Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Five players to watch out for

The high profile domestic event Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 is all set to commence from January 10 and will be entirely staged inside bio-bubble. The matches will be played across six venues in India. The 12th edition of the much-awaited league will see its final match being played on 31st January, and Karnataka are sitting as the defending champions. Many big names will be up in the league, but there would be some players around whom the major focus will revolve, let’s take a look at them-

5. Devdutt Padikkal

Devdutt Padikkal - youngsters IPL

The IPL star for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2020 edition was no other than young Padikkal. He became the first player in IPL history to smash three half-centuries in his first four matches and eventually received the emerging player of the season award. He will go up with the defending champion side Karnataka in the upcoming SMAT for whom he made his debut only in the last edition.

4. Ruturaj Gaikwad

Gaikwad was another young man who came in all the bright colours for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2020 edition. Even though he tested positive for COVID-19 at the start of IPL 2020, he made a good comeback in the game and bagged three back to back player of the match awards towards the end. Overall, he has played 34 T20 scoring 1047 runs at an average of 36.10 and strike-rate of 132.19. He will be one man to watch out for in the upcoming SMAT20.

3. Suryakumar Yadav

If there is one man who is constantly knocking on the door of Indian management for a national call, it is Suryakumar Yadav. He bagged massive 480 runs in his account at a stunning average of 40.00 in IPL 2020. He has been playing for Mumbai in the domestic circuit since the 2010-11 Ranji season. He was also the most valuable uncapped player in IPL 2018, roped in by Mumbai Indians at INR 3.2 crores. He has a lot of experience in his bag and will be keen to score big in SMAT 2021.

2. Abdul Samad

Samad was another young man who made his debut in IPL 2020 edition alongside Sunrisers Hyderabad. He marked his T20 debut with Jammu and Kashmir in 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and will be up with the same team in the upcoming edition. He managed 111 runs from his bat in 8 innings he played at a strike rate of 170.76. He made his first-class debut with Jammu during the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy on December 9, 2019.

1. Ravi Bishnoi

Ravi Bishnoi turned out to be another top class debutant from the Kings XI Punjab side in IPL 2020. He stunned all the people with his classy spin tactics and scalped 12 wickets in 14 games. He rose to fame during the U19 Cricket World Cup in 2020, where he concluded his campaign as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament (17). He marked his T20 debut with Rajasthan in the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.