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Ahmedabad took the India League’s top seed at 105-57 in 2034, growing their playoff and West Division title streaks to nine seasons. In South Asia Baseball’s 55 seasons, the Animals have made the playoffs a remarkable 42 times. Ahmedabad allowed the fewest runs in 2034 with 565 and was the #1 seed for the second time in three years.

Delhi bounced back from a 76-86 season in 2033 and were close behind the Animals for the top seed. The Drillers won the Central Division at 103-59 for their fifth playoff berth in six years, although it was their first division title since winning it all in 2029. Delhi was the IL’s top scoring team at 845 runs.

Hyderabad dethroned Visakhapatnam’s dynasty in the South Division with the Hippos on top at 98-64. Although it was Hyderbad’s fourth straight postseason berth, their last division title was 2022. Since then, the Volts had won the division each year except 2029 and had six pennants. The two-time defending SAB champ and three-time defending Indian League champ finished at 86-76. Visakhapatnam missed the playoffs for only the second time in 12 years.

In the wild card race, it was Mumbai (95-67) and last year’s ILCS runner-up Kolkata (94-68) advancing. The Meteors snapped an 11-year playoff drought, while the Cosmos got back-to-back berths. Lucknow was the first team out at 92-70, denying them a third straight playoff berth.

1B Advik Jagur won Indian League MVP in his third season with Delhi. The 34-year old righty had been mostly a journeyman before joining the Drillers, previously playing for Visakhapatnam, Mandalay, Patna, and Jaipur. Jagur led in RBI (146) and total bases (392). He had 224 hits, 120 runs, 45 doubles, 39 home runs, .360/.399/.630 slash, 185 wRC+, and 7.5 WAR.

In his second year as a full-time starter, Lucknow’s Rahul Katti won Pitcher of the Year. The 27-year old Indian righty was the eighth overall pick in the 2029 SAB Draft for the Larks. He won the ERA title in 2034 at 2.60 and had the best FIP- at 62. Katti had a 13-10 record and 11 saves, 187 innings, 271 strikeouts, and 5.9 WAR. His efforts earned a five-year, $63,120,000 extension signed in late June. Also of note, Visakhapatnam’s Hari Zulfikkur won his third Reliever of the Year award.

Mumbai swept Kolkata in the wild card round 2-0, then upset Ahmedabad 3-2 in the divisional series. It is the second time in three years that the Animals got the #1 seed and won 100+ games, but went one-and-done in the postseason. For the Meteors, they hadn’t gotten to the Indian League Championship Series since their last playoff berth and pennant back in 2022.

Delhi downed Hyderabad 3-1 on the other side, giving the Drillers their second ILCS trip in three years. They had been the SAB Champion as recently as 2029. Mumbai seemed on their way by winning the first three games of the series, but Delhi pulled off the rally from down 3-0 to win the series in seven. It was only the second time the Indian League Championship Series had seen a 3-0 rally, joining Jaipur’s 2009 comeback against Kolkata. It was only the third time that the pennant went to India’s capital region (2021, 2029, 2034).



Ho Chi Minh City for the sixth consecutive seasons won 100+ games and the South Division title. The Hedgehogs had their best record of the run at 111-51 to earn the Southeast Asia League’s top seed. HCMC’s offense set new SAB team records for batting average (.305), slugging (.543), and hits (1791). They also had the third-highest season attendance in SEAL history at 2,247,156. Ho Chi Minh City was unsurprisingly the top scoring team at 975 runs.

Defending SEAL champ Yangon was the #2 seed at 100-62 for a fifth consecutive Central Division title. In a 40 year stretch, the Green Dragons have only missed the playoffs twice and only missed a winning season once. Dhaka got the West Division title at 97-65. The Dobermans have only missed the playoffs once in 14 years, although this was only their second division title in nine years. Mandalay had controlled things in recent memory, but their eight-year playoff streak came to an end. The Mammoths were six games behind Dhaka in the divisional race at 91-71.

