The likes of Ishan Kishan and Kumar Kushagra may have been at the forefront of Jharkhand’s succesfull Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign but just as important was happened behind the scenes. Former players Shahbaz Nadeem and Saurabh Tiwary had been appointed as the Jharkhand State Cricket Association’s (JSCA) joint secretary and secretary respectively before the start of the season.
The JSCA appointed Ratan Kumar, who had been actively involved in various coaching roles for the last eight years across Jharkhand’s age-group cricket, was appointed head coach, while Sunny Gupta was named bowling coach. Both those appointments were made on the advise of legendary former India captain MS Dhoni, arguably the most famous product of Jharkhand cricket.
“When we started the season, right from the appointment of the coaching staff, we have always taken his [Dhoni’s] advice and suggestions,” Nadeem is quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. “And he also has a keen interest in the Jharkhand team. He wants them to do well. It feels good that such a big player is paying close attention to our team.
“And I’ll tell you something, he follows every game very closely. He followed the entire [SMAT] tournament, noted all the strengths and weaknesses of the players and discussed with us. He knows the stats and numbers of each domestic player from Jharkhand. He is very interested in helping Jharkhand cricket grow.”
Jharkhand had won 10 of the 11 matches they played in the tournament. They topped a group that had three former champions in Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the latter of whom they beat with a scarcely believable come-from-behind victory. Kishan scored 517 runs in 10 innings with a strike rate of 197.32, thus finishing as the tournament’s highest run scorer. His performance earned him a recall to the Indian camp for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
