Overview
- Mumbai, which opened the tournament on Saturday, November 14, rode Suryakumar Yadav’s unbeaten 60 to a seven‑wicket win over Hyderabad in the SMAT group stage.
- Defending champions Jharkhand announced their squad on November 12 and will start the competition without Ishan Kishan and Kumar Kushagra because both are with India/India A in New Zealand.
- The 38‑team event uses an Elite and Plate structure with group matches feeding a Super League and a final on December 6, giving teams three weeks of T20 action.
- Organisers will stream selected matches on JioHotstar and broadcast some fixtures on Star Sports so many games will not have live video and franchises will rely on scouts and prior data to evaluate players.
- Beyond Suryakumar, several established internationals and fringe players such as Mohammed Shami, Prithvi Shaw and Krunal Pandya are using SMAT to rebuild form and make late cases for IPL contracts or national recall.