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Follow UsThe IPL 2025 Auction saw many new faces get their first IPL contract, and these new faces had a great opportunity to steal the spotlight by performing well at the 2024 edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The likes of Gurjapneet Singh (CSK), Vipraj Nigam (DC) and KL Shrijith (MI) are some of the names who've had an outstanding campaign and have stolen the limelight.
Let us deep dive and look into how all the IPL-contracted players fared in the group stages of SMAT 2024.
Chennai Super Kings
> Gurjapneet Singh had a breakout season, taking multiple wickets in four of the five games he played for Tamil Nadu in his debut season
> Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Anshul Kamboj both had a terrific campaign too, barely going wicketless in the games they played
> Ramakrishna Ghosh and Shaik Rasheed had a below-par season as they could not make much contribution
Delhi Capitals
> Darshan Nalkande had a spectacular group stages for Vidarbha, picking up 12 wickets in five games. This will add a lot of confidence to him heading into IPL 2025
> Ajay Mandal showcased decent all-round skills, striking at 198 coming down the order and picking up seven wickets with the ball
> Sameer Rizvi and Manvanth Kumar, who have announced themselves in local T20 tournaments, had group stages to forget in SMAT 2024
Gujarat Titans
> Shahrukh Khan, Anuj Rawat, and Kumar Kushagra all had average campaigns in the group stages as they averaged below 25, failing to contribute big with the bat
> Nishant Sindhu performed well with the bat, scoring 200 runs in six games. He started the tournament off with a big hundred against Andhra and also scored a fifty against Jharkhand
> Among bowlers, Sai Kishore, Arshad Khan and Manav Suthar all did decently for their state but Gurnoor and Kulwant failed to utilize the given opportunity
Kolkata Knight Riders
> Ramandeep Singh had an ordinary SMAT as the Punjab all-rounder as he managed just 81 runs and picked 5 wickets
> Anukul Roy started slow in the tournament. He managed to pick pace in the second half as he took 4/17 against Arunachal Pradesh and was decent in the last three games
> Vaibhav Arora and Angkrish Raghuvanshi had a quiet season, as their performance did not make much impact
Lucknow Super Giants
> Shahbaz Ahamad has had a decent season for Bengal, taking seven wickets and scoring 182 runs with the bat
> Yuvraj Chaudhary & Aryan Juyal both did well for their respective teams, scoring runs at a good strike rate with a couple of big knocks
> Among bowlers, all three pacers - Akash, Prince and Mohsin - did decently well. Spinners Digvesh and Siddharth gave their best in minimal opportunities
Mumbai Indians
> KL Shrijith had a good season, scoring 213 runs at an excellent strike rate of 176
> Raj Bawa did well for Chandigarh with both bat and ball, scoring 171 runs and picking up 12 wickets with multiple wickets in five of the seven games
> Naman Dhir and Robin Minz both had a below-par season for their teams, as they did not contribute much
Punjab Kings
> Suryansh Shedge & Priyansh Arya both showcased their quality, taking their respective teams to knockouts
> Vishnu Vinod had a terrible season in SMAT, scoring just 29 runs in six games, averaging 4.83
> Nehal Wadhera and Pyla Avinash succeeded only in a couple of their games, failing to showcase consistency
Rajasthan Royals
> Kumar Kartikeya Singh was the highest wicket-taker end of the league stage, with 15 wickets, as he took multiple wickets in five of the seven games
> Akash Madhwal took wickets at a nice rate, but he was expensive, giving away runs with the ball
> Shubham Dubey did decently well in the handful of games he played. The power hitter scored 91 runs at a good strike rate of 165
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
> Leggies Mohit Rathee and Suyash Sharma had a terrible run in the group stages of SMAT 2024 as they managed only a handful of wickets
> Manoj Bhandage had a decent run with the ball, with seven wickets. But, with the bat, he failed to deliver in key moments, scoring just 36 runs in five games
> Swapnil Singh and Swastik Chikara had a below-par season as they did not deliver in the given opportunities
Sunrisers Hyderabad
> Mohammed Shami had a great comeback to competitive cricket through SMAT as he managed to lead Bengal from the front, taking 9 wickets
> Harshal Patel and Simarjeet Singh also did well, taking 11 and eight wickets, respectively, at a good bowling strike rate
> Among batters, both Abhinav Manohar and Atharva Taide had a quiet season for their state teams
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