The 19th edition of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) will begin on November 14, Sunday. Thirty-eight teams from five groups will lock horns in a month-long tussle culminating with the final on December 6, Sunday.
The competition comes at a crucial time with less than one month to go for the IPL 2027 auction, offering youngsters the opportunity to catch the eye of IPL scouts and seasoned campaigners the chance to strengthen their game.
Jharkhand, the defending champion will begin its campaign against Mizoram, the plate group winner from 2025, while last season’s runner-up Haryana will take on Punjab.
Tamil Nadu, the most successful team in the tournament with three titles, will face Railways.
Elsewhere, heavyweights Mumbai, with Suryakumar Yadav as captain, and Karnataka will take on Hyderabad and Bengal respectively.
Bihar, under Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, will begin against Saurashtra.
Aside from Sooryavanshi and Suryakumar, other international players who will be seen in action in round one include Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, and the returning Manish Pandey, among others.
Squads
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Plate group
Baroda
Bihar
Andhra Pradesh
Chattisgarh
Arunachal Pradesh
Bengal
Delhi
Assam
Goa
Manipur
Chandigarh
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Gujarat
Meghalaya
Jharkhand
Jammu and Kashmir
Kerala
Hyderabad
Nagaland
Karnataka
Punjab
Madhya Pradesh
Mumbai
Services
Mizoram
Railways
Maharashtra
Odisha
Sikkim
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Pondicherry
Uttarakhand
Uttar Pradesh
Saurashtra
Tripura
Vidarbha
Round 1 fixtures and venues
9:00 AM start
Chandigarh vs Baroda- Mumbai
Punjab vs Haryana- Indore
Maharashtra vs Pondicherry- Mohali
Hyderabad vs Mumbai- Kolkata
Nagaland vs Meghalaya (8:30 AM)- Sovima
Arunachal Pradesh vs Manipur (8:30 AM)- Sovima
11:00 AM start
Mizoram vs Jharkhand- Mumbai (Wankhede stadium)
Saurashtra vs Bihar- Indore
Tripura vs Andhra- New Chandigarh
Gujarat vs Odisha- Kolkata (Eden Gardens)
1:30 PM start
Services vs Sikkim (1:00 PM)- Sovima
Rajasthan vs Uttar Pradesh- Mumbai
Railways vs Tamil Nadu- Indore
Himachal Pradesh vs Assam- Mohali
Vidarbha vs Goa- Kolkata
4:30 PM start
Karnataka vs Bengal- Mumbai (Wankhede stadium)
Jammu and Kashmir vs Delhi- Indore
Madhya Pradesh vs Kerala- New Chandigarh
Uttarakhand vs Chattisgarh- Kolkata (Eden Gardens)
Live streaming info
The Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy 2026 will be streamed live on the JioHotstar app and website, and televised live on the Star Sports Network in India.
Published on Nov 13, 2026