Jharkhand announces its full squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) T20 event. Because the defending champions, there might be extra stress to defend the hard-earned title in the upcoming season. They received the title in the previous season, with Ishan Kishan as their captain.
Ishan Kishan has not been named in the SMAT 2026- 27 squad. In place of Ishan, Jharkhand has named their star all-rounder Anukul Roy because the skipper and Shikhar Mohan as his deputy. Batter Kumar Kushagra additionally misses the squad.
No Ishan Kishan in Jharkhand’s 2026-27 SMAT squad?
The season for the Jharkhand state cricket team shouldn’t be going to be simple, as they will not get the services of Ishan Kishan. Ishan will not be able to take part in the event as he has to satisfy his commitments for the India National Cricket Staff. He’s at present in New Zealand for the continuing multi-format sequence.
This season’s SMAT event starts on November 14, and the final might be on December 6, 2026. On the other aspect, the Indian cricket team will have to play two more ODIs towards the New Zealand Cricket Staff, adopted by a 2-match Check sequence.
Why is Ishan Kishan not in the squad?
After the sequence in the land of Kiwis, the Males in Blue will have to put together themselves for a multi-format sequence towards Sri Lanka, beginning on December 13. The sequence in New Zealand will formally come to an end on December 1.
There might be a twelve-day gap between the first match towards Sri Lanka and the final match of the sequence in New Zealand, and the 2026-27 SMAT will run till December 6. Will Jharkhand be able to add Ishan Kishan to their team for the event? It will be fascinating to see if they will progress in the higher stage of the competitors.
Jharkhand has been positioned in Group A with Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Karnataka, Baroda, and Chandigarh. They’ll open their marketing campaign with a match towards Mizoram on November 14 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Eyes might be on Anukul Roy, the newly appointed captain
Within the absence of Ishan, eyes might be on the newly appointed skipper Anukul Roy as he pursued a stellar performance in the previous season as an all-rounder. Experienced candidates like Virat Singh and Shikhar Mohan, and the other batters, will have to take extra responsibility as they are set to miss each Ishan and Kumar Kushagra.
Ishan and Kushagra each played important roles behind their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win through the 2025-26 season. This season, emerging batters like Robin Minz will have a vibrant probability to turn out to be one of many reliable batters of the team.
Jharkhand’s full squad for 2026-27 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy:
Anukul Roy (C), Virat Singh, Shikhar Mohan (VC), Utkarsh Singh, Robin Minz, Rajandeep Singh, Pankaj Kumar, Md. Kounain Quraishi, Shubh Sharma, Amit Kumar, Pratik Ranjan, Pratyush Kumar, Sushant Mishra, Harsh Raj, Saurabh Shekhar.
Source: cricketaddictor.com
