| Country | India |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Board of Control for Cricket in India |
| Cricket format | Twenty20 |
| First | 2006–07 |
| Last | 2025–26 |
| Next | 2026–27 |
| Tournament format | Round-robin and knockout |
| Participants | 38 |
| Champions | (1st title) |
| Most successful | Tamil Nadu (3 titles) |
| Website | BCCI |
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy[1] is a domestic Twenty20 cricket championship in India, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is named after former Test cricketer Syed Mushtaq Ali.
It is played by the teams from the Ranji Trophy, which is the premier domestic first-class cricket championship in the country. In 2006–07, the inaugural competition was won by Tamil Nadu under the captaincy of Dinesh Karthik. The 2025–26 tournament was won by Jharkhand, who defeated Haryana in the final. Tamil Nadu has been the most successful team, winning the trophy three times.[2]
History
The tournament is played under Twenty20 (T20) rules. Originally known as the Inter-State T20 Championship, it was inaugurated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the 2006–07 season. Except in 2016–17, the tournament has been contested by teams involved in the Ranji Trophy, 27 at first and currently (2023) 38. The format begun with a round-robin stage with the teams divided into zonal groups, with the top teams in each group qualifying for a knockout stage culminating in the final tie. In 2012–13, the BCCI decided to replace the knockout with a Super League consisting of two groups, the winners of which qualified for the final. In June 2016, the BCCI relaunched the competition using zonal teams, as in the Duleep Trophy, but they reverted to the Ranji teams in 2017. Since then, the number of competing teams have increased to 38 and the knockout stage has been restored.[3]
Format
The 38 teams are divided into five Elite groups, namely A, B, C, D, and E. There used to be a Plate group for newer teams but it has been discontinued. There are eight teams in groups A, B, and C who play seven matches each. Groups D and E have seven teams who play six matches each. The top-ranked teams in each group qualify for the knockout stage along with the three best runners-up. The knockout consists of four quarter-final matches, two semi-finals and the final.[4]
Current teams
The competition features the following 38 domestic teams, listed by their 2023–24 groups.[4]
- Baroda
- Chhattisgarh
- Haryana
- Hyderabad
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Mumbai
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Himachal Pradesh
- Kerala
- Odisha
- Services
- Sikkim
- Andhra
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Manipur
- Punjab
- Railways
- Saurashtra
- Bengal
- Jharkhand
- Maharashtra
- Pondicherry
- Rajasthan
- Uttarakhand
- Delhi
- Karnataka
- Madhya Pradesh
- Nagaland
- Tamil Nadu
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Vidarbha
Winners
Finals appearances by team
Tournament records
Team records
| Team records[5] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Most Trophy wins | 3 | Tamil Nadu |
| Most consecutive wins including league | 15 | Karnataka |
| Most consecutive defeats | 22 | Jammu and Kashmir |
| Largest margin of victory (by runs) | By 263 runs | Baroda vs Sikkim |
| Largest margin of victory (by wickets) | By 10 wickets | 30 times |
| Largest margin of victory (by balls remaining) | 100 balls | Jharkhand vs Tripura |
Highest totals
| Score | By | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 349/5 | Baroda | Sikkim | Emerald High School Ground, Indore[6] | 5 December 2024 |
| 275/6 | Punjab | Andhra | JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi | 17 October 2023 |
| 262/3 | Jharkhand | Haryana | Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Maharashtra | 18 December 2025 |
| 258/4 | Mumbai | Sikkim | Emerald High School Ground, Indore | 21 February 2019 |
| 252/4 | Gujarat | Manipur | ACA–KDCA Cricket Ground, Mulapadu | 2 March 2019 |
- Source: ESPNcricinfo[7]
Lowest totals
| Score | By | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Tripura | Jharkhand | Tata Digwadih Stadium, Dhanbad | 20 October 2009 |
| 40 | Manipur | Punjab | Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur | 18 October 2022 |
| 44 | Assam | Delhi | Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara | 6 January 2016 |
| 49 | Sikkim | Gujarat | Lalabhai Contractor Stadium, Surat | 14 November 2019 |
| 50 | Mizoram | Uttarakhand | Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot | 20 October 2022 |
- Source: ESPNcricinfo[8]
Highest Individual score
| Score | Name | From | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 151 | Tilak Varma | Hyderabad | Meghalaya | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C, Rajkot | 23 November 2024 |
| 147 | Shreyas Iyer | Mumbai | Sikkim | Emerald High School Ground, Indore | 21 February 2019 |
| 146* | Puneet Bisht | Meghalaya | Mizoram | Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai | 13 January 2021 |
| 137* | Mohammed Azharuddeen | Kerala | Mumbai | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | |
| 134 | Prithvi Shaw | Mumbai | Assam | Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot | 14 October 2022 |
- Source: ESPNcricinfo[9]
See also
References
- ^ "Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy". ESPNcricinfo. Archived 2 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- ^ "Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 Final: Who won the BCCI's premier T20 tournament? Check full list here". The Economics Times. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ^ "BCCI revamps Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy structure". ESPNcricinfo. 24 June 2016. Archived 25 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- ^ Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, 2023–24 Tables, CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 November 2023. (subscription required) Archived 6 November 2023 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Overall First-Class Records". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- ^ "Baroda Creates History, Posts Highest T20 Total of 349 Runs in SMAT 2024". ProBatsman. 5 December 2024. Archived 5 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
- ^ "Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Archived 26 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Lowest totals". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Archived 15 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Batting Most Runs Innings". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 8 January 2019.