Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021: Can Tamil Nadu defend the title? Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will begin on November 4 with Tamil Nadu aiming to defend their title. They will miss the services of skipper Dinesh Karthik who is nursing an injury. Vijay Shankar will be leading the Tamil Nadu side and they will have plenty of firepowers as they look to extend their unbeaten run. Follow SMAT 2021 Live Updates on InsideSport.in.
Tamil Nadu had a scintillating run in lead up to the second title victory of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season. In the group, they had won all 5 matches and topped Group E in order to qualify for the knockout stage. In the quarterfinal round, Tamil Nadu defeated Himachal Pradesh by 5 wickets, followed up with a victory over Rajasthan in the semi-final. In the final, they had convincingly beaten Baroda by 7 wickets to take home their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Can Tamil Nadu defend their Mushtaq Ali title? Check out all the winners
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: List of all winners
| Season | Winner | Runners-up |
| 2006-07 | Tamil Nadu | Punjab |
| 2009-10 | Maharashtra | Hyderabad |
| 2010-11 | Bengal | Madhya Pradesh |
| 2011-12 | Baroda | Punjab |
| 2012-13 | Gujarat | Punjab |
| 2013-14 | Baroda | Uttar Pradesh |
| 2014-15 | Gujarat | Punjab |
| 2015-16 | Uttar Pradesh | Baroda |
| 2016-17 | East Zone | Central Zone |
| 2017-18 | Delhi | Rajasthan |
| 2018-19 | Karnataka | Maharashtra |
| 2019-20 | Karnataka | Tamil Nadu |
| 2020-21 | Tamil Nadu | Baroda |
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: During the entire season, Tamil Nadu saw the emergence of players like Shahrukh Khan and Narayan Jagadeeshan. Jagadeeshan was the leading run-scorer of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season, aggregating 378 from 8 matches for Tamil Nadu.
Shahrukh Khan was instrumental in helping the team to qualify for the semi-final. In the quarterfinal, he scored an unbeaten 40 runs off 19 balls against Himachal Pradesh. Based on his performance, Shahrukh was bought by Punjab Kings for a whopping Rs 5.25 crore ahead of IPL 2021. Narayan Jagadeeshan is already associated with Chennai Super Kings since 2018 IPL season.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Can Tamil Nadu defend their Mushtaq Ali title? Check out all the winners
InsideSport takes a look at all the winners of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Tamil Nadu (2006-07 and 2020-21): Tamil Nadu is one of the four teams to have won the title twice in 2007 and 2021. Tamil Nadu was the first champion of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and currently, they are defending champions. The first title came in the inaugural season in 2006-07 when Dinesh Karthik-led side defeated Punjab in the final. In 2021, Tamil Nadu had put an end to 14 years of title drought by defeating Baroda. Also, it was Dinesh Karthik’s second title as a captain.
Baroda (2011-12 and 2013-14): Baroda was the first team to become 2-time champions. They won their first title of T20 domestic tournament by defeating Punjab by 5 wickets. Then the team was led by Pinal Shah, who scored 39 runs in the final. Two years later, under the captaincy of Aditya Waghmode, Baroda managed to triumph the second title by defeating Uttar Pradesh by 3 runs.
Gujarat (2012-13 and 2014-15): Gujarat was the second team after Baroda to win two titles. They won the first title during the 2012-13 season by defeating Punjab by 6 wickets. Gujarat won the second title by defeating Punjab in 2014-15 final. Smit Patel played a winning knock of 50 runs off 49 balls. The team was led twice to the title by former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Can Tamil Nadu defend their Mushtaq Ali title? Check out all the winners
Karnataka (2018-19 and 2019-20): Karnataka were the first team to clinch the two consecutive titles. They bagged their first title defeating Maharashtra by 8 wickets in 2018-19 season. Mayank Agarwal scored a brilliant 85 runs off 57 balls in the final. A year later, Karnataka took home the second title beating Tamil Nadu by 5 wickets in the final. The team was led twice to the title by Manish Pandey.
Also read: Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: From Ruturaj Gaikwad to Venkatesh Iyer, 5 IPL players to watch out for
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Can Tamil Nadu defend their Mushtaq Ali title? Check out all the winners
Maharashtra (2008-09): Maharashtra was the second team to win the title. It was the only title they have won over the 14 seasons of the T20 domestic tournament. Maharashtra took home their first title by defeating Hyderabad by 19 runs. Samad Fallah (4/12) and Kishore Bhikane (3/19) were instrumental to help Maharashtra to clinch the title. This time with Ruturaj Gaikwad leading, their fortunes could change.
Bengal (2010-11): Bengal won their first title in 2008-09 season and overall third team to clinch the title after Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. They pulled off a stunning victory to win T20 domestic tournament title, defeating Madhya Pradesh by just 1 run. Bengal posted a total of 142 on the board and bowlers managed to restrict Madhya Pradesh to 141/8.
Uttar Pradesh (2015-16): Uttar Pradesh bagged their first title in 2015-16 season. They had reached the final for the first time in 2013-14 season. Uttar Pradesh won the title by defeating Baroda by 38 runs. The team was led by former Indian batsman Suresh Raina.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Can Tamil Nadu defend their Mushtaq Ali title? Check out all the winners
East Zone (2016-2017): East Zone became the first zonal team to clinch the trophy. They won the title by defeating the West Zone team by 8 wickets in the final. Virat Singh (58) and Ishank Jaggi (56) shared a brilliant partnership stand of 80 runs to help the team to clinch the title. The team was led by former Indian players and current West Bengal MLA Manoj Tiwari.
Delhi (2017-18): Delhi won their first title during the 2017-18 season. They did it by beating Rajasthan by 41 runs in the final of the T20 domestic tournament. Former U-19 captain Unmukt Chand scored 53 runs off 49 balls for Delhi to post a decent total of 153. Pradeep Sangwan, captain of Delhi, picked up 2 wickets to restrict Rajasthan to 112.
