BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) secretary Jay Shah has praised India’s senior players for participating in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25. Notably, several players such as Hardik Pandya and Shreyas Iyer are participating in India’s premier domestic T20 tournament sharing their experience and learnings with the youngsters.
Hardik Pandya and Iyer have already set the tournament on fire with their marvellous performances so far. Seeing them flourish, Shah took to his X account and mentioned how the competition and intensity has increased in the tournament with the presence of senior players.
“Great to see high competition and intensity in our premier domestic T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy with senior members of the Indian Cricket Team participating and playing alongside the future generation, sharing insights and learnings from their international careers. It’s a beautiful sight to see this side of the Indian domestic circuit where knowledge sharing and learning takes up a primary role, churning out the best in our players! @BCCIdomestic,” wrote Shah on his X account.
Iyer is the third-highest run scorer of the tournament so far having scored 233 runs from three innings at an average of 116.50 and a strike rate of 204.38 with one hundred and one fifty. He began the tournament with a breathtaking 130* (57) against Goa and followed it up with a 71 (39) against Maharashtra.
On the other hand, Hardik Pandya is the fourth-highest run scorer of the tournament with having accumulated 231 runs from four matches at an average of 115.50 and a strike rate of 211.92. He began with a match-winning 74* (35) against Gujarat and took on left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh against Tamil Nadu smashing him for 4 successive sixes and a boundary in the over, milking 29 runs.
Recently, Ishan Kishan also delivered a scintillating unbeaten knock of 77 off just 23 balls at the Wankhede Stadium, propelling Jharkhand to a dominant win against Arunachal Pradesh.
