Star India batters Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube lit up the Sayed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament with their stunning batting display. In the match between Mumbai and Services at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, Suryakumar and Dube shone for Mumbai. The T20 World Champion duo stitched a 130-run stand to help Mumbai post a challenging total of 192/4. Batting first, Mumbai lost Prithvi Shaw for a duck and skipper Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane also managed to contribute only 20 and 22 runs respectively.
The par of Dube and Suryakumar came to Mumbai’s rescue as they launched a barrage of boundaries and maximums. Suryakumar scored a 46-ball 70 and Dube struck 37-ball 71 at a staggering strike-rate of 191.89. Suryakumar was retained by Mumbai Indians for Rs 16.35 crore ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction. Meanwhile, Chennai Superkings also retained Dube for Rs 12 crore.
India’s T20I captain Suryakumar was back in action for Mumbai in SMAT on December 3, Tuesday. He returned to the field after taking a two-week break for a family wedding. Suryakumar is expected to play the remainder of the tournament for Mumbai and will also feature in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting December 21.
Dube-Suryakumar’s 130-run stand
Suryakumar’s blockbuster return for Mumbai
Shreyas Iyer, who was announced as Mumbai’s captain for SMAT continued to lead the side despite Suryakumar, India’s T20I captain’s inclusion in the team. It was understood that Suryakumar was fine with Iyer leading the team and was comfortable to bat at any position for his team.
Suryakumar recently led India to an emphatic 3-1 series win ove South Africa at their home soil. Meanwhile, Dube, India’s white-ball specialist, was not part of India’s squad for the tour.
Placed fourth in Group E, Mumbai have won two of their three games so far and have two league games left after Sunday, when they play against Nagaland.
The ongoing SMAT has seen a number of high-profile names participate after the T20I tour of South Africa, such as Hardik Pandya, Iyer, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, and others. Suryakumar had also played one round of the Ranji Trophy in October before leaving for South Africa.
