Overview
- Hardik Pandya has been included in Baroda’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad as his first competitive outing since the Asia Cup quadriceps injury.
- India left the all-rounder out of the ODI squad for South Africa, with the five-match T20I series starting December 9 positioned as his potential international return.
- Baroda begin their SMAT campaign against Bengal on November 26, with coach Mukund Parmar expecting Pandya to feature in most group games.
- Fixture overlap means Pandya, and teammate Jitesh Sharma, may miss parts of SMAT if selected for India’s T20Is.
- Krunal Pandya captains Baroda, and India have rested Jasprit Bumrah from the ODIs as part of workload management.