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Follow UsThe 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy's league stage has come to an end and the teams are now bracing for the knockouts, with the pre-quarters having already begun. Big teams have had a mixed campaign as while Mumbai & Delhi have managed to qualify for the knockouts, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Gujarat have missed out.
However, though some big names have failed to qualify, there have been some notable IPL-contracted players - based out of those teams - who have done exceptionally well so far this season.
Plenty of non-IPL contracted players have made a name for themselves too, and franchises will surely look at these individuals if and when there's a requirement for a replacement during the 2025 season.
We look at the top performers, hits, misses and breakthrough stars from the group stages of the 2024 SMAT.
Top performers in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024
Hits of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024
- Abishek Porel showcased great consistency in the group stages of SMAT 2024, scoring 305 runs in seven innings at an average of 50.83 with three fifties
- He maintained a strike rate of over 175 in four of the seven games in the group stage
- He is only fifth Bengal batter after Sreevats Goswami, Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karan Lal to score 300+ runs in an edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Kumar Kartikeya (Madhya Pradesh)
- Kumar Kartikeya had a terrific outing in the group stages as he took 15 wickets in seven games at a bowling SR of 11.2, being the joint-highest wicket taker at the end of group stages
- He took at least one wicket in all seven games. He took 3+wicket hauls against big teams like Punjab, Rajasthan and Hyderabad
- He took 12 of his 15 wickets while defending targets, stopping batters from accelerating in middle overs while chasing
Mukesh Choudhary (Maharashtra)
- Mukesh Choudhary was the most successful pacer in the SMAT 2024 group stages, taking 15 wickets in six innings at a bowling strike rate of 8.8
- He picked up his best figures of 4/33 against Mumbai and a couple of three-wicket hauls against Andhra Pradesh & Goa
- He did well both while bowling first and defending targets, taking six and nine wickets respectively
- The group stages of SMAT 2024 saw Urvil Patel smash the second fastest hundred in T20s - 28 balls hundred against Tripura
- He then became the seventh batter to hit two centuries in an edition of SMAT, smashing an unbeaten 115 against Uttarakhand
- He has hit the most 6s in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 so far – 29 sixes
- Urvil was terrific while chasing in the group stages, scoring 247 of his 315 runs while batting second
Misses of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024
- Naman Dhir did not light up SMAT 2024 like he did in 2023, as the Punjab batter scored only 132 runs in six games, averaging 22.0, with no 50+ scores
- Playing in the middle order, the 24-year-old batter got starts early on but failed to capitalize and score big runs
- His failure in the middle order played a key role in Punjab failing to qualify to the knockout stage
- Vyshak Vijaykumar was very expensive throughout SMAT 2024
- The right-arm pacer picked up just five wickets in six games, conceding runs at a costly economy of 10.2
- His only good spell of 2/14 in 3.2 overs came against a far weaker Sikkim side. He conceded 40+ scores in four of Karnataka's six games
- Shahrukh Khan had a terrible season both with bat and ball as the big all-rounder scored just 139 runs @ 22.83 and took only four wickets in seven games at an E.R over 8.00
- He scored a few 30+ scores but all the said knocks resulted in losing causing as he scored at a mid-120 strike rate
- In games Tamil Nadu chased, Shahrukh had a strike rate of just 94
- With the ball, he completed his full quota of 4 overs only once and did not bowl against big teams like Karnataka and Gujarat
Breakout performance of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024
- Priyansh Arya brought his DPL form to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well as the Delhi opener scored 252 runs in seven games, striking at 191, with one fifty
- He smashed a terrific hundred against Uttar Pradesh and a 20-ball fifty against Arunachal Pradesh.
- His batting played a key role in Delhi topping the table and qualifying to the quarter-finals
- He showcased destructive batting across the tournament, maintaining a strike rate of 170+ in four of the seven games in the group stages
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