The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy which marked the beginning of the domestic season after a pandemic-induced hiatus has seen some remarkable contributors with the bat over the years. While a few might be known faces, others aren’t exactly familiar but still have taken the domestic circuit by storm and carved an enviable career for themselves atleast at the first-class level.
Whenever Indian cricket will be talked about, their names will certainly come to our minds as the one who ruled the domestic arena. In the below piece as well, we pay homage to those stars, who have set the stage on fire with their immaculate show at the tournament since its inception. Here are the 5 highest run-getters in the history of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy:
1. Kedar Devdhar
This wicketkeeper-batsman from Baroda tops the list for the highest run-scorer in the tournament history. Coming from the land which gave us the Pathan brothers, Pandya brothers and many others, Devdhar has been a consistent performer for his stateside not just at the T20 extravaganza but also in the other two formats.
It would be safe to call him the pillar of strength in this Baroda side. His wicketkeeping skills add the requisite bulk to his cricketing CV, who is an all-round package contributing to different aspects of the game. The right-hand batsman has smashed 2215 runs from 75 games at an average of 32.10 and strike rate of 121.30.
2. Harpreet Singh
This Chhattisgarh batsman burst to the scene when he represented India at the 2010 U-19 World Cup. Just like Devdhar, Singh has piled plenty of runs for his stateside in the three formats and like many others, isn’t showing any sign of restrain.
Apart from his left-handed batting, he also bowls right-arm medium pace acting as the ideal foil in this Chhattisgarh line-up. The southpaw has hammered 1986 runs from 67 games at an average of 36.77 and strike rate of 125.93.
3. Shreevats Goswami
Cricket buff remember Goswami as the short wicketkeeper-batsman, who was part of the successful Indian U-19 team led by modern-day great Virat Kohli in 2008. While his then captain has now become indispensable across all formats for the Indian team, Goswami has found it difficult to cement his place in the stateside after the rise of fellow wicketkeeper-batsman, Saha.
We recently saw him playing for SRH at IPL 2020, who couldn’t quite contribute with the bat but did a decent job for his team behind the stumps. Playing for the Bengal team at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Goswami has mustered 1974 runs from 70 games at an average of 31.33 and strike rate of 120.66.
4. Mandeep Singh
This wholehearted cricketer from Punjab won the hearts at IPL 2020 by featuring in a group stage encounter against KKR inspite of losing his father on the same day. His commitment and dedication towards the sport has assisted him in becoming the cricketer that the world knows now and the man will only move upwards from hereon.
In addition to his dependable batting, Mandeep is also a livewire in the field and stops plenty of runs by throwing himself around in the outfield. The stylish batsman has garnered 1820 runs from 72 games at an average of 38.72 and strike rate of 132.74.
5. Paras Dogra
A quality batsman who represented the snowy land of Himachal Pradesh, Dogra couldn’t exactly grab the required limelight which would have helped him climb the big international ladder.
Dogra performed well for the Rajasthan Royals at IPL 2010 and rose a lot of expectations from his fellow team-mates and cricket fanatics. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be his own following that season but kept on churning out runs for his state side Himachal Pradesh.
Currently, he represents the union territory of Pondicherry in the domestic circuit. Dogra has chronicled 1804 runs from 74 games at an average of 30.57 and a strike rate of 118.21.
