Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Dhawal Kulkarni ruled out of season-opener against Baroda

Dhawal Kulkarni, the seniormost pacer in the Mumbai setup has injured his hamstring during the warm-up ahead of the training session at the Mumbai Cricket Association's facility at Bandra-Kurla Complex on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old pacer has been one of the three captains during Mumbai’s below-par campaign last season where they finished 11th amongst 18 of the Elite A and B group. Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals mainstay was traded to the Mumbai Indians ahead of the next IPL season's auction, that's scheduled on December 19.

Last Ranji season, each of the lead pace triumvirate - Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande - had broken down at some point during the Ranji campaign, which resulted in the team’s debacle.

Royston Dias and Deepak Shetty are contenders for travelling to Vadodara as Kulkarni's replacement.

Amidst injury concerns and setbacks, Mumbai squad have received moral boosting session from legendary Sachin Tendulkar in presence of their coach Vinayak Samant.