Mumbai clinched their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali title on Saturday by beating Himachal Pradesh in the final at the Eden Gardens. It was a terrific last-over win for Ajinkya Rahane’s side. Defending champions Tamil Nadu had crashed out in the first round itself.
As has been the theme in the previous editions of the SMAT, the tournament sprang up plenty of youngsters and non-IPL players who performed well for their teams.
The IPL 2023 mini-auction is around the corner. So impressive show in the domestic T20 tournament will help the players’ cause in bagging a lucrative deal in the auction.
Here are 3 impressive players from Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022 who could earn crores in the IPL 2023 mini-auction.
Samarth Vyas
Among the players who are not part of the IPL last season, Samarth Vyas was the highest run-scorer of the SMAT 2022 and fifth overall. Batting at number 3 for Saurashtra, Vyas scored 314 runs in 7 innings at a terrific average of 52 and a strike rate of 177!
This combination of average and strike rate, proving him to be an explosive and selfless batsman, is surely going to get him attention from the IPL franchises, and it is expected that after a thunderous SMAT season, the 26-year-old Vyas from Rajkot will be able to bag a lucrative IPL contract.
Vidhwath Kaverappa
Fast-Medium pacer Vidhwath Kaverappa was at the forefront of Karnataka’s bowling attack in the SMAT 2022. The right-arm speedster who had an experience of just 10 T20 matches finished as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 18 scalps in 8 games with a best of 5/11, behind the experienced Sid Kaul, who had 19 wickets in the tournament.
Along with snapping up wickets, which he did at an astonishing average of 10.72, Kaverappa also kept things tight, his economy of 6.36 suggests. Expect a fierce bidding war for seamer Vidhwath Kaverappa in the upcoming IPL 2023 mini-auction.
Vijaykumar Vyshak
Another young fast bowler from Karnataka whose name has been doing rounds is Vijaykumar Vyshak. Even though Vijaykumar has featured in only 14 T20 matches, taking 22 wickets, his smarts in variations and using the field dimensions have been praised by fans.
In the SMAT 2020, Vijaykumar Vyshak bagged 15 wickets in 8 matches with a best of 3/5 conceding at a miserly economy of 6.31, and his overall T20 economy of a shade under 7. He has 7 wickets in 2 First-class games as well. IPL franchises 25-year-old Vijaykumar Vyshak keeping him as a potential future star pacer.