Mandalay also ended up three games short of the second wild card spot. Bangkok got the first at 96-66 and Hanoi was second at 94-68. Colombo was also in the mix but missed at 90-72. The Bobcats earned a fourth consecutive wild card and had 96 team triples, the second-most in SAB history. For the once dominant Hounds, this ended a decade-long playoff drought, although they had generally hovered around .500 and had rarely been outright terrible. The Mammoths had allowed the league’s fewest runs at 621.

Yangon’s Khan Nishar won Southeast Asia League MVP for the second time in three years. The 34-year old Indian DH led in runs (140), walks (98), OBP (.413), slugging (.664), OPS (1.077), and wRC+ (181). Nishar added 190 hits, 43 doubles, 47 homers, 126 RBI, .317 average, and 8.2 WAR. It was only the 11^th time in SAB that a player scored 140+ runs, which Nishar had already done with 142 in 2032. This was the fifth and final year for Nishar with the Green Dragons, as he’d return to free agency in the winter and ink a four-year, $83,200,000 deal with Delhi.

Colombo’s Sanjit Ali won Pitcher of the Year with the ERA title at 2.41. The 25-year old Bangladeshi lefty had a 17-2 record, 216.1 innings, 277 strikeouts, 177 ERA+, 69 FIP-, and 6.2 WAR. The Catfish had picked him seventh overall in the 2028 SAB Draft. In the offseason, Aliwould sign a team-friendly five-year, $56,580,000 extension.

Bangkok swept Hanoi 2-0 in the wild card round and gave Ho Chi Minh City a battle in the divisional series, although the Hedgehogs survived 3-2. Despite six straight 100+ win seasons, this was only the second time in that stretch (2029) that HCMC had advanced to the Southeast Asia League Championship. The Hedgehogs’ last pennant was 2024, their only title since the great dynasty run from 1987-2009.

Yangon outlasted Dhaka 3-2 on the other side of the bracket, giving the defending champs a chance at their fourth pennant in five years. These were SEAL’s two most decorated teams with a storied playoff rivalry, but they hadn’t met in the LCS since 2009. Both squads had won 15 SEAL titles, the most in league history. The matchup had a lot of hype, but it ended up being non-competitive with a Ho Chi Minh City sweep for their first pennant in a decade.



The 55^th SAB Championship went to Delhi 4-2 over Ho Chi Minh City, making the Drillers three-time overall champs (2021, 2029, 2034). League MVP Advik Jagur was also finals MVP, getting 27 hits, 14 runs, 6 doubles, 2 homers, and 11 RBI over 17 playoff starts.



Other notes: Rajshahi’s Naung Zar had 62 doubles, breaking the SAB single-season record of 60 which had been reached twice. 62+ doubles has only happened 43 times in all of pro baseball history. Nagpur at 61-101 set a few Indian League records, most of which were bad. The one good one was that they stole 427 bases, breaking the record 411 they set two years prior. On the bad side, the Patriots set new IL worsts for runs allowed (872), hits allowed (1666), and H/9 (10.49). Kanpur also had historically bad pitching, as their 5.03 ERA, 797 earned runs, and 1.475 WHIP were each the second-worst in IL history.

In milestones, Agnisika Dhavita became the 8^th member of the 3000 hit club. Cong Bui, Randall Batin, and Pyae Sin Nyo became the 40^th, 41^st, and 42^nd to 2500 hits. Bui also became the 25^th to 1500 RBI. Alfonso Giraldes was the 35^th to reach 500 home runs. Eight guys crossed 400 homers, bringing that group to 73 SAB sluggers.

2B Hamidul Islam won his 8^th Silver Slugger and second at second base, having previously won six as a DH. C Channam Naina won his 7^th Silver Slugger. Mat Toe Moe became the 20^th closer to 300 saves. 1B Gurdip Anand and 3B Vatish Bharat won their 7^th Gold Gloves.