Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to lead Bihar (Source: AFP)
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been named captain of the Bihar cricket team for the upcoming 2026-27 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season. The Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) selection committee recently named a 17-player squad for the prestigious 20-overs tournament, where they picked Suraj Kashyap as Sooryavanshi’s deputy.
The Bihar team was previously led by Sakibul Gani in last year’s 2025-26 SMAT season. However, under his leadership, Bihar finished at the bottom of the eight-team Group B points table with just one win and six defeats.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to lead Bihar in SMAT 2026-27
The BCA has named a 17-player Bihar squad for the upcoming SMAT 2026-27 season. The selection committee announced the squad following a meeting held on Friday, November 6.
The state association also conducted a trial for players from November 4 to November 6. On the basis of the performance of the players in the trial as well as their past record, the committee finalised its squad for Bihar’s first two matches of the tournament. Here is a look at the complete Bihar squad for the opening week of the 2026-27 Syed Mushtaq Trophy season.
Bihar squad for first two matches of SMAT 2026-27:
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (c), Alok Kumar, Ayush Loharuka (wk), Altamash Ashraf, Param Kumar Singh, Anmol Kumar (wk), Ritwik Raj, Suraj Kashyap (vc), Mayank Kumar, Raghvendra Pratap, Ashish Kumar, Vasudev Pratap Singh, Mohammad Izhar, Amod Yadav, Prashant Singh, Nawaz Khan and Himanshu Singh.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to leave Bihar captaincy to join India A team
Under the leadership of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the Bihar team will take on Saurashtra in their opening match of the 2026-27 SMAT season on November 14 in Indore. A couple of days later, the team will take on Railways at the same venue.
However, Sooryavanshi will be expected to leave the Bihar team after two games to join the India A team in Qatar for the 2026 Men’s Rising Stars Asia Cup. As per the schedule, the India A team will play their opening match on November 20 against Nepal.
In any case, the upcoming SMAT 2026-27 season will mark Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s first stint as captain in senior cricket. The teenager was previously named vice-captain of the East Zone team for the 2026 Duleep Trophy season.
As it happened, the youngster ended up briefly leading the side in the final when regular skipper Ishan Kishan was ruled out owing to an injury concern.
With the BCCI, national selectors and domestic selectors placing considerable faith in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, it remains to be seen whether the young Indian opener can justify their confidence and make the most of his maiden captaincy assignment in senior cricket.
