T20 Mumbai League: Suryakumar Yadav Triumph Knights’ icon player; Shreyas Iyer goes to SoBo Mumbai

India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav was named the icon player for the Triumph Knights Mumbai NorthEast, while Shreyas Iyer went to SoBo Mumbai Falcons in the icon players’ draft for the T20 Mumbai League, here on Friday.

The eight-team tournament is set to be played here at the Wankhede Stadium from May 26-June 8.

Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy captain Ajinkya Rahane will play for Namo Bandra Blasters, while India all-rounder Shivam Dube has been named in the roster for Arcs Andheri.

Indian Test batter Sarfaraz Khan went to Aakash Tigers Mumbai Western Suburbs, while Tushar Deshpande was allotted to Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals.

Shardul Thakur was allotted to Eagle Thane Strikers and Prithvi Shaw went to North Mumbai Panthers.

After getting almost 2,800 registrations for the third edition of the T20 Mumbai League, the player auction will be from a pruned list of 400 players here on May 7, said Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik.

Former India captains Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar will also be associated with the league but their roles will be revealed at a later date.

India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma was earlier revealed as the brand ambassador of the league which was previously held in 2018 and 2019.

Naik confirmed that Indian players, who will get ₹20 lakh each for their participation, have conveyed their availability for the tournament unless they are named in the national side or are suffering from any injury.

India are set to tour England from June 20 for a five-Test series.

“The Indian players from Mumbai have agreed to participate in the T20 Mumbai League, which will bring a lot of inspiration and energy to our emerging players to prove themselves on the larger platform,” Naik told the media.

“The eight teams will shortlist the players along with those who are in our system from the senior selection committee, U-23 and U-19 teams for the auction. The pool will be of around 400 players."

“But it will be important to have one player at least from U-19 in the playing XI and the squad strength will be of 18 players,” he added.

The T20 Mumbai League chairman Vihang Sarnaik said, “We will tie up with a ticketing partner which will be announced in coming days.”

Both the auction as well as tournament will be telecast live on TV.