Mumbai, Oct. 11 -- A few months ago, Irfan Umair was playing tennis ball cricket in the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL). He will soon board a flight to Srinagar to turn out for the Mumbai squad for their Ranji Trophy opener against Jammu & Kashmir to be played from October 15. At age 29, the pacer's entry into Mumbai's 16-member squad is a tale of perseverance. Moving to Mumbai from Ranchi, where he reportedly bowled to MS Dhoni at the nets, Umair spent nights at railway stations and took up odd jobs of being a waiter and chef. His talent was eventually spotted as he joined the MIG Cricket Club and made the probables for the Ranji Trophy and T20 Mushtaq Ali. Unable to break the door from there, he took to tennis ball cricket during the Covid pandemic to earn money. He then got a call-up to the second season of ISPL in February. Meanwhile, India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav is missing from the squad. India have a T20 assignment in Australia, with the first T20 on October 29. Sarfaraz Khan's return will boost the squad, which also features all-rounder Shivam Dube. Squad: Shardul Thakur, Ayush Mhatre, Akash Anand, Hardik Tamore, Siddhesh Lad, Ajinkya Rahane, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Sylvester D'Souza, Irfan Umair, Musheer Khan, Akhil Herwadkar, Royston Dias....