Following the injury of regular captain Shardul Thakur, India batsman Shreyas Iyer was chosen Mumbai’s captain for the remainder of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Monday.
Iyer, who sustained a spleen laceration and internal hemorrhage during the third ODI against Australia in Sydney in October of last year, is also returning from a protracted injury hiatus.
“Shardul has suffered an injury and has been advised to rest. We have other players such as Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav available, and Shreyas Iyer has been named the Mumbai captain for remaining matches,” a PTI report quoted Mumbai chief selector Sanjay Patil as saying on Monday without specifying the nature of Thakur’s injury.
Iyer, who is also India’s designated vice-captain in ODIs, was picked in the three-match series that will begin on January 11 in Vadodara against New Zealand, subject to his availability.
The remaining two ODIs against New Zealand will take place in Rajkot on January 14 and Indore on January 18.
“Shreyas Iyer will take over the leadership responsibilities in place of Shardul Thakur, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury and is currently unavailable for selection,” MCA secretary Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar said in a release.
Iyer will captain Mumbai in their Group C games against Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday and Punjab on January 8.
The Center of Excellence in Bengaluru will host the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout games from January 12–18.
