Mohammed Siraj takes charge of Hyderabad for the Ranji Trophy with Chama Milind as his deputy

Mohammed Siraj will captain Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy 2026-27 after the state association’s senior selectors handed him the job

The Hyderabad Cricket Association confirmed the appointment after its senior selection committee met on Friday, naming the left-arm seamer Chama Milind as his deputy for the season.

It is the second time Siraj has been asked to lead his home side. He took the job on for two matches late last season, against Mumbai and Chhattisgarh, which brought a defeat and a draw.

The association said Milind would "assume the role of captain and lead the Hyderabad team" whenever Siraj is unavailable, a clause that matters for a side whose new captain belongs to India first.

A second turn in charge

The decision was taken unanimously at Friday’s meeting, and it arrives with Siraj barely out of a Duleep Trophy final that ended drawn and gave East Zone the title.

Hyderabad have cycled through leaders in recent seasons, and the selectors have now settled on the most recognisable cricketer available to them rather than on a specialist batter.

Fast bowlers rarely captain in the Ranji Trophy, where a leader is expected to stand at slip and think for four days rather than run in for twenty overs of it. Siraj will have to do both.

He has been a fixture in India’s Test attack for several years, which has made his appearances for Hyderabad the exception rather than the rule, and gives the appointment as much symbolic weight as practical.

Why the deputy matters

Milind is a Hyderabad regular, and the association set out his standing brief in the announcement itself rather than leaving the question to be settled match by match.

India’s home season overlaps the Ranji Trophy from end to end, and any seamer in the national set-up is an occasional presence in a state side at best. Hyderabad have planned for that from the outset.

A side that needs lifting

Hyderabad finished fourth in Elite Group D last season, with one win, two defeats and four draws from seven matches, a return that kept them well clear of relegation trouble and well short of the knockouts.

They move into Elite Group B for the new campaign, a reshuffle that hands them a different set of opponents rather than an easier one.

Draws have been the pattern more than defeats, which is the harder problem to solve. A side that cannot force results in the group stage does not reach the knockouts, whoever is leading it.

The association has also built a support structure around the team. Wasim Jaffer was appointed mentor on a two-year term in June, working under Ambati Rayudu, who became head of cricket operations at the HCA earlier this year.

Rhythm and the workload question

Siraj comes into the job after a stop-start few months, and has been candid about what the interruptions cost him. "Coming off a two-month break straight into a match, my rhythm wasn’t quite there. I’m purely a rhythm bowler," he said of his recent form.

That is the balance the season will test. A red-ball block at home is exactly what a bowler in search of rhythm wants, and captaincy is exactly the sort of addition that can complicate it.

He is not in India’s squad for the T20Is against Afghanistan that begin in Delhi on Sunday, which leaves the early weeks of the domestic season clear.

The season starts in October

Hyderabad open their campaign against Tripura on 11 October, the first of a run of group matches that will carry the side into November.

How many of them Siraj plays will depend on India’s calendar, and on how the national selectors weigh a domestic season against the workload of a bowler who has been among the most heavily used seamers in the country.

What the appointment is worth will be settled on the field from October, in the weeks when Siraj is available to lead.

Catch the match live updates, highlights, and full match coverage on CricRadio. Get fast, accurate, and ad-free updates throughout the game. Download the CricRadio app from the Play Store to stay connected. You can also get the live scores of cricket series directly on the CricRadio website for real-time coverage.