Mumbai batter Ayush Mhatre's return to action from a hamstring injury lasted only one innings as he suffered a Grade 4 right hamstring tear in the opening round of the Ranji Trophy, ruling him out for another month. This was Mhatre's first game in nearly six months after he had hurt his left hamstring while batting for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL earlier this year.
Mhatre damaged his right hamstring after opening the batting for Mumbai on Sunday, and did not field in either of the Chandigarh innings while the hosts completed an innings win at Wankhede Stadium. Mhatre sustained the injury while running between the wickets and was seen hobbling for some runs before being bowled for 48. While Mumbai captain Siddhesh Lad said Mhatre, their new vice-captain, will miss at least the next two rounds, Cricinfo has learnt Mhatre could be out for a month.
"It seems that he will not be with the team for some time now," Lad said after the game. "The way he was limping in the match, it does not look like he would be available for the second or the third match.
"It happened while running [between the wickets]...we had two or three simulations and club games and he also played at the BKC (Ground), and he was looking fine for the last three-four matches, but he felt something in his hamstring while taking a second run."
Mhatre had spent three months at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru for his hamstring rehab after the IPL injury before returning to Mumbai. Once he joined the Mumbai side, Mhatre participated in the pre-season camp in the build-up to the first round of the Ranji Trophy. Lad was also returning from an injury after he had dislocated his left shoulder while playing the final of the Mumbai T20 league in June.
"Yes, I think he looks very sad," Lad said of 19-year-old Mhatre. "He worked really hard in the off-season because he was doing rehab with me only at BKC (Bandra-Kurla Complex). And he was working very hard because he used to come from Virar (outside Mumbai) just to do his rehab and then go back. It happens, it's part of the game. But we will try and motivate him."
Mumbai could bring in the in-form 23-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi for the away game against Himachal Pradesh from October 18 as Mhatre's replacement. Raghuvanshi missed the opening Ranji game as Mumbai had Yashasvi Jaiswal to open with Mhatre. Raghuvanshi, meanwhile, featured in the Under-23 CK Nayudu Trophy where he smashed two double-centuries for scores of 201 and 203. Jaiswal will, however, miss the next game for Mumbai as he will head to New Zealand for the three A games, which means Mumbai will have to find a new opening pair for the next match.
Shardul Thakur to miss another game
Mumbai will also miss the injured Shardul Thakur for the next round as he is yet to recover from his finger injury. Thakur suffered a fracture on his right middle finger while training before the first-round fixture. The Mumbai camp is hoping to have him back for the third round, a home fixture from October 26.
Thakur was with the Mumbai squad a day before the clash against Chandigarh, but only did running drills with his finger covered. Thakur's last match was for West Zone in the Duleep Trophy was in the last week of August where he bowled 14 overs for just one wicket.
He was the Mumbai captain in the last Ranji season and was replaced by Lad for the 2026-27 campaign. Mumbai's pace bowling options in the win against Chandigarh were Tushar Deshpande, who took a hat-trick, Mohit Avasthi and Sylvester D'Souza.