2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – Final Fantasy Preview

If you watched the 5th ODI between India and Australia, it’s better if you switched to domestic cricket for a while. So much of hype and importance is given to the Indian Premier League (IPL), so we tend to forget the smaller platform that leads to the formation of new IPL heroes each year. It’s the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which is India’s biggest domestic circuit T20 league after the IPL and now, we’re here to talk about the final game of the 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament.

The best teams always progress and this year, it’s Maharashtra vs Karnataka in the final, two teams that have absolutely dominated proceedings. The teams topped Super League Group A and Super League Group B respectively. Prior to that, Karnataka topped Group D, while Maharashtra came 2nd in Group E. Read below for our complete fantasy preview of the 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Final…

Match info

  • Tournament: Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019
  • Date: 14th March 2019, 5:30pm IST
  • Venue: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
  • Capacity: 30,000+
  • Series status: FINAL

Maharashtra vs Karnataka Syed Mushtaq Ali Final Fantasy preview

Form (recent first)

  • Karnataka: W, W, W, W, W
  • Maharashtra: NR, W, W, W, W

Stats

  • Rohan Kadam has been Karnataka’s leading run scorer this tournament – 476 runs in 11 games.
  • Ruturaj Gaikwad has been Maharashtra’s leading run scorer this tournament – 281 runs in 11 games.
  • Satyajeet Bachhav has been Maharashtra’s leading wicket-taker this tournament – 20 wickets in 11 games.
  • Shreyas Gopal has been Karnataka’s leading wicket-taker this tournament – 13 wickets in 7 games.
  • Karnataka haven’t lost a game this tournament.

Maharashtra

No one has the home advantage, being played at a neutral venue in Indore. Maharashtra have come into this final with some good form, but they are up against the best opposition. Captain Rahul Tripathi comes into this game with just 26 runs in his last 3 innings, but he is a classy T20 batsman and I expect him to do well at the right game. Pick him over Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is a 22-year old talented batsman, but I’d leave him out as he isn’t a ‘T20 player’ as such.

Maharashtra have been better with the ball than with the bat this season, and that’s evident with the stats mentioned above. Let’s take the gamble of dropping their most successful bowler this season and pick the next best two supporting bowlers, Divyang Himganekar and Samad Fallah, both of who have 12 wickets each in this tournament so far.

Karnataka

If Maharashtra have been fantastic this tournament, Karnataka have been flawless. Led by Indian international Manish Pandey, he has 331 runs at an average of 66+ and a strike rate of 170+. Yes, you read the statistic right above. No one has managed to beat Karnataka in 11 matches this tournament and if that’s a right indicator, then we know who’s walking away with the trophy tomorrow.

Both teams will be looking to go in with unchanged teams as we don’t believe there are any injury scares, and both my captain and vice-captain will be coming from Karnataka. I’m having to choose between Pandey and Shreyas Gopal as my captain, the latter having risen to their highest wicket-taker in just 7 games this series. Remember, he can be pretty handy with the bat as well, if they need his services.

MAH v KAR Punting

My fantasy eleven

Maharashtra vs Karnataka Syed Mushtaq Ali Final Fantasy Preview


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About Dwayne Fernandes 2315 Articles
Indian, 28 years old. Avid cricket fan. Business Management Graduate. Twitter and Instagram - @dwayneeeboy