The Rajasthan cricket team will begin its Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 campaign against Bihar at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C in Rajkot on Saturday.
Rajasthan are in Group A of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the premier domestic T20 cricket tournament in India. Mizoram, Meghalaya, Hyderabad, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Bengal are the other teams in Group A.
Each team will play once against all other teams in the same group in a single round-robin format during the league phase. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 has a total of 38 teams split into three groups of eight teams and two groups of seven teams.
The top-ranked teams from each of the five groups along with the best second-placed team will directly qualify for the quarter-finals. The other four second-placed teams meet in the preliminary quarter-finals with the winners filling the last two spots in the quarters.
Rajasthan will play a total of seven matches, four at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C and three at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, in Rajkot during the group stage. The 2018 finalists will meet Mizoram in their second group match at the same venue on November 25.
Mahipal Lomror, who recently created history by becoming the first Rajasthan batter to score a triple century in the Ranji Trophy last week, will lead the team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 edition. He is also the top run-getter for Rajasthan in the ongoing Ranji Trophy campaign with 529 runs from five matches at an astonishing average of 105.80.
Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar will be Lomror’s deputy while Deepak Hooda and Deepak Chahar, Rajasthan’s leading run-scorer and wicket-taker, respectively, in the 2023 edition are also part of the 15-member squad.
The duo of Rahul Chahar and Aniket Choudhary will continue with the team in the white-ball setup after being part of the Rajasthan squad in the current Ranji Trophy season. Meanwhile, pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti who last played for Rajasthan in December 2022, is also back in the side.
Rajasthan Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 schedule
Round | Date | Match | Venue | Time (IST) |
Round 1 | November 23 | Bihar vs Rajasthan | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C, Rajkot | 1:30 PM |
Round 2 | November 25 | Mizoram vs Rajasthan | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C, Rajkot | 9:00 AM |
Round 3 | November 27 | Hyderabad vs Rajasthan | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot | 11:00 AM |
Round 4 | November 29 | Meghalaya vs Rajasthan | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot | 4:30 PM |
Round 5 | December 1 | Madhya Pradesh vs Rajasthan | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C, Rajkot | 9:00 AM |
Round 6 | December 3 | Punjab vs Rajasthan | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C, Rajkot | 1:30 PM |
Round 7 | December 5 | Bengal vs Rajasthan | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot | 11:00 AM |
Rajasthan Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 cricket team - full squad
Rajasthan cricket team: Mahipal Lomror (c), Manav Suthar (vc), Deepak Hooda, Sumit Godara, Kartik Sharma, Abhijeet Tomar, Rajesh Bishnoi, Aditya Rathore, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Aniket Choudhary, Bharat Sharma, Ram Chouhan, Zubair Ali.