Suryakumar Yadav leads Mumbai against Hyderabad as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy begins

Suryakumar Yadav begins his term as Mumbai's Twenty20 captain against Hyderabad in Kolkata on Saturday, as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy league stage gets under way

The Mumbai Cricket Association named Suryakumar Yadav captain of its 16-man Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad on November 9, and his first match in the role comes against Hyderabad at the Jadavpur University Campus 2nd Ground.

Mumbai are in Elite Group D, one of four eight-team groups, and will play all seven of their league matches in Kolkata.

The appointment caps an unusual start to the season for the batter, who was not picked in Mumbai's first four rounds of the Ranji Trophy and was handed the state's Vijay Hazare Trophy captaincy on November 5.

A white-ball brief

The association said Suryakumar would bring vast international experience, leadership and explosive batting prowess to the side, and the T20 job follows the one-day appointment made four days earlier.

"It is always a matter of immense pride to represent Mumbai," Suryakumar said after the squad was announced.

"We have a good mix of experienced players and exciting young talent, and I am confident that the team will come together, play with intensity and give its best in every match," he added, saying the aim was "to go all the way and bring the trophy home."

Mumbai's red-ball side is led by Siddhesh Lad, who does not figure in the T20 squad, leaving the two formats under separate captains.

Experience and youth in the 16

Suryakumar has Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande and Shams Mulani for ballast, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Hardik Tamore the two wicketkeepers.

Shardul returns from a hand injury that kept him out of the first leg of the Ranji Trophy, and his availability gives Mumbai a seam-bowling all-rounder at the top of a short tournament.

The younger half of the squad is Musheer Khan, Suved Parkar, Divyansh Saxena, Sairaj Patil, Atharva Ankolekar, Maxwell Swaminathan, Mohit Avasthi and Sylvester D'Souza.

Three players were unavailable. Shreyas Iyer is on India duty, while Tanush Kotian and Suryansh Shedge are with India A at the Rising Stars Asia Cup.

Milind to lead Hyderabad

Hyderabad named their squad on November 7, with left-arm seamer C V Milind as captain and M Abhirath Reddy as his deputy.

Opening batter Tanmay Agarwal, who has led the side in the past, is in a 17-man group that also carries Rahul Buddhi, Tanay Thyagarajan, Ganesh Gadugu and the wicketkeepers Rahul Radesh and M Sai Pragnay Reddy.

Five more players — A Vaishnav Reddy, P Sai Vikas Reddy, R Dinesh Rathod, Ashish Srivastav and G Anikethreddy — were listed as standbys for the matches in Bengal.

Seven matches in Kolkata

Group D puts Mumbai and Hyderabad alongside Gujarat, Goa, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Uttarakhand, with each side meeting the other seven once.

After Hyderabad on Saturday, Mumbai meet Gujarat on November 16, Goa on November 18 and Vidarbha on November 20.

Chhattisgarh follow on November 22, Odisha on November 24 and Uttarakhand on November 26, closing a group programme played entirely in one city across 13 days.

Into the Super League

The tournament runs with 38 teams, of which 32 are split into four Elite groups of eight and the remaining six play a single Plate group.

The top two from each Elite group go through to a Super League, which runs from November 30 to December 4, with the final on December 6.

That leaves every side seven league matches to settle its season, and Mumbai's begins first thing on Saturday morning.

Play at the Jadavpur University Campus 2nd Ground starts at 9am IST.