Jharkhand is the defending champion. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

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

Round 1 fixtures, November 14

9:00 AM start

Chandigarh vs Baroda

Punjab vs Haryana

Maharashtra vs Pondicherry

Hyderabad vs Mumbai

Nagaland vs Meghalaya (8:30 AM)

Arunachal Pradesh vs Manipur (8:30 AM)

11:00 AM start

Mizoram vs Jharkhand

Saurashtra vs Bihar

Tripura vs Andhra

Gujarat vs Odisha

1:30 PM start

Services vs Sikkim (1:00 PM)

Rajasthan vs Uttar Pradesh

Railways vs Tamil Nadu

Himachal Pradesh vs Assam

Vidarbha vs Goa

4:30 PM start

Karnataka vs Bengal

Jammu and Kashmir vs Delhi

Madhya Pradesh vs Kerala

Uttarakhand vs Chattisgarh

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.