Prithvi Shaw Set to Debut for Maharashtra in Buchi Babu Tournament; Ruturaj Gaikwad Returns from Injury
Prithvi Shaw is set to don Maharashtra colours for the first time after being named in the state's 17-member squad for the upcoming All India Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament, scheduled to be held in Chennai from August 18 to September 9.
Shaw’s selection comes on the back of his high-profile transfer from Mumbai last month. The former India opener had requested a no-objection certificate after being dropped by Mumbai for the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, reportedly due to concerns around fitness and discipline.
Maharashtra will be captained by Ankit Bawne and will also see the return of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is set to play his first professional match since sustaining an elbow injury during IPL 2025. Gaikwad had featured in an India A intra-squad warm-up match before India’s Test tour of England but has not played competitively since.
Both Gaikwad and wicketkeeper Saurabh Nawale are expected to miss the latter part of the tournament as they are slated to join the West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy semi-final starting September 4 in Bengaluru.
Young Blood Leads Mumbai
Meanwhile, Mumbai will be led by 18-year-old Ayush Mhatre, who captained India Under-19s on their recent tour of England and impressed in IPL 2025 with Chennai Super Kings. Mhatre was also the top scorer in the U-19 Tests against England, amassing 340 runs in four innings.
The Mumbai squad includes brothers Sarfaraz and Musheer Khan. Musheer returns to domestic cricket after recovering from a serious neck fracture sustained in a road accident last year. His only appearance since has been for Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 Qualifier 1.
Full Squads:
Maharashtra: Ankit Bawne (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw, Siddhesh Veer, Sachin Dhas, Arshin Kulkarni, Harshal Kate, Siddharth Mhatre, Saurabh Nawale (wk), Mandar Bhandari (wk), Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Dadhe, Vicky Ostwal, Hitesh Walunj, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
Mumbai: Ayush Mhatre (capt), Musheer Khan, Divyansh Saxena, Sarfaraz Khan, Suved Parkar (vc), Pragnesh Kanpillewar, Harsh Aghav, Sairaj Patil, Aakash Parkar, Aakash Anand (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Shreyas Gurav, Yash Dicholkar, Himanshu Singh, Royston Dias, Sylvester D’Souza, Irfan Umair.
The Buchi Babu Invitational Tournament will serve as a key platform for players like Shaw and Gaikwad to regain rhythm ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season.