India’s biggest T20 Tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history is something beyond our attention. It has profound roots in Indian domestic cricket. However, many people in India want to become a cricketer because of the popularity of that game. The cricketers who play for India have a massive following like famous movie stars. Some of their fans measure their favorite cricket stars as gods.
However, playing for India is not simple. It is not enough to watch international cricket if we want to be a part of such a popular game. Especially those who want to choose cricket as a career should know about domestic cricket. Because whether you want to play for India or in the IPL, you have to show your talent somewhere at the domestic level.
Hence in each article of this domestic cricket category, we will learn about various tournaments organized by the BCCI at the domestic level and some other tournaments coordinated by the State Cricket Boards. However, in this article, we will know about the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy History
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is also grasped as the SMAT. It is a famous T20 tournament organized by the BCCI. Simply it is like a T20 World Cup for all states which are part of India. Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history is a tribute to Syed Mushtaq Ali, who played Test cricket for India from 1934 to 1952. The batting all-rounder played 11 Test matches for India, scored 612 runs with the bat, and took 3 wickets with the ball. However, Syed Mushtaq Ali scored more than 13,000 runs in first-class cricket and took more than 150 wickets. He is also the first Indian player to score a century in Test cricket in an away match.
SMAT is a domestic T20 tournament that was introduced before the inaugural T20 world cup. When T20 cricket was growing in 2006, the BCCI started this Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history by thinking that India should have a T20 tournament at the domestic level. Hence, the SMAT tournament started in 2006 as the Interstate T20 Championship and divided 27 Ranji Trophy playing state teams into 5 groups. In the first season, Dinesh Karthik led the Tamil Nadu team to win the inaugural T20 championship.
Hitman Rohit Sharma became the first Indian player to score a century in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history and T20 cricket by scoring an outrageous century against Gujarat in a league match. So the first season of the tournament did complete successfully. But after India’s historic victory in the 2007 T20 World Cup, a concept called the IPL disclosed this Interstate T20 tournament.
Therefore in 2007 as well as in 2008, the tournament was abandoned. In fact, the tournament has been replaced by a franchise cricket called Indian Premier League. However, BCCI relaunched the tournament in 2009. But this time, it began with a different name called Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Since then, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history has become a vital part of Indian domestic cricket. Since 2009 the SMAT tournament held every year, and it has completed a total of 14 seasons.
In the 14 seasons, the Tamil Nadu team has won the SMAT championship 3 times (2006, 2020, 2021), most by any team in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history. However, Baroda (2011, 2013), Karnataka (2018, 2019), and Gujarat (2012, 2014) have won the SMAT trophy twice, and these three are also the most successful teams. However, a fascinating fact, the number one team in the Ranji Trophy, the Mumbai team, has never reached the finals of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history.
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Mode Of The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
The knockout tournament is held in a round-robin fashion. The State Cricket Boards faced each other for 13 seasons, but in 2016, only the five zones in India have faced each other. In 2016, all the state teams in the south were in the south zone, the state teams in the north were in the north zone and the west zone, the east zone, and the central zone. Hence during 2016, only five teams have played in this tournament.
But before that, all the state teams were divided into 5 groups and played league matches against each other. The top 2 teams from all five groups moved further. They were divided into two super league groups to compete with each other as 10 teams tournament. The top two teams from these two super league groups have played the final match.
However, at present, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history slightly changed its format. A total of 38 teams were involved in the tournament. Those 38 teams were divided into 5 elite groups and one plate group. So there are 6 teams per group in 5 elite groups. That means a total of 30 teams are in these elite groups. The other 8 teams are in the plate group. Each team will play 5 matches on the league stage, no matter how many teams are in their respective groups. 4 points will be awarded for each victory.
The knockout stage will start after all the teams competed for five matches in the group stage. Then six teams will play 3 pre-quarterfinals in the knockout stage. Moreover, 5 teams go straight into the quarter-finals and wait for the other three teams. So the three teams that win in the pre-quarters will play 4 quarter-final matches with these five teams.
The teams that win the four quarter-finals matches will advance to the semi-finals. In contrast, the winners of the semi-finals will advance to the final. However, the qualification scenario of pre-quarters and quarter-finals is based on various factors. Specific knockout matches are fixed based on several teams’ final positions in the respective groups. Notably, this format is constantly changing by the BCCI. But Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 is played in the same format that we mentioned above.
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Stats Of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Baroda player Kedar Devdhar is the leading run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history with 2215 runs.
Gujarat leg-spinner Piyush Chawla is the leading wicket-taker in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history with 85 wickets.
The highest team total scored by a team in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history is 250 runs. In 2019, the Karnataka team accomplished this by scoring 250 runs against the Services team.
The lowest team total in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history is 30 runs. In 2009, Tripura was all out for just 30 runs against Jharkhand.
The highest individual score by a batsman in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history is 147 runs. Mumbai classy batsman Shreyas Iyer scored 147 runs in just 55 balls in 2019 against Sikkim.
How Did Players Select To Play Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
So mates, since this is a BCCI sponsored trophy, the players who play well in this tournament get better attention. Domestic players, who quote big in the IPL auction, are recognized for playing well in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So this Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is a golden opportunity to enter into the Indian Premier League. However, most IPL franchises draft young players who have played well in this tournament in advance and place them in their squad. Hence, those who have performed well in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy have very high chances of playing franchise cricket in the IPL.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is the largest domestic T20 tournament in India. Even Indian players who represent their country at the international level also play in this tournament. But to play in this Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, that player must be a member of his State Cricket Board. That means only players who play cricket regularly on behalf of their state team will have the opportunity to play in this Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Consequently, this tournament is also a state-level tournament like the Ranji Trophy. Hence, you definitely can play in this tournament if you are a member of your state team. However, from the district level, the cricket aspirants cannot play this Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
So, mates, this is the brief history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I hope this article is helpful for you. Thank you for reading. Have a nice day 🙂