On May 27, Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals announced replacements for star pacer Tushar Deshpande and Armaan Jaffer. Deshpande, who was one of the icon players of the league, will be travelling to England as he has been named in India A squad under the leadership of Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Royals have named Rohan Raje and Saksham Parashar as replacements for Deshpande and Jaffer respectively. A Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) official told PTI that Jaffer requested the board to release him from the league. He wants to play for Pondicherry.
Deshpande's run in IPL 2025
Representing Rajasthan Royals (RR), Deshpande did not have the best of the seasons. The pacer claimed nine wickets from 10 games at an average of 37.77. He conceded at an economy rate of 10.62 runs per over.
Deshpande will be returning to the first-class arena after more than a year. His last red-ball appearance was in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 final where he claimed three wickets against Vidarbha. So far, he has played 36 first-class games and taken 97 wickets at an average of 29.09. He has five five-wicket hauls to his name as well.
Maratha Royals appoint ex-Mumbai Indians opener as captain
Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals also announced experienced batter Siddhesh Lad as their captain for the third season of T20 Mumbai league.
Lad made five appearances for Mumbai this year in Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy clashes. He scored 145 against Meghalaya earlier this year. He returned to Mumbai in the previous season after spending a cooling off period for one year as he had represnted Goa in domestic cricket in 2022-23 season.
Former India assistant coach and Maratha Royals' mentor Abhishek Nayar is ecstatic to have Lad, especially for his ability to read the game.
"He is someone who reads the game well, absorbs pressure, and leads by example. He has played in every format, adapted to every role, and always delivered," Nayar said.
Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals full squad -
Siddhesh Lad (c), Sachin Yadav, Aditya Dhumal, Khan Awais Naushad, Sahil Jadhav, Naman Jhawar, Maxwell Swaminathan, Varun Rao, Rohan Ghag, Ajay Singh Janu, Chinmay Sutar, Irfan Umair, Parag Khanapurkar, Vaibhav Mali, Yash Gadia, Shashwat Jagtap, Rohan Raje and Saksham Parashar