Tare replaces Suryakumar Yadav as Mumbai captain

Aditya Tare has replaced Suryakumar Yadav as captain of Mumbai's Ranji Trophy team*. Yadav had resigned following Mumbai's innings-and-44-run loss to Tamil Nadu in Chennai. The loss, which came within three days, was only their fourth innings defeat ever in the Ranji Trophy, and their first since 1951.

Tare, the wicketkeeper-batsman, is one of the few permanent members of a developing Mumbai side. He has had a poor season with the bat so far, having scored just 199 runs from nine innings this season. But the selection panel led by Sandeep Patil considers Tare to be a better man-manager than Yadav.

Although he could not produce the results as captain, Yadav has had a good season with the bat. His aggregate of 485 runs at an average of 53.88, including two centuries, is second only to Shreyas Iyer's 495 for Mumbai.

Yadav's decision to quit midway through what has been a disastrous season for Mumbai so far was not expected. The stylish batsman was reprimanded by Mumbai Cricket Association officials after some of the players complained against him for using abusive language on the field and in the dressing room.

With Mumbai on the brink of elimination, the MCA officials deemed it to fit to try out a new captain. Yadav had no hesitation in accepting the proposal, and resigned on Sunday.

Mumbai have had a poor season so far, and are placed sixth out of nine teams in Group A with 11 points from six games. They have won only one match, against Uttar Pradesh, and even that needed a battling knock from fast bowler Shardul Thakur at No. 9 in the first innings. Mumbai lost to promoted side Jammu & Kashmir at home, and conceded the first-innings lead to Railways and Madhya Pradesh, the latter again at Wankhede Stadium.

Yadav was appointed Mumbai captain for this season in the absence of Zaheer Khan and Rohit Sharma. He was preferred ahead of Abhishek Nayar, who had led the side in a game when Zaheer was unavailable previous season.

Mumbai have two games left, against Baroda and defending champions Karnataka.

* January 26, 0500pm GMT. This article has been updated after Aditya Tare's appointment as Mumbai captain