All-rounder Hardik Pandya will turn up for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Baroda, under the leadership of his elder brother, Krunal Pandya. The domestic T20 tournament begins November 23 while the semi-finals and the final will be played on December 13 and 15, respectively.
The Times of India reports that towards the end of the tournament, the all-rounder will be back and further strengthen the Baroda squad which finished second last season. The last time the ace Indian all-rounder played in the SMAT was in the 2016 season but he could not represent any domestic team during that period due to national duties.
On the contrary, Krunal has also been in splendid form in Crick League 2022. He was the captain of Baroda for the first part of the season during the Ranji Trophy and won 4 out of 5 matches held in Elite Group A. Their incredible victory over Mumbai is what made Baroda proud for they currently lead the points table with 27 points.
Krunal has also performed with the bat, scoring so far 367 runs from 7 innings and a hundred and three fifties. In preparation for the Ranji Trophy, this southpaw also played in a KSCA competition and scored a hundred in the final, which helped his team win the competition.
Under Krunal’s captaincy, Baroda was also the runner-up in the final of the SMAT 2023 season against Punjab. He was the highest scorer of the season for the side, scoring 323 runs making 3 fifties. He was also sensible with the ball. Krunal took 7 scalps conceding only 6.03 runs per over.
Baroda finds its place in Group B along with Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Saurashtra, Karnataka and Sikkim. Their first match is against Gujarat which is scheduled on Saturday.
Vs Gujarat: Nov 23
Vs Uttarakhand: Nov 25
Vs Tamil Nadu: Nov 27
Vs Tripura: Nov 29
Vs Saurashtra: Dec 1
