Mayank Markande sustains finger injury ahead of Irani Cup; replaced by Mumbai's Shams Mulani in Rest of India squad

Leg-spinner Mayank Markande suffered an injury to his right index finger while training for the upcoming Irani Cup. The injury effectively rules him out of the contest, which begins on March 1 at the Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior.

Mumbai all-rounder Shams Mulani has been named as the replacement for the Mayank Agarwal-led Rest of India (ROI) side. The Board of Cricket for India (BCCI) released a statement announcing the replacement player, which read:

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee named all-rounder Shams Mulani as replacement for injured Mayank Markande in the Rest of India (RoI) squad for the Mastercard Irani Cup.Mayank Markande injured his right index finger during training and has been ruled out of the tournament."

The leg-spinner rose to fame on the back of a prolific Indian Premier League (IPL) season for the Mumbai Indians (MI). However, he slid out of contention and spent a couple of seasons with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) before reuniting with the five-time champions. He was released from the squad ahead of the 2023 mini-auction.

Shams Mulani had a prolific domestic campaign for Mumbai. He was part of the winning squad that claimed the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in November 2022.

Shams Mulani and Mayank Markande both found suitors in the IPL mini-auction

Mayank Markande was roped in by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for his base price of ₹50 Lakh. He recently played the Ranji Trophy season for Punjab, where he claimed 22 wickets in six matches and also recorded a fifty.

Shams Mulani, on the other hand, was acquired by the Mumbai Indians (MI) for his base price of ₹20 Lakh. The all-rounder finished with 46 wickets in the Ranji season and was the second-highest wicket-taker, behind Jalaj Saxena.

Updated Rest of India squad for Irani Cup 2023

Mayank Agarwal (Captain), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yash Dhull, Baba Indrajith, Upendra Yadav (wk), Atit Sheth, Saurabh Kumar, Harvik Desai, Navdeep Saini, Mukesh Kumar, Chetan Sakariya, Akash Deep, Shams Mulani, Pulkit Narang, Sudip Kumar Gharami

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