The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to shift the knockouts of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy from Indore to Pune. The decision is purely logistical, and this was confirmed by the board secretary, Devajit Saikia, to the Hindustan Times website on Friday evening. It is also reliably learnt that the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) had previously communicated to the top body about their inability to host the tournament.
“Yes, we have decided to shift the knockouts from Indore to Pune,” Saikia confirmed.
The knockouts of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy are scheduled to begin on December 12, with the final set to be played on December 18. Currently, the group stage of the tournament is underway across four centres – Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Lucknow.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 got underway on November 26 and the tournament is giving ample opportunities to the Indian players to showcase their talent ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, set to take place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi.
Recently, Hardik Pandya also marked his return to competitive cricket in SMAT after a long injury lay-off. After recovering from his injury that he sustained in the Asia Cup game against Sri Lanka, the all-rounder turned up for Baroda against Abhishek Sharma’s Punjab.
The Mumbai Indians captain made a blockbuster return as he hammered 77 runs off 42 balls, helping Baroda chase down more than 220 runs.
Abhishek Sharma on fire
India opening batter Abhishek Sharma, who is currently at the pole position in the T20I rankings, has been setting the stage on fire, registering scores of 148, 50 and 34 in the last three games for Punjab.
On the other hand, Mohammed Shami is also letting the ball do all the talking as he continues to prove a point amid the continued non-selection for India. In the last five games he has played in the tournament, the pacer returned with nine wickets, with his best figures being 4/13 against Services.
