India's veteran pacer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, will lead Uttar Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy starting from November 23. The last-time SMAT winner, Uttar Pradesh, will feature in group C, playing their first match against Himachal Pradesh on November 25 at the Wankhade Stadium. Our best and brightest are ready for the #SyedMushtaqAliTrophy! Wishing them all the best, let’s bring it home boys. #SyedMushtaqAli #UPCricket #UPCA pic.twitter.com/e1EFLrInxJ — UPCA (@UPCACricket) November 18, 2024 Suresh Raina, the former Indian World Cup-winning cricketer, had led the team to its maiden SMAT title in 2013-14. Ahead of the 2025 IPL Auction, declaring Kumar as the captain is a great move, letting him prove his worth. Bhuvneshwar has been representing Sunrisers Hyderabad since 2014 and has been released before the auction. Till now, he has played 176 matches, bagging 181 wickets. Apart from Bhuvneswar, the UP team will feature names like Piyush Chawla, Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, and Sameer Rizvi, as well as their former captain, Priyam Garg. Wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who has been a regular face in the team, is traveling with the senior team for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Read: Cheteshwar Pujara to Feature in Border-Gavaskar Trophy But with a ‘Twist’ Earlier, Mumbai had announced Shreyas Iyer's name as their captain for the SMAT 2024. Uttar Pradesh Squad for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Bhuvneshwar Kumar (C), Madhav Kaushik (VC), Karan Sharma, Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Swastik Chikara, Priyam Garg, Aryan Juyal, Aditya Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Vipraj Nigam, Kartikeya Jaiswal, Shivam Sharma, Yash Dayal, Mohsin Khan, Aaqib Khan, Shivam Mavi, Vineet Panwar.