Ishan Kishan, who offered glimpses of his brilliance throughout the tournament, saved his best for last.

Leading from the front, he toyed with the Haryana bowlers to score a 49-ball 101 and eventually guided Jharkhand to its maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title with a 69-run victory.

As fans turned up in large numbers at the MCA Stadium on Thursday, Kishan entertained them with his aggressive batting, hitting Haryana bowlers all around the park.

Despite losing opener Virat Singh early, Kishan made optimum use of a flat deck and unsettled the Haryana bowlers from the start.

Along the way, he forged a 177-run partnership with the young Kumar Kushagra (81, 38b, 8×4, 5×6) as Jharkhand put up 262 for three in its 20 overs.

With an objective to score as many runs as possible in the PowerPlay, both Kishan and Kushagra dealt in fours and sixes as Jharkhand racked up 69 runs in six overs.

Mauling Kamboj

Serving a timely reminder to the national selectors, who are likely to pick India’s T20 World Cup squad on Saturday, Kishan accelerated with a couple of sixes off Parth Vats, before going after Anshul Kamboj. He hit the pacer for a couple of boundaries and a one-handed six over cover in the 14th over to become only the second batter, after Anmolpreet Singh, to score a century in the final of the SMAT.

Though Sumit Kumar knocked him over with a yorker in the next over, and Kushagra, too, fell shortly, Jharkhand was already near the 200-run mark.

As Haryana dropped quite a few catches, Anukul Roy and Robin Minz’s unbroken 75-run stand for the third wicket ensured that Jharkhand scored the highest-ever total in the final of the tournament.

Pursuing a mammoth total, Haryana was never in the game. Ankit Kumar, who had a dream run in the tournament, fell to seamer Vikash Singh for a duck on the third ball of the innings, while Ashish Siwach was dismissed for a solitary run.

Haryana couldn’t recover and lost wickets in clusters. Nishant Sindhu and Yashvardhan Dalal added 67 runs for the fourth wicket, before left-arm spinner Anukul removed both. With that, Haryana’s hopes were dashed.

The scores: Jharkhand 262/3 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 101, Kumar Kushagra 81) bt Haryana 193 in 18.3 overs (Yashvardhan Dalal 53, Samant Jakhar 38, Sushant Mishra 3/21). PoM: Kishan; PoS: Anukul Roy.

Entertainers carry the burden of expectations; it’s a boon and a bane. Abhishek Sharma is no stranger to the adulation and brickbats that come along with excellence and its constant demand.

His pyrotechnics at the top of the order made 300 runs almost a mandate for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. He has carried that same destructive vein in international cricket. The domestic scene, naturally, was ready and waiting for the fireworks.

Anticlimactically, when he returned a total of 10 runs in the first two Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games for Punjab — this after a testing outing Down Under where gaps were discovered in his merciless style of play — whispers of doubt followed.

However, on Sunday, Abhishek got the monkey off his back in a way only he can. The 25-year-old gave Bengal — with the likes of Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep in the ranks — a rude awakening; the side running from pillar to post in search of answers or good fortune. Neither was found.

Records galore

His command down the ground and on the leg side helped him coast into the record books: the most T20 sixes (91) by an Indian in a calendar year, second-most maximums (16) in a T20 innings by an Indian, and the second highest T20 score (148) by an Indian, to name a few.

The basics of the game — stance, grip, swing and timing — were all there, but on steroids. Pace or spin. Fast or slow. Abhishek showed equal disregard. If not for his body of work, this whirlwind knock would’ve been filed under ‘scarcely digestible and barely conceivable’. All well in character for the world’s top-ranked T20 batter.

When he eventually fell, Abhishek walked to cheers from his teammates and fans thronging the fences. Lost in the noise was the sound of the bookmakers reworking India’s odds at next year’s home T20I World Cup. And understandably so.

Prithvi Shaw is set to lead Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy league phase, replacing Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has been recalled to India’s ODI squad for the upcoming series against South Africa.

He was named captain on Friday when the Maharashtra selection committee — chaired by former left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar — announced the 16-member squad. Notably, the squad did not include a designated vice-captain.

On Sunday, multiple sources within the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) confirmed that Shaw will be elevated to captaincy once Gaikwad departs. The selectors and team management had already sounded out Shaw about taking over the leadership if required, and the opener had been advised to be prepared for the role.

An official announcement regarding Shaw’s elevation and Gaikwad’s replacement is expected on Monday. The captaincy comes as a timely boost for Shaw as he aims to draw the attention of Indian Premier League franchises ahead of next month’s auction.

Shaw moved to Maharashtra at the start of the season after being dropped from Mumbai’s squads last year. He has been in red-hot form in the Ranji Trophy, amassing 470 runs in seven innings — including a double-century and three half-centuries — at an impressive average of 67.14.

Maharashtra has been drawn in a challenging Group B, alongside Jammu & Kashmir, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Goa. The team will play all its league matches in Kolkata.

Shardul Thakur will lead a star-studded 17-member Mumbai squad — featuring India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and allrounder Shivam Dube — for the league phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beginning in Lucknow on November 26.

The five-member selection committee, chaired by Sanjay Patil, unanimously decided to continue with Shardul as captain, especially after it was clarified that Suryakumar would be available for the first four matches as Mumbai look to defend its men’s inter-state T20 title. Shardul is already leading Mumbai to the top of the Ranji Trophy league standings this season.

“It is best to maintain continuity, and Suryakumar’s presence will be motivating and extremely useful for Shardul and the rest of the team,” Patil told The Hindu on Friday after the Mumbai Cricket Association announced the squad.

Both Suryakumar and Dube will join India’s pre-series camp ahead of the three-match T20I series against South Africa in early December.

India Under-19 captain Ayush Mhatre is set to open alongside Ajinkya Rahane. The selectors have handed wicketkeeping duties to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who impressed behind the stumps during the T20 Mumbai league in June and excelled in the Under-23 inter-state one-day competition.

“He kept reasonably well in T20 Mumbai and is in excellent form, so we felt it was the right time to give him full responsibility,” Patil said.

The squad also features experienced batters Sarfaraz Khan and Siddhesh Lad, but its core strength lies in a deep allrounders’ pool. Apart from Dube, the squad includes Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani, Sairaj Patil, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge and Atharva Ankolekar — providing enviable balance as they eye a smooth passage into the Super League.

Defending champion Mumbai has been drawn in Group A, alongside Railways (Nov. 26), Vidarbha (Nov. 28), Andhra (Nov. 30), Assam (Dec. 2), Kerala (Dec. 4), Chhattisgarh (Dec. 6) and Odisha (Dec. 8).

The squad: Shardul Thakur (Capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Ayush Mhatre, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Sairaj Patil, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Atharva Ankolekar, Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani, Tushar Deshpande, Irfan Umair, Hardik Tamore (wk).