Arshad (In picture) broke the record jointly held by Hyderabad’s T Ravi Teja and Gujarat’s Arzan Nagwaswalla, both of whom had taken 6/13 against Chhattisgarh and Railways respectively in October 2023. (Special Arrangement)The ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy has been dominated by batters such as Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who became the youngest-ever centurion in the competition’s history earlier this week.
But on Saturday, the bowlers had their moment when Madhya Pradesh left-arm seamer Mohammed Arshad Khan produced the best figures ever recorded in the tournament’s history, taking 6/9 in four overs against Chandigarh at the Jadavpur University ground in Kolkata.
Arshad broke the record jointly held by Hyderabad’s T Ravi Teja and Gujarat’s Arzan Nagwaswalla, both of whom had taken 6/13 against Chhattisgarh and Railways respectively in October 2023.
With MP playing the morning fixture, Arshad, who had taken two wickets in the previous game against Maharashtra at Eden Gardens, aimed to make the most of the early swing on offer. He broke open the innings immediately, dismissing Arjun Azad and captain Shivam Bhambri for ducks in the second over, followed by Nikhil Thakur (4) in his next.
“I wanted to bowl my natural ball. I wanted to try and get wickets with the early swing off the new ball,” Arshad told The Indian Express after his performance on Saturday.
A key factor, he said, was the clarity he received from captain Rajat Patidar and coach Chandrakant Pandit. “When I talk to them, it’s a very simple plan. I don’t have much doubt.”
The 27-year-old has also spent time learning more about his craft from former India pacer Ashish Nehra, who is his coach at Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
🚨 Record Alert 🚨
4️⃣ Overs
1️⃣ Maiden
9️⃣ Runs
6️⃣ WicketsMohd. Arshad Khan produced the best ever bowling figures in #SMAT history.
He achieved the feat playing for Madhya Pradesh against Chandigarh in Kolkata 👏🙌
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/qYYGlGVy3s@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/9e5HyomVVn
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 7, 2025
As is the case with the state side, Arshad, who played for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023 and Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024, emphasised the clarity that Nehra gave him in the GT set-up.
“I was playing under an Indian coach for the first time in the IPL. I got a lot of clarity from him and learnt a lot of new things,” he said.
Having rocked Chandigarh with the new ball, Arshad returned at the death to deliver the 19th over. He removed Gaurav Puri, Sanyam Saini and Nikhil Sharma off the first, fourth and sixth balls to finish with 6/9, restricting Chandigarh to 134/8.
In response, Madhya Pradesh found themselves in early trouble at 10/2 in the second over as Jagjit Singh Sandhu removed the opening pair of Ankush Singh and Rahul Batham cheaply.
But Harsh Gawali and Harpeet Singh rescued the side, putting on 105 runs for the third wicket. The latter fell for 48, but Gawali stayed till the end, making an unbeaten 74 to help chase down the score in 14 overs with seven wickets in hand.
Puducherry claimed one of their biggest wins, beating Bengal by 81 runs at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad.
Captain Aman Khan starred with the bat for Puducherry, making 74 off 40 balls with five fours and seven sixes to take his side to 177/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, Bengal never found any momentum in their innings as off-spinner Jayant Yadav claimed 4/28 in four overs and was well supported by Sidak Singh, who took 3/9 in his four overs.
Gujarat and Saurashtra clinched thrilling victories, prevailing by one wicket and one run respectively against Himachal Pradesh and Saurashtra at Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
Chasing 194, a 68-run stand between Saurav Chauhan and Aarya Desai for the fourth wicket helped Gujarat build on the foundation set by Urvil Patel at the top. But once that stand was broken, Himachal Pradesh clawed their way back into the match before Harshal Patel held his nerve at the end and helped his side get home in the final over in the company of Nagwaswalla to clinch all four points.
Saurashtra defeated Karnataka by one run at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Chasing 179 for victory, Karnataka found themselves in early trouble, but Devdutt Padikkal kept them in the contest with 66 off 46 balls.
But his dismissal in the 13th over, with his side needing 75 runs in just over seven overs, proved to be the turning point as the Saurashtra bowlers kept pegging the opposition back at regular intervals before winning by the barest of margins.
At Lucknow: Chhattisgarh 121 all out in 19.4 overs (Thakur 3/19) lost to Mumbai 123/2 in 15.5 overs (Mhatre 69 not out).
At Hyderabad: Punjab 233/6 in 20 overs (Abhishek S 62, Dhir 54) beat Services 160 all out in 19.4 overs (Abhishek 40)
Punjab captain Abhishek Sharma became the first Indian player to hit 100 or more T20 sixes in a calendar year during the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 match against Services in Hyderabad on Saturday.
The left-hander smashed 62 off 34 balls with eight fours and three sixes, setting up the foundation for his side to reach a mammoth 233/6 in 20 overs.
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