Big stars, proximity to IPL auction give Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy massive context

Presence of a few frontline stars like Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami and its co-existence with the IPL mega auction has given the latest edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beginning across venues from Saturday, a meaty context. But interestingly, the players are not sewn by a common auction thread in the country's premier domestic T20 tournament.

Pandya need not to worry about impressing the IPL scouts after finding a place in Mumbai Indians’ retention list ahead of the auction on November 23 and 24 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The all-rounder’s appearance in Baroda’s jersey is more in line with the BCCI’s policy of leading cricketers mandatorily appearing in domestic tournaments. So, his aim will be to keep in touch with the game and possibly help Baroda to a rare title victory.

But Shami’s outing for Bengal is multi-dimensional. The veteran pacer will be eager to come up with a fine show to further underline his fitness after recently taking seven wickets for his state in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh. It's a chance for him to continue to chart his way back to top-level cricket, and his efforts here will also have a bearing on him boarding the flight to Australia, at least for the latter part of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

That’s the larger picture, but the 34-year-old will also be looking to get picked up in the IPL auction after getting released by Gujarat Titans. Considering his lofty pedigree and skills, Shami will certainly find a taker in the auction room, but a couple of power spells in the SMAT will add more gravitas to his profile when his name is read out by the auctioneer.

Similarly, Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai), who had led Kolkata Knight Riders to title in IPL 2024, and Yuzvendra Chahal (Haryana) will be looking to boost their already impressive IPL CV with fine efforts in the tournament. After all, in the pacy auction world, a recent productive outing can further add to the monetary value surrounding a player irrespective of his stature.

A quick rewind to Shah Rukh Khan’s value rising a few rungs after guiding Tamil Nadu to SMA title with a final ball six against Karnataka a couple of seasons ago will validate that point. This year too, a plethora of young and relatively unfamiliar names will be hoping to make this tournament a platform to attract big quids from the auction.

Bengal wicketkeeper batter Abhishek Porel, who was part of India A tour to Australia recently, can score runs at a furious pace and the 22-year-old would want to press his best foot forward in the initial rounds itself. Then we have Abhinav Manohar of Karnataka, who was let go by the Titans.

Abhinav garnered 507 runs at an average of 84.5 at a whopping 196.5 strike-rate in the KSCA Maharaja T20 recently, and he would be eager to further buttress claim with substantial knocks here in the middle-order. Young Manav Suthar of Rajasthan too fall in the same category, as he has already constructed the image of a thrifty left-arm spinner and a handy lower-order batter.

Along with these established and budding stars, an array of players, who have been pushed behind, such as Karun Nair (Vidarbha), Krunal Pandya (Baroda) and Deepak Hooda (Rajasthan) too will dream to resurrect their sagging IPL careers with some excellent outings in the event. PTI UNG KHS PM PM PM