stiffness, all-rounder Shivam Dube was left out of Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy 2025–26 squad the night before their season opener against Jammu & Kashmir. On Tuesday night, Dube took a plane from Srinagar back to Mumbai.
Given that he is also a member of India’s T20I team, which is scheduled to go for Australia for a five-match series, the decision is thought to be preventative.
The captain of India, Suryakumar Yadav, frequently used Dube as a bowling option during his successful 2025 Asia Cup campaign. He was an important all-around player in the match against Pakistan. In Hardik Pandya’s absence, he was used as a new-ball option. He bowled three tight overs for just 23 runs before scoring a vital 22-ball 33 to help India win a close chase.
Mumbai will welcome back all-rounder Musheer Khan, who missed the previous season due to a neck and collar-bone injury he sustained in a car accident, while Dube will have to wait till after the Australia trip for a Ranji return.
Sarfaraz Khan, the older brother, has also returned from injury. He was sidelined for the just finished Test series against the West Indies because of a quadriceps ailment.
India all-rounder Shardul Thakur will skipper Mumbai, replacing Ajinkya Rahane, who is expected to stay in the game.
Along with J&K, Hyderabad, Delhi, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, Mumbai is in Group D. The current season’s first round matchup versus J&K has been advertised as a replay of the group encounter from the previous season, which Mumbai lost by five wickets at the Bandra Kurla Complex.