Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2021 News

Four Mumbai players, Sarfaraz Khan, Prashant Solanki, Shams Mulani and Sairaj Patil have tested positive for Covid-19. The four cricketers were subsequently withdrawn from the Mumbai squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and were sent back home. They were further advised to self-isolate for seven days. The selectors are yet to announce the replacement for the players. "This is the reality of the times. We cannot avoid Covid even after taking the best possible measures. The mandatory RT-PCR test was done a day before and the players were told not to go to the airport if any one of them is positive. But they still went. On seeing the positive report, they were sent back from the airport," a Mumbai Cricket Association official said. "The selectors have been informed and they will pick the replacements,” he added. SMAT 2021-22 is scheduled to begin on November 4 and will be played in Lucknow, Baroda, Delhi, Vijayawada, Haryana and Guwahati. The players have to report a week before as they have to undergo a mandatory five-day pre-tournament quarantine. The Mumbai team which will be led by Ajinkya Rahane is placed in the Elite B Group along with Karnataka, Bengal, Baroda, Chhattisgarh and Services.

All-rounder Vijay Shankar will captain Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after in place of an injured Dinesh Karthik. T he Tamil Nadu Cricket Association made the announcement that Shankar has been handed over the captain’s baton while N Jagadeesan will be his deputy for the tournament. Karthik will be replaced by Adithya Ganesh in the squad. “Dinesh Karthik is said to be suffering from a knee injury,” Tamil Nadu selection committee chief S Vasudevan told PTI. “The state senior selection committee of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has replaced Adithya Ganesh in place of injured Dinesh Karthik, to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy for the Season 2021-2022,” TNCA said. Apart from Karthik, all-rounder Washington Sundar will also miss the fixtures as he is still recovering from a finger injury that he sustained on the England tour. The left-arm fast bowler T. Natarajan has been included in the squad that comprises 20 members. Tamil Nadu will play their first match of the competition against Maharashtra on November 4.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to increase the match fees for the domestic cricketers after being unable to allow the state associations to offer the domestic players central contracts. As per reports in the Sportstar, it is learnt that there will be a significant hike in the match fees atleast for the men’s cricketers. The BCCI apex council will announce the pay hike which is expected to be more than 40 per cent during it’s meeting on 20th September. Presently, the senior men’s domestic cricketers earn Rs 35,000 per day for a Ranji Trophy or a Vijay Hazare Trophy match. While competing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the cricketer is paid Rs 17,500 per game. The figures are for the players who are part of the playing XI. The reserve bench players receive half of what the playing XI players receive. Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly had clearly mentioned back in 2019 after his appointment as the BCCI president that he wants to introduce central contracts for domestic players via the state associations. However, it must be noted that the states have pointed out their problems introducing central contracts. The BCCI has themselves taken the initiative of increasing the match fees of first-class games to atleast Rs 50,000 and one-days while half of it for T20s. The state associations are welcome to offer central contracts to their players despite the rise in the match fees. Meanwhile, the additional match fees also mean that the players will be compensated for the reduced number of matches.

The cricketers representing Bihar haven’t been paid match fees for the last two domestic seasons and now they are running out of patience. As the players from U-19, U-23 and senior team await their salaries, some of them need the money really bad. “Every time I get a message on my phone I presume money has been deposited,” a desperate Prashant Singh, U-23 Bihar represent was quoted as saying to the Indian Express. “Last year I had to get my elder sister married. I borrowed money, hoping to repay when I get match fees. I lost my father in 2016. I haven’t received the money to date,” Singh continued adding that now he has an elder brother who is Covid-19 positive. “Now my elder brother has tested positive for the coronavirus. I don’t know where I will get money from.” While Prashant from Chhapra in Bihar’s Saran district is one case who need the money more than others as he is the sole breadwinner and the Rs 8 Lakh due to him from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, there are many more awaiting a message of amount getting credited in their banks. The Bihar Cricket Association President Rakesh Kumar Tiwary said that the invoices have been sent to the BCCI, but BCCI on its part said the vouchers sent from BCA had some problems and would require scrutiny. “We had earlier sent invoices to BCCI but they informed us that there was an error in the documentation. All the invoices have been sent again (in March) and payment will be received soon,” Tiwary said. On their part, players including Prashant say, “We have been hearing this for the last one year. ‘Money will be deposited next month’ is what we are told. Our financial situation is dire at the moment.” Although no Ranji Trophy had been held since the 2019-20 season, the Bihar players did play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 along with junior and women tournaments. While match fees for cricketers vary for each format, around Rs 40,000 per day is given for the Ranji Trophy, while the match fees for the 50-over game is Rs 25,000, and Rs 12,500 for the T20 match. The Under-23 players are paid Rs 63,000 for a four-day game and Rs 17,500 for a one-day game. At this hour of the pandemic, not only BCA denying their players the much needed financial help, but the richest cricket board in the world is not showing any concern for its domestic players from poor financial states. At the same time, it feeds on the commercial success from an IPL which has become an eyesore for its celebratory mood during the mourning that is the Covid-19 pandemic in India.

