Suryakumar Yadav sent an emphatic message to the selectors on the opening day of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing an unbeaten 60 off just 21 balls as Mumbai crushed Hyderabad by seven wickets in Kolkata on Saturday.
Chasing 173 at the Jadavpur University Campus 2nd Ground, Mumbai needed only 13.1 overs to complete the chase, with 41 balls to spare. Suryakumar, captaining Mumbai, walked in at No. 4 and tore the Hyderabad attack apart, striking six fours and five sixes on his way to a 15-ball half-century — one of the fastest fifties of his domestic career.
He was superbly supported by Musheer Khan, who made 51 off 24 balls with six fours and three sixes. The pair added 65 runs off just 23 balls for the third wicket, and the chase was effectively over long before the winning runs were hit.
Earlier, Mumbai’s bowlers had restricted Hyderabad to 172 all out in 20 overs. Abhirath Reddy top-scored with 35 off 24 balls, while captain CV Milind provided a late lift with 22 off 12 balls. Maxwell Swaminathan was the pick of the attack with 3 for 23, Shivam Dube took 2 for 31, and Shardul Thakur claimed a wicket in his three overs for 24 runs.
The innings was Suryakumar’s first appearance in top-level domestic cricket since the Indian Premier League, and his first competitive outing since losing the India T20I captaincy and his place in the national side after leading India in the defence of their 2026 T20 World Cup title. His underwhelming IPL 2026 campaign had raised questions about his form, but Saturday’s knock was a reminder of the destructive batting that made him one of the most feared T20 batters in the world.
Mumbai will face Gujarat in their next Elite Group D match on Monday at the same venue, and Suryakumar will hope this is the start of a tournament that puts him firmly back in the national conversation.
Elsewhere on the opening day, Punjab beat Haryana by four wickets chasing 191, Puducherry beat Maharashtra by 15 runs, Chandigarh beat Baroda by three wickets, and Saurashtra beat Bihar by five wickets. The Bihar match also made history, with 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi becoming the youngest captain in men’s T20 cricket at 15 years and 232 days, though his first outing in charge ended in defeat after he made 18 off 12 balls.
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