Kulkarni to lead MCA in two practice matches

The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) have announced a 20-member squad for three practice matches against international sides in the build-up to the group stages of the Champions Trophy. Nilesh Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner, will lead the side against New Zealand and South Africa on October 11 and 13 respectively while Wasim Jaffer, the Indian opening batsman, will be in charge against Australia on October 15.

The squad includes promising middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma, who played in the Challenger Series in Chennai as well as Zaheer Khan, the Indian fast bowler, who has signed up for Mumbai this season. Fast bowler Kshemal Waingankar, who enjoyed a good stint with the Australian Centre of Excellence in the Emerging Players tournament earlier this year has also been included.

The selection committee informed that the Mumbai probables for the Ranji Trophy would be named after the practice games. Mumbai's opening Ranji Trophy game starts on December 1, against Hyderabad.

Squad Wasim Jaffer, Vinayak Mane, Nilesh Kulkarni, Rohit Sharma, Nishit Shetty, Bhavin Thakkar, Vinit Indulkar, Amol Muzumdar, Avishkar Salvi, Vinayak Samant, Zaheer Khan, Wilkin Mota, Abhishek Nair, Rajesh Verma, Omkar Gaurav, Praful Waghela, Kshemal Waingankar, Moondeep Mungela, Iqbal Abdullah, Aniket Redkar