Indian cricket’s new batting sensation Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead Maharashtra in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, starting November 4.

Maharashtra are pooled in Elite Group A and will play their league stage matches in Lucknow. They take on Tamil Nadu in their lung-opener.

Gaikwad, who was the highest run-getter in Chennai Super Kings’ victorious IPL campaign, will have Naushad Sheikh as his deputy after KKR star Rahul Tripathi failed to recover from his groin injury sustained during the mega final.

Senior batter Kedar Jadhav has also been included in the squad along with another aggressive opener Yash Nahar.

“Rahul Tripathi, Siddhesh Veer and Rajvardhan Hangargekar were replaced by Swapni Gugale, Pawan Shah and Jagdish Zope,” Maharashtra CA secretary Riyaz Bagban was quoted as saying in a media release.

“Tripathi, who was made vice -captain could not recover from his groin injury which occurred during IPL finals and hence Naushad Shaikh was made vice-captain.

“Siddhesh Veer fractured his middle finger and Rajvardhan Hangargekar was selected to play U-19 Challenger Trophy tournament,” the release added.

The Maharashtra bowling attack comprises right-arm medium pacer Pradeep Dadhe, left-arm speedster Mukesh Choudhary and slow-left arm orthodox bowler Satyajeet Bachhav, who also can chip in with the bat.

Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Naushad Shaikh (vice-captain), Kedar Jadhav, Yash Nahar, Azim Kazi, Ranjeet Nikam, Satyajeet Bachhav, Taranjitsingh Dhillon, Mukesh Choudhary, Ashay Palkar, Manoj Ingle, Pradeep Dadhe, Shamshuzama Kazi, Swapnil Fulpagar, Divyang Hinganekar, Sunil Yadav, Dhanrajsingh Pardeshi, Swapnil Gugale, Pawan Shah and Jagdish Zope.