The Indian domestic season is finally underway in the form of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy played across the country in seven locations strictly adhering to COVID protocols. The ‘SMAT’ is played among 38 teams which is classified into six groups with five elite groups and a plate group similar to Ranji format.

The tournament is set to start on 10^th January with the knockouts scheduled to play in the newly constructed Sardar Patel stadium, Ahmedabad. On Sunday, Gujarat is ready to lock horns with Maharashtra in their opening clash at the Moti Bagh stadium, Vadodara.  Both Gujarat and Maharashtra are placed in Elite Group C along with Baroda, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh.

Gujarat vs Maharashtra Dream11 Team Prediction

Wicket Keeper: N Naik and D Raval

Batsman: R Gaikawad, N Sheikh and P Panchal

All Rounder: A Patel, R Kalaria and A Kazi

Bowler: P Chawla, S Bachhav and C Gaja

GUJ vs MAH Dream11 Team Predictions: Head-to-head:

Matches – 10  Gujarat – 6  Maharashtra – 4

Last meeting: Maharashtra defeated Gujarat by 4 wickets in the 2018-19 season of Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy.

GUJ vs MAH Dream11 Team Predictions: Wicket-keepers

Urvil Patel is a preferred candidate behind the stumps who has predominantly played at the top of the order. Despite having a low average, the youngster has an eye-catching strike rate of 140.85.

Priyesh Patel has played for the U-19 team and is looking to break into the domestic circuit this season.

For Maharashtra, Vishant More has been an exceptional wicket-keeper with a safe pair of hands and high rate of success with the gloves. The keeper has played plenty of First-Class and List A games but is yet to cement his spot in the T20s.

On the other hand, Nikhil Naik might be played as a pure batsman as the KKR player didn’t get much opportunities in the 13^th edition of the IPL. But his T20 record has been impeccable so far with 900 runs at a strike rate of 127.84 so far.

GUJ vs MAH SMAT Dream11 predictions: Batsmen

Priyank Panchal will be an important player with the bat who had a fantastic season in 2018-19 and is someone who is expected to fire this time around.

Dhruv Raval has also been fairly successful with the willow as the left-handed batsman amassed 170 runs at a healthy strike rate last season. He has averaged 23.64 with a strike rate of 127.80 in 15 games.

Rahul Tripathi who is leading the Maharashtra side will be longing to replicate his IPL form here. He has immense experience having scored 1731 runs at 130 strike-rate in 80 innings.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was in imperious form for CSK and is would be high on confidence when he comes into the tournament. He has scores of 65, 72 and 62 in the last 3 T20 games and is a solid player at the top.

Naushad Shaikh is an underrated middle order player who has a superior average of 31.20 and a decent strike rate of 130.54. He is considered a savior who has always come to the party when the side is in deep tatters.

GUJ vs MAH Dream11 Team Prediction: All-rounders

Axar Patel had extremely sufficient returns from this edition of IPL after bowling extremely well picking up 9 wickets and scoring over 100 runs with the willow. The Gujarat skipper will be looking to lead the side from the front this edition.

Roosh Kalaria is a proven bowling all-rounder who is known to mix his pace to deceive the batsmen. He has been miser with the ball and has affected 33 dismissals in his career.

Kedar Jadhav is coming off a disappointing IPL where he struggled to find the sweet spot throughout the tournament. In order to get back to the national team or to stay in CSK, the veteran player will have to get some runs under his belt.

Tajinder Singh is a batting all-rounder who occasionally rolls his wrists with the ball. He has an average of 26.90 and has picked up 15 wickets in his short T20 career.

Swapnil Gugale hasn’t capitalized with the number of opportunities that he has got so far. He has a poor strike rate with the bat and has created limited impact with his off-spin.

GUJ vs MAH Dream11 Team Predictions: Bowlers

Chintan Gaja will be the frontline pacer in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. Despite playing just 3 games in the last edition, he picked up 7 wickets at a decent economy.

Hardik Patel will be an effective spinner in the side who is ready to spin a web for the opposition. He has taken 27 wickets at an economy of 6.85 so far.

Ripal Patel is a bowler but has never got to bowl in 6 games until now. He has pitched in with the bat scoring at a strike rate of 219.05. Arzan Nagwaswalla brings in that left arm angle that will be a visible threat to the opponents. He has lots of variations in his armory and has taken 12 wickets at an economy of 6.27.

Piyush Chawla might be at the last phase of his career, but he has been a legend in IPL and in the domestic circuit. To enunciate this, he has taken 257 wickets and has scored over 1300 runs in 244 games.

Satyajeet Bachav might just be the strike bowler with 37 wickets in his kitty so far. On slow Indian pitches, he is someone who can dictate the pace of the innings in the middle overs.

Pradeep Dadhe is a new entrant into the side who has just played two games where he managed to take 2 wickets.

The likes of Manoj Ingale and Azim Kazi should support the other bowlers who bring in a lot of experience into the eleven.

Rajvardhan Hangargekar has come through the ranks as the young prodigy looks to play for his state and eventually represent the country across formats.

Gujarat Vs Maharashtra Syed Mustaq Ali Match Where to watch?

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game between Gujarat and Maharashtra will be live telecasted on Star Network for the Indian cricket fans. The matches will be streamed on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD apart from Disney Hotstar app.