Jharkhand’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign: The story behind their historic maiden title

Ishan Kishan-led Jharkhand won their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 title by defeating Haryana in the final in Pune.

New Delhi: Ishan Kishan expressed his excitement during the felicitation ceremony organized by the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA), which was held a day after Jharkhand secured their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) title by defeating Haryana in the final in Pune. Upon the team’s arrival in Ranchi, JSCA announced a reward of Rs 2 crore for the players and support staff. They also offered a bigger incentive Rs 5 crore, if the team win Vijay Hazare Trophy which is scheduled to start from December 24.

Jharkhand had an impressive SMAT campaign, as they won ten out of their 11 matches, most with convincing margins. Placed in a group with three former SMAT champions Delhi, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka they won all seven of their games to top Group D.

Jharkhand lost just one of the three matches to secure a final spot

In the Super League stage, Jharkhand faced Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab, and lost just one of the three matches to secure a spot in the final. In the SMAT final clash, captain Ishan Kishan and vice-captain Kumar Kushagra dominated, posting a record total of 262 the highest by any team in a T20 final and sealed a convincing 69-run victory.

Ratan Kumar, then head coach of Jharkhand’s Under-23 team, sat by the boundary in tears after his side was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the CK Nayudu Trophy in Jamshedpur on February 28, 2024. Twenty months later, Ratan, now leading the senior men’s team as head coach, was once again emotional, but this time with the joy of proving the doubters wrong.

Jharkhand never reached a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final before, and their last appearance in the final of any senior domestic tournament was when they won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2010-11. In the years since, their results has been disappoiniting

“We have seen so much adversity, so many results have gone against us, that the fear of losing is gone now,” fast bowler Sushant Mishra, the joint-highest wicket-taker in the SMAT, told ESPNcricinfo

“Most of the time, we don’t qualify. Now we have the freedom to express ourselves and dominate; there is fearlessness within the team. More than anything, the recognition Jharkhand cricket deserves, we are getting that, and that makes me the happiest.” he added

“People don’t always talk about Jharkhand cricket as a whole; it is always about one or two players. Now with this win, we as a state will get greater recognition. Our cricket will go from strength to strength. This will act as motivation for everyone around.”

Jharkhand needed to play fearless cricket as they were placed in a tough group. They started with a convincing win over Delhi and then produced a remarkable comeback against Karnataka. Chasing 158, Jharkhand were struggling at 105 for 6 in the 13th over before all-rounder Anukul Roy turned the game on its head with an unbeaten 95 off 58 balls to take them home. That victory filled the team with belief and positivity.

“When we saw the fixtures, we realised that this is a very strong group that we are part of,” Virat Singh, who finished the season with 382 runs at a strike rate of 169.77, says. “Jharkhand has long been known for individual talents, but to showcase our name on the bigger stages, we needed to create a name for ourselves as a group. And that could only happen once we defeated the bigger teams.”

“Earlier, we weren’t able to close out games. In crunch situations, we used to crack under pressure; this year, we excelled under pressure. That was a huge plus point and brought us the win.”

Jharkhand showcased an all-round performance throughout their SMAT campaign

Jharkhand showcased an all-round performance in different stages of the tournament. Ishan Kishan led the way, finishing as the highest run-scorer with 517 runs in ten innings at a strike rate of 197.32, while Kumar Kushagra, with 422 runs, ended as the third-highest run-csorer. Virat Singh finished at sixth spot with 382 runs. Anukul Roy delivered an outstanding all-round performance, as he picked 18 wickets and scored 303 runs to earn the Player-of-the-Tournament award.

Coming to the bowling department, Sushant Mishra was Jharkhand’s leading wicket-taker with 22 dismissals in 11 matches, while Vikash Singh consistently struck early with the new ball in the powerplay.

“When we started the season, right from the appointment of the coaching staff, we have always taken his advice and suggestions. He followed the entire [SMAT] tournament, noted all the strengths and weaknesses of the players and discussed with us. He knows the stats and numbers of each domestic player from Jharkhand. He is very interested in helping Jharkhand cricket grow.”

“We defeated teams that are packed with superstars, players who have won the IPL, and that was the most satisfying thing,” Ratan says. “And we won games convincingly. It wasn’t as if we were chasing down totals in the last over or winning by one wicket.

“We had different players step up at different times. See, Ishan is a big name; he will win you games single-handedly, but even the others played their part. It was Kushagra at some point, Robin Minz at some other, Virat was great when he was asked to open.

“If the batting didn’t click on some days, the bowlers would shine. Sushant was outstanding, Vikash always delivered with the new ball. There was Saurabh Shekhar, Amit Kumar, who recently got an IPL contract. It was a collective team effort.”

Series of changes were made in the management and coaching

Another key reason behind Jharkhand’s rise was a series of changes in management and coaching before the season began. Experienced players like Saurabh Tiwary and Shahbaz Nadeem, were appointed as JSCA secretary and joint secretary, respectively.

The duo sought guidance from MS Dhoni, who advised them to appoint coaches familiar with the system rather than bringing in outsiders. As a result, Ratan, who had spent the past eight years working across Jharkhand’s age-group teams, was named head coach, while Sunny Gupta took charge as bowling coach.

“When we started the season, right from the appointment of the coaching staff, we have always taken his [Dhoni’s] advice and suggestions,” Nadeem says. “And he also has a keen interest in the Jharkhand team. He wants them to do well. It feels good that such a big player is paying close attention to our team.

“And I’ll tell you something, he follows every game very closely. He followed the entire [SMAT] tournament, noted all the strengths and weaknesses of the players and discussed with us. He knows the stats and numbers of each domestic player from Jharkhand. He is very interested in helping Jharkhand cricket grow.”

Nadeem–Tiwary-led administration issued perfrmance based bonus

The Nadeem–Tiwary-led administration issued an incentive system for the coaching staff, offering performance linked bonuses in addition to their regular salaries, a move that was also supported by Dhoni.

“We thought we should give the players and support staff a motivation factor,” Nadeem says. “Everywhere there is a certain pay structure; you win or lose, you get a certain amount of money and that’s that. But here, we said, ‘no, this fixed amount is always there, but what about the incentives?’ So we decided that if a team qualifies for the quarter-finals, we will give them an incentive that increases as the team goes further into the tournament.

“What will happen with this? The value of the coaching staff increases; they are much more dedicated. So this monetary benefit always helps. But we were also firm that if the results aren’t there, then questions will be asked of the coaching staff. And that’s fair. Earlier, coaches used to come, stay with the team till the end of a season, and leave. There was no accountability. But this time, we said, ‘if you win, you will get all the credit, and if the team loses, questions will be raised.'”