SMAT 2025-26: Top five performers of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Jharkhand thrashed Haryana by 69 runs to clinch its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Thursday.

The T20 tournament helped unearth India’s future stars as well as gave out-of-favour players such as Ishan Kishan and Sarfaraz Khan an opportunity to return to the limelight. With the competition preceding the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, domestic players also had a point to prove and stake their claim in the world’s most competitive T20 league.

Here are the top five performers from the 2025-26 season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy:

Ishan Kishan | Jharkhand

The Jharkhand captain led from the front, smashing 517 runs in 10 innings at a blistering strike rate of 197.32, including a 45-ball century in the final against Haryana. Kishan’s stunning form in the tournament saw him score two hundreds and two fifties, which helped Jharkhand clinch its maiden title.

Ashok Sharma | Rajasthan

Ashok enjoyed a record-breaking tournament, picking 22 wickets in 10 matches, the most by a bowler in a single edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The right-arm pacer consistently clocked high speeds during the tournament and was rewarded with a maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) contract when Gujarat Titans bought him for Rs. 90 lakh at the recently concluded auction.

Anukul Roy | Jharkhand

The all-rounder had a breakthrough tournament, with over 300 runs with the bat and 18 wickets to his name, and played a pivotal role in guiding Jharkhand to the title. Anukul’s most impressive outing with the bat came against Karnataka, when his unbeaten 95 helped Jharkhand clinch a miraculous win on a day when no other batter from his team could score more than 15 runs. With the ball, the left-arm spinner was miserly, conceding just 7.34 runs an over to end as his team’s second-highest wicket-taker.

Ankit Kumar | Haryana

After a disastrous campaign in the first leg of the Ranji Trophy, where he averaged 12.77 in nine innings with the bat, Ankit roared back to form in the shortest format to end as the tournament’s second-most prolific batter. His 448 runs came at an impressive strike rate of 172.30 and included five fifties. However, he couldn’t take his team over the line in the final as he fell for a golden duck.

Salil Arora | Punjab

The wicketkeeper-batter from Punjab lit up the tournament with his power-hitting, amassing 358 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 198.88, the highest for a batter with at least 350 runs in the competition. Salil, who struck a stunning unbeaten 45-ball 125 against eventual champion Jharkhand, was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs. 1.50 crore at the IPL 2026 auction.

Published on Dec 18, 2025