Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suresh Raina to play under Priyam Garg's captaincy in SMAT 2020-21

Indian U-19 cricket team captain Priyam Garg has taken a giant stride in his cricketing career. The rising star of Indian cricket will lead the Uttar Pradesh team in the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. 

The best thing about Garg’s captaincy stint is that he will lead experienced Indian cricketers like Suresh Raina, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Karn Sharma in the competition. While many expected Raina to lead the team, the Chennai Super Kings star has allowed his younger teammate to captain the team. 

Karn Sharma will be the vice-captain of the Uttar Pradesh cricket team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. Besides, the squad also features Kolkata Knight Riders’ batsman Rinku Singh, his KKR teammate Shivam Mavi, and Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot. 

Here is Uttar Pradesh’s full squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy 2020-21:

Uttar Pradesh Squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020-21: Priyam Garg (c), Karn Sharma (vice-captain), Suresh Raina, Aryan Juyal (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rinku Singh, Madhav Kaushik, Samarth Singh, Shubham Choubey, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ankit Rajpoot, Mohsin Khan, Shivam Mavi, Shiva Singh, Shanu Saini.

Uttar Pradesh had won the 2015/16 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. Only three teams namely - Gujarat, Baroda, and Karnataka have won multiple Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy titles. 

It will be interesting to see if Uttar Pradesh could join them in this elite club. Suresh Raina will return to the cricket field after a long break of over one year. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will look forward to proving his fitness levels in the competition. 

2011 Cricket World Cup winner Sreesanth will come back to the domestic arena via this tournament. Even Yuvraj Singh wanted to play for Punjab. However, the BCCI did not grant him permission to come out of retirement and play for the Punjab cricket team in this competition.