Former India Test cricketer and former coach of Uttarakhand, Wasin Jaffer rubbished the allegations of being ‘communal’ levelled at him by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand Secreaty Mahim Verma. A day after tendering his resignation as head coach on the grounds of “interference and bias of selectors and the association’s secretary for non-deserving players”, Jaffer was called ‘communal’ by Verma. The 48-year-old then defended it saying, “...jo communal angle lagaya (the communal angle that has been brought up), that is very, very sad.” Making his stance clear in the matters, Jaffer tweeted, “1. I recommended Jay Bista for captaincy, not Iqbal but CAU officials favoured Iqbal. 2. I did not invite Maulavis 3. I resigned cos bias of selectors-secretary for non-deserving players 4. The team used to say a chant of Sikh community, I suggested we can say "Go Uttarakhand" #Facts” The allegations made against him were that he invited Moulvis in the dressing room, favoured Muslim prayers and changed the team chant, which was a sacred chant from the Sikh community. “Had I been communal, both Samad Fallah and Mohammad Nazim would have played all the games? It’s a very petty thing to say or even think. I wanted to give opportunities to newer players,” Jaffer, who played 31 Tests for India, added. He further said that he always chose players on the basis of merit and not on the basis of religion. Mahim Verma had earlier said that Jaffer’s interference had increased in the matters of team selection to a great level. “After the result in Mushtaq Ali did not meet our expectations, the selectors wanted to try out a few other players but he kept insisting on picking his own team, which is not right as selectors are there, too, to do their job,” Mahim was quoted as saying to Epncricinfo.

Built like a mountain, heavy hitter of the ball and an incredible bit on game awareness are traits that traditionally have eluded Indian cricket. If we were to look back in the last ten years, barring Yusuf Pathan, nobody comes to mind. While on can argue that players of this mould are limited in their batting approach, no team has ever said no to a player who can tonk it outside the ground and can change the outcomes of the game in just one brief passage of play. When Tamil Nadu were down and out, reeling against Himachal Pradesh at 66/5 with 70 odd runs needed to chase in just over 7 overs, they needed someone to go big and there he was, Shahrukh Khan walking into the ground. In a whirlwind, Khan took the game away from Himachal and made sure that TN won the game with 13 balls to spare. In an exclusive chat with OneCricket, Sharukh talks about SMAT win and IPL. Talk to us about SMAT win. We had a good last season but missed out on winning the cup by a whisker. This year we were confident as a team and had prepared really well. We played few practice matches as well before the tournament. Everyone looked in good touch and in form. Personally, I was satisfied with my performance especially the time we had faced due to COVID-19 prior to the tournament. Apart from that I had sustained a finger injury in the starting of the last year in the right hand and had undergone surgery. It took me 3-4 months to recover and then I started to prepare. I was actually preparing for T20 and it did pan out well for me. What are your thoughts about being a part of IPL? Honestly, I’m not at all thinking about it. I’m just focusing on my game. If it happens, it would be great but if it doesn’t then also I am ok. I would rather stick to levelling up my game. I feel this is the best approach I can go forward with for now. More than thinking about the future, I am focusing on improving my own performance and thinking of adding some more elements to the arsenal. I though went for the KKR and RR trails. What discussions do you have with Dinesh Karthik? I talk about improving my game and what else needs to be done to enhance my performance. You had a match-winning partnership with Aparajith in the quarter-final. Tell us about that. We needed some 70 odd when I walked in. DK bhai (Dinesh Karthik) had just got out and we were under a bit of pressure. I was in my zone and only focused on chasing down the target. I had a belief that if I stay at the crease till the last over, we can win the match and that happened. We finished the game with over two overs to spare. But a lot of credit goes to Aparajith because he was the one who held the fort at one end. He played a very important role. If he would have got out, then we would have had more pressure on us. How did you deal with COVID-19 issue? Firstly, it took me 3-4 months to recover from my finger injury. Then COVID-19 came and all of us faced few problems. But as soon as we got some relaxation, I started with my practice regimes. I have a friend who lives nearby so I used to go at his place and practice. Talking about the fitness, I used to go for running and did home workouts. Who are the young players to watch out for in upcoming fixtures? I feel Sonu Yadav and Pradosh Ranjan Paul are the two players to watch put for. Especially, Paul has the ability to score a lot of runs in the coming future. What is your opinion about holding Vijay Hazare Trophy and not Ranji Trophy? Look any tournament that’s happening is good. We are getting an opportunity to play and that’s good. Moreover, we are coming from a white-ball tournament, so we are in that zone and carry forward with that. Lastly, will there be any changes in the squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy? I feel the squad would be more or less similar to the one we had for SMAT.