The 2020–21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was the twelfth season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a Twenty20 cricket tournament played in India. It was contested by 38 teams, divided into six groups, with eight teams in the Plate Group. Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim were placed in the Plate Group, with all the matches taking place in Chennai. Bihar won the Plate Group to qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament.