We’ve always been great fans of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy because it’s India’s leading T20 regional tournament and it has been the reason why we’ve managed to see some emerging talent get into the IPL and even into the Indian national side over the years. Both with bat and ball, there have been players who have performed great in individual editions, while some others who have wreaked havoc over multiple seasons.
On this page, our focus is going to be on the leading wicket-takers in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history, those who has been relentless year on year, and helped their respective teams attain glory in SMAT history. At the top of the SMAT leading wicket-takers list is none other than 2008 U1-9 World Cup winning team member, Siddarth Kaul, who has a massive tally of 119 wickets in this competition between 2012-2023.
SMAT leading wicket-takers list
Kaul topped the wicket-takers charts in the SMAT 2022 season but has been consistent with the ball right through his SMAT career. He has picked up five 4-fers and a best of 5/12 in 86 matches here, representing Punjab right through his career so far. See below for our complete Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy top 10 most wickets list, last updated on 5th November 2023, towards the end of the SMAT 2023 season:
| Bowler | Career span | Wickets (Matches) | 4-fers/5-fers | Best spell |
| Siddarth Kaul | 2012-2023 | 119 (86) | 5 / 1 | 5/12 |
| Piyush Chawla | 2007-2023 | 109 (87) | 1 / 0 | 4/28 |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 2010-2023 | 108 (72) | 3 / 0 | 4/5 |
| Lukman Meriwala | 2013-2023 | 96 (62) | 1 / 3 | 5/8 |
| Chama Milind | 2013-2023 | 96 (66) | 2 / 2 | 5/8 |
| Aniket Choudhary | 2013-2023 | 93 (72) | 2 / 0 | 4/30 |
| Amit Mishra | 2007-2023 | 87 (75) | 1 / 1 | 5/19 |
| Rishi Dhawan | 2007-2023 | 87 (83) | 1 / 1 | 6/23 |
| Ankit Rajpoot | 2013-2021 | 81 (58) | 2 / 2 | 5/17 |
| Pankaj Jaswal | 2014-2023 | 77 (60) | 7 / 1 | 5/18 |
The pacers have done well in this tournament over the years, with only Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra being spinners in this top 10 SMAT most wickets listing. Kaul, Chawla, and Jaydev Unadkat are the only three players on the list to have got 100+ wickets in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy history, but we’re sure to see many more reach this milestone in SMAT seasons to come.
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Ankit Rajpoot dropped a few spots on this SMAT wicket-takers list in recent seasons because he hasn’t played since 2021. On the other hand, players to have narrowly missed out on the top 10 spots but sure to catch up soon include Shahbaz Nadeem (77 wickets), Tushar Deshpande (74 wickets), Atit Sheth (74 wickets), Shrikant Wagh (72 wickets), and others.
In terms of SMAT 4-fers, Pankaj Jaswal leads the count not just on this list but in the tournament itself, with seven 4-fers to his name. And when it comes to 5-wicket hauls, it’s Lukman Meriwala who leads the pack, getting this achievement on three different occasions. Chawla, Unadkat, and Choudhary are the only three on this list to have yet to register an SMAT 5-fer but they still have matches in them to do so.
For more updates on Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and on overall cricketing news from around the world, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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