Players would be keen to showcase their best performances ahead of the IPL 2026 auction on December 16.
Teams are nearing the business end of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT 2025-26), and there could not have been a better time to schedule the tournament. The Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions for the 19th edition are scheduled to take place on December 16, and players are making sure that they put their best foot forward for their respective state, in order to grab a few eyeballs.
In the fixtures that were played today (December 8), there were some performances that stood out from the others. From Nitish Rana, Yash Dhull to Naman Dhir – here are some of the top performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT 2025-26) on December 8, 2026.
After being released by the Mumbai Indians (MI), the right-arm speedster from Andhra Pradesh has given all the franchises a good reason to look out for him. In their fixture against Vidarbha, the speedster bagged a four-wicket haul, giving away just 26 runs at an economy of 6.5, which is decent in the shortest format of the game.
He represented the five-time IPL champions in two games in the 2025 season, but could not make frequent inroads with the ball, claiming a solitary wicket. His economy was also 13.25, which was a lot on the higher end. However, before the IPL 2026 auction, the pacer would be excited with the kind of performances he has showcased at the domestic level.
Yash Dhull, Priyansh Arya and Nitish Rana – the top three for Delhi in the domestic T20 tournament. Dismiss one, and the other two perform is their mantra. After Priyansh Arya was dismissed early for a score of a mere 11, the other two IPL stars got together to score fifties each – raising their stocks ahead of the 19th IPL edition.
Dhull and Rana formed a gritty partnership of 67 runs within no time to make sure that the run-rate stays up. On the back of their fifties, Delhi posted 162/7, which was a competitive total. On the other hand, Uttarakhand could only get to 144, with Delhi winning the game by 18 runs.
As if getting his debut cap wasn’t a matter of enough pride, Baroda’s Amit Passi scored a humongous century on debut to take his name into the record books. When none of the batters could go past the 30-run mark, Passi scored a magnificent 114 runs off just 55 deliveries with 10 fours and nine maximums in his innings.
This knock will suddenly open the eyes of a few franchises like the Mumbai Indians, who would be eyeing for a domestic opener as a back-up spot in the side. Not to forget that the captain of MI, Hardik Pandya also hails from the same team, Baroda.
The youngster from Bengal slammed a 24-ball 74 against Haryana in the domestic tournament. Though Bengal could not win the match, Abhishek Porel , who is retained by the Delhi Capitals (DC) showed enough skills to be backed by the franchise in the top-order.
This comes at a time when DC have let go of two of their openers in Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk. The franchise has an important question, so as to who would open the batting with KL Rahul in the 19th IPL edition. However, with knocks like these, Abhishek Porel is setting the stage on fire.
Well, the last word of that heading is what would be the feeling for the Mumbai Indians fans. The middle-order batter from Punjab is making it a habit to take the bowlers to the cleaners in every match he plays. After his heroics in the last game, Naman Dhir has again docked up 61 runs off just 36 deliveries against the Gujarat side.
Having played for the franchise for the last two years, Naman Dhir has proved his class with a few impressive performances in the lower-order. His ability to keep his head stable while connecting the ball i what allows him to maintain a balanced base. To add to that, Dhir is a real asset with a few overs up his sleeve, which can be a real differentiator.
In a batting line-up where everyone fired, the left-handed was not far too behind as well. Coming in at No.4, he smashed 58 runs off just 27 deliveries, helping Jharkhand past the 200-run mark. Eventually, the team won the match by 36 runs.
After being retained by the Mumbai Indians, this performance would really boost the confidence of the youngster. He has featured in just a couple of matches for the five-time IPL champions, and remains to be one of the most significant players on the bench for MI.
If we start off by mentioning that none of the batters barring one got past the 20-run mark in an innings, it would be a cause of tremendous concern. Such was the case for Maharashtra, until Rahul Tripathi walked out to bat at No.5. Tripathi single-handedly shifted the gears for his side, and ended up with a score of an unbeaten 83 off just 44 deliveries.
This performances comes after the right-handed middle-order batter was not retained by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, teams that need a middle-order option are expected to look towards the aggressive batter from Maharashtra.
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After not having played for a lot of matches in IPL 2025, Yash Thakur was retained by the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ahead of the 19th IPL edition. That being said, the right-arm fast bowler has made impressive inroads in Vidarbha’s game against Andhra Pradesh, which will put him in good stead ahead of the next IPL edition.
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