Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019/20: MS Dhoni absent as Jharkhand announce squad for the tournament 

What's the story?

The former Vijay Hazare Trophy winners, Jharkhand have announced their 14-man-squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. MS Dhoni will continue his absence from the cricketing action and Ishan Kishan will lead the team. Shahbaz Nadeem, Saurabh Tiwary and Varun Aaron are the other stars who will represent Jharkhand in India's elite T20 competition.

The background

MS Dhoni has taken a break from international cricket as his last appearance had come during the semifinal match of World Cup 2019. He has shown no signs of coming back despite the various rumors that have emerged about his return.

The chief selector of the Indian team, MSK Prasad mentioned in a recent interview that the team is moving on from MS Dhoni. In such a situation, his decision to skip the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy has fueled the rumours of his retirement.

The heart of the matter

Saurabh Tiwary will look to make his presence felt in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Though MS Dhoni is not a part of Jharkhand's 14-man-squad, the state still has a stellar unit with players like Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Varun Aaron, Shahbaz Nadeem and Anukul Roy present in the team.

Ishan Kishan is yet to make his international debut but, if he impresses the selectors with his performances in the approaching tourney, the Mumbai Indians star can earn a place in the Indian team. The two former Indian internationals, Aaron and Tiwary will look to perform well given that the IPL Auction will take place just a few days after the T20 tournament.

Nadeem, who made his Test debut last month, will try to solidify his case for a place in the Indian T20 side by troubling the opposition batsmen with his left-arm spin in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while the young Anukul Roy will support Nadeem in the spin bowling department.

Jharkhand’s squad: Ishan Kishan (Captain), Varun Aaron, Anand Singh, Supriyo Chakraborty, Kumar Deobrat, Monu Kumar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Nazim Siddiqui, Anukul Roy, Rahul Shukla, Vivekanand Tiwari, Saurabh Tiwary, Utkarsh Singh, Virat Singh.

What's next?

The 2019/20 edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will begin from 8th November. It will be interesting to see how far team Jharkhand reaches under the leadership of Ishan Kishan.

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