Urvil Patel announced his arrival as a T20 captain in spectacular fashion, blasting an unbeaten 119 off just 37 balls to guide Gujarat to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over Services in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group C opener in Hyderabad. The explosive innings included 12 fours and 10 sixes, with Urvil reaching his century off 31 balls, marking the third fastest T20 hundred by an Indian. Gujarat chased down 183 with 45 balls to spare, turning what could have been a tricky assignment into a dominant display.
Retained by Chennai Super Kings after joining mid-IPL 2025 as an injury replacement, Urvil has already made a name for himself in the T20 circuit. He shares the record for the joint-fastest T20 hundred by an Indian with Abhishek Sharma, both having struck 28-ball centuries in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In 2023, he had also made headlines with a 41-ball List A century against Arunachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, further cementing his reputation as a destructive batter.
Kerala captain Sanju Samson, set to be Urvil’s teammate at CSK, also starred with a composed 51 not out, leading Kerala to a comfortable 10-wicket win over Odisha. The innings, however, was overshadowed by Rohan Kunnummal’s scintillating 121 off 60 balls, his second T20 century, as Kerala cruised to victory.
Rahane stars in Mumbai’s win, Shaw flops
In other notable performances, Mumbai overcame Railways’ 158 for 5 with contributions from Ajinkya Rahane, who hit a 31-ball half-century, and Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 47 off 30 deliveries. Rahane top-scored with 62 before falling hit wicket to legspinner Karn Sharma, while Mumbai’s bowlers shared the wickets, with captain Shardul Thakur finishing with 1 for 15 from four overs and Shivam Dube chipping in with a wicket.
It was a disappointing debut for Prithvi Shaw, who managed just five runs as Maharashtra went down to Jammu & Kashmir by five wickets in Kolkata. Pacer Auqib Nabi claimed three wickets, while Umran Malik impressed with 2 for 24. Meanwhile, Punjab overcame Himachal with minimal resistance from Abhishek Sharma, and Saurashtra, aided by Jaydev Unadkat’s three-wicket haul, secured full points against Tripura in Ahmedabad.