Umran Malik replaces Mujtaba Yousuf in J&K’s Ranji Trophy squad

Speedster Umran Malik was on Friday named replacement for Mujtaba Yousuf in the J&K’s Ranji Trophy squad.

While Malik’s addition is a welcome step, Mujtaba’s exclusion is as surprising. He was the only left-arm pacer in the squad and has been left out without having taken part in the first game either.

Mujtaba has taken 12 wickets in 3 Ranji Trophy matches with the best of 6/49. The pacer has a terrific age-group record as well! However, in yet another bizarre decision, JKCA has left him out of the side.

Meanwhile, Umran, who returned from the ODI series against Bangladesh, will travel with the team to Ahemadabad for their next match against Gujarat.

J&K was thrashed badly in the first match by defending champions Madhya Pradesh at Jammu. They will be looking to make a comeback against Gujarat! The match is scheduled from December 20 to 23 at Motera.

J&K Squad for the next 2 Ranji Trophy matches

1. Shubham Pundir (C)
2. Fazil Rashid (WK)
3. Shubham Khajuria
4. Vivrant Sharma
5. Musaif Ajaz
6. Henan Malik
7. Sahil Lotra
8. Abid Mushtaq
9. Auqib Nabi
10. Yudhvir Singh
11. Umar Nazir
12. Suryansh Raina
13. Shivansh Sharma
14. Tahir Bhat
15. Rohit Sharma
16. Umran Malik