Ishan Kishan stakes claim for Team India comeback, caps his solid Mushtaq Ali Trophy performance with century in final

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], December 18 (ANI): Jharkhand captain Ishan Kishan smashed a century in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 against Haryana at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Thursday. With the ton, Ishan Kishan became only the second batter to hit a hundred in a SMAT final.
After being asked to bat first, Jharkhand lost an early wicket, with Anshul Kamboj dismissing Virat Singh in the very first over. However, Ishan Kishan, alongside Kumar Kushagra, launched a sensational assault on the bowling.
Kishan brought up his fifty off just 24 balls and then proceeded to reach his sixth T20 century off just 45 balls, hitting a six off Anshul Kamboj to bring up the milestone. In doing so, Kishan equalled Abhishek Sharma's record for the most centuries in the history of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, marking his fifth overall. This was also his second century of the current tournament, following an unbeaten 113 off 50 balls against Tripura last month.
Kishan's innings eventually ended when he was clean bowled for 101 off 49 balls by Sumit Kumar in the 15th over of Jharkhand's innings. Kishan hit as many as 10 sixes and six fours in his explosive innings against Haryana.
Ishan Kishan became only the second batter to score a century in a SMAT final, after Punjab's Amolpreet Singh (113 against Baroda at Mohali in SMAT 2023-24), and the first captain to achieve the feat. He also set the record for the most sixes by a batter in an SMAT final innings.
The "out-of-favour" Indian wicketkeeper-batter has been in blazing form in the ongoing T20 domestic season, topping the run charts with 517 runs from 10 innings at an impressive strike rate of 197.32.
With over 500 runs in the tournament, Kishan became the fourth batter to achieve 500+ runs in a single Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season, joining Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, and RP Kadam.
Kumar Kushagra also scored a quickfire 38-ball 81 as they helped Jharkhand post a mammoth total of 262/3 in 20 overs against Haryana. Jharkhand's total is now the highest team score in any T20 tournament final, surpassing Italy's 244 against Romania in the T20 World Cup 2026 Europe Qualifier final.
Notably, Ishan Kishan has been out of the Indian team since 2023, with his last appearance coming in a T20I against Australia in Guwahati in November 2023, where he was dismissed for a five-ball duck. In the series, he scored 110 runs in the three matches he played, averaging 36.67. (ANI)