MUMBAI: In a major setback for Mumbai at the start of the Ranji Trophy season, their newly appointed vice-captain Ayush Mhatre has suffered a recurrence of his right hamstring injury and has been ruled out for a month. The setback means the young opener is set to miss Mumbai’s remaining three matches of the first leg of the Ranji Trophy, TOI has learnt.The recurrence is a big blow for Mhatre, who was recently named Siddhesh Lad’s deputy for the Ranji Trophy by the Mumbai selectors.The top-order batter had earlier suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which ruled him out of the second half of IPL 2026. He was subsequently out of action for almost five months, missing the T20 Mumbai tournament in June, India A’s tour of Sri Lanka and the Duleep Trophy in August.Mhatre sustained the injury after scoring 48 on the opening day of Mumbai’s first-innings effort against Chandigarh at the Wankhede Stadium. He did not take the field on the second and third days of the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 match. The 19-year-old underwent scans on Monday, while substitute Suved Parkar fielded in his place.At the time of his injury during IPL 2026, Mhatre was CSK’s leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 201 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 177.87.Mhatre had undergone rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. The Mumbai Cricket Association’s (MCA) physio cleared him to return to the Ranji Trophy after he featured in the final round of the Kanga League, scoring 25 for Sainath Cricket Club in a ‘B’ Division match.His latest injury could open the door for in-form Kolkata Knight Riders opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 22, to earn a call-up for Mumbai’s next Ranji Trophy match against Himachal Pradesh in Bilaspur from October 18 to 21. Raghuvanshi has struck back-to-back double centuries, scoring 203 and 201 for the Rest of India Under-23 team against Tamil Nadu in Chennai and for the Mumbai Under-23 side against Bengal in Kolkata on Tuesday, respectively.At Mumbai’s pre-season press conference, Mhatre had spoken about his preparations following a lengthy injury layoff. With captain Siddhesh Lad seated beside him, he said, “I was in the nets for three weeks. So, the preparation is going really well. And I have got some games also in the CoE. We (the Mumbai team) played at MCA-BKC also. So, it was really good for us to spend some time on the ground. So, we are well prepared.“
