Syed Mushtaq Ali tourney sets the ball rolling

The presence of seasoned campaigners such as Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma will add sheen to the tournament

Mumbai: India will witness its first major cricket tournament in the country since the Covid-19 disruption when the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy begins the much-delayed domestic season from Sunday, presenting a platform for the hopefuls to impress before IPL auctions.

The presence of seasoned campaigners such as Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma will add sheen to the tournament but one of the biggest talking points in the lead-up has been S Sreesanth’s comeback to top-flight cricket after serving a ban for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal.

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Sreesanth, 37, will turn out for Kerala in the national T20 championship from January 10-31. But the focus, mostly, will be on domestic uncapped players with the IPL auctions scheduled in February.

The tournament also assumes significance as it is an opportunity for the new senior selection committee to draw up a wider pool of players for the T20 World Cup, which will be played in India later this year. No cricketing activity had happened since mid-March last year and after meticulous planning, the BCCI decided to conduct the tournament at six different venues with as many bio bubbles.

The teams have been divided into six groups – five Elite and one Plate and the league stage matches will be played at Mumbai, Vadodara, Indore, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru with the knockouts scheduled in Ahmedabad. The lead-up had its share of controversies with many players lodging a complaint after being served poor quality food in a posh South Mumbai hotel.

Then, staff members of a hotel in Chennai, where players of three Plate Group teams were staying, were found Covid-19 positive. However, once the tournament starts, the focus will shift completely on the players, including young guns such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Priyam Garg, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, Sarfaraz Khan, R Sai Kishore, M Siddharth.

Then there are the seasoned pros too, looking to get their act together in the World Cup year. Veteran India speedster Ishant will make a comeback to competitive cricket since suffering a side strain during last year’s IPL. Ishant will turn out for Delhi under the captaincy of another senior India player, Shikhar Dhawan, who will use the tournament as a preparatory ground ahead of the upcoming white-ball series against England.

India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been named in the Uttar Pradesh team, will also be keen to prove his fitness and form.