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India's premier domestic T20 competition returns for a new season, bringing new hopes for promising players and forgotten stars who will be eager to impress ahead of the IPL auction, scheduled to take place next month. Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT) 2025, which kicks off across four venues from Wednesday, promises to attract massive eyeballs due to its proximity to the IPL auction.
The much-anticipated return of Hardik Pandya is also expected to make headlines. The star all-rounder, who has not played competitive cricket since suffering a quadricep injury during the Asia Cup in September, would be keen to prove his fitness and form as India ahead of the T20 World Cup at home in February-March.
It is believed that Hardik will only play the shortest format to prepare for the marquee event next year, and SMAT will be an ideal platform for him to show his readiness before the T20 series against South Africa, which begins on December 9.
SMAT 2025 will be played in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Lucknow. Mumbai, led by Shardul Thakur, will enter the tournament as defending champions.
Baroda, who will hope that their star player, Pandya, plays the majority of the matches, have seven group games to play until December 8. Head coach Mukund Parmar is optimistic about the availability of the star India all-rounder.
"He has not yet joined the squad, but we expect him to play the majority of the games. His presence always provides a big boost to the squad," Parmar told PTI.
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav is expected to play Mumbai's group games and will be eager to get some runs under his belt ahead of the five-match series against South Africa. Tall all-rounder Shivam Dube is also expected to play for Mumbai in the group stage.
Ace spinner Varun Chakaravarthy will lead the Tamil Nadu squad, while Kerala captain Sanju Samson's form will also be in focus.
SMAT 2025 will give a golden chance for Prithvi Shaw to revive his T20 career. Once dubbed as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Shaw has lost his way in the last couple of years. He even failed to find an IPL team in the auction last year.
After moving to Maharashtra from Mumbai in domestic cricket, Shaw would hope for a productive SMAT before the IPL auction to get back in the mix.
In the absence of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who will be on national duty with the ODI team, Shaw will lead the side in the group stage.
Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal would also be eyeing a revival of his T20 career.
Back to the home base after a spell with Uttar Pradesh, Nitish Rana will lead Delhi after a disastrous first half of the Ranji Trophy.
Assam captain Riyan Parag and MP skipper Venkatesh Iyer would also be looking to shine before the December 16 auction.
