Main pacer dropped over lazy fielding, spinner pondering retirement creates history, tailender picked ahead of eight specialist openers: How Uttarakhand went from ruckus and rebellion to Ranji Trophy semi-final
Hill states in India, specifically Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Sikkim, consistently rank among the top in the national happiness index. Thanks to a relaxed pace of life compared to urban centers, high levels of interpersonal trust and community support, low crime rates and pure air, the inhabitants of the uplands keep cortisol at bay. By default, people living in these extreme geographies are far removed from the hustle and bustle of metro cities, finding happiness within their realm of possibility instead of always chasing, rather rapaciously, the next big thing.
Notwithstanding the rise in gangster activity and religious riots, Uttarakhand citizens also score well on the joy quotient. They practise gratitude and contentment even as the lack of modern amenities, financial resources and employment opportunities remains a problem, chiefly in the mountainous districts. This abundance mindset, borne out of compulsion than choice, influences each and every sphere of work, including professional cricket. For better or for worse, it begs the question? Manish Jha, who took over the role of head coach from Wasim Jaffer in 2021, picks the latter.
‘’When I first entered that dressing room, I noticed there was a tendency to be satisfied with very less. Players were stuck in participation mode, carrying an amateurish attitude that if we perform, well and good, if we don’t, no big deal. I made them accountable. Invariably, as professionals you have to bat or bowl responsibly. If this small team aspired to grow, the players had to be forced out of their comfort zone.’’
Jha’s entry in Uttarakhand happened in turbulent circumstances on and off the field – corruption, favoritism, backdoor selections, alleged communal bias. At the Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, he was welcomed by a barrage of reporters craving a spicy sound byte after three coaches had come and gone in as many years since BCCI granted affiliation to the state in 2018. ‘’I thought if I engage myself in controversies then I won’t be able to focus on the team. I told the players that the onus of leaving behind this chaotic environment falls on our shoulders. If we work hard in unison and take the team forward, all the negativity will be nipped in the bud.’’
Set in their lackadaisical ways, the players weren’t on board immediately. Jha was met with revolt upon extending the length of the training sessions, with grievances that reached the administration hinging on the fact that even prominent names who’d represented Uttarakhand had a nominal work ethic. ‘’I had to explain that we cannot compete at the elite level with 20 minutes of batting. We need to bat for three hours like the greats,’’ Jha reasoned.
Board secretary Mahim Verma fancied his due diligence before greenlighting the upheaval of the status quo. He reached a training venue unannounced and observed the session fugitively, eager to see whether Jha is the hands-on taskmaster he claims to be. Witnessing him feed rapid balls for cut and pull drills for hours at a stretch, Mahim was convinced that Uttarakhand cricket is in the right hands.
‘’We changed our practice patterns. Hitherto the team was selected from the netting trials, we introduced an inter-district tournament to facilitate skill exhibition and reward actual performers,’’ Jha stressed. ‘’It took some time to bring everyone on the same page but once the results started to come in, like five consecutive wins in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021, everyone developed blind trust in my modus operandi and vision, which was to qualify for the knockout stages of India’s domestic competitions.’’
Jha was gaining autonomy, priceless in a country where bureaucracy is notorious for meddling in team affairs, particularly in the incipient state associations. Early into his alliance with Uttarakhand he realised that the transferred pros copped the blame for defeats while the natives walked away scot-free. Jha strived to kill that finger-pointing culture and assemble a squad where each member is capable of producing a defining impact. Raw talent existed in the region, with academies active in Rishikesh, Dehradun, Rudrapur, Haldwani and Ramnagar. Giving it the wings to fly became his motto. ‘’There seemed to be an inherent fear in the guys that we do not belong at the top-flight level, I constantly worked on ameliorating that belief system.’’
To hell with the economy, just focus on taking wickets; Jha laid down the blueprint for Akash Madhwal, whose skiddy pace often hustled batters into submission. Having operated with the tennis ball till the age of 24, the Roorkie lad was pushed to deliver his full quota of overs during VHT 2021 and the assurance did wonders to his career graph. Uttarakhand’s white-ball captaincy was bestowed upon Madhwal soon thereafter, while he went on to bag a record haul of 5/5 for Mumbai Indians in an IPL 2023 eliminator.
In a similar vein, Janmejay Joshi was fastracked to Ranji Trophy after Uttarakhand Premier League exploits yanked him out of the oblivion he found himself in post U19s. His sum total of eight wickets against Tripura and Jharkhand, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy holder, bears testimony to the grooming potential of the homegrown league. ‘’Injuries to Rajan Kumar, Deepak Dhapola, and Agrim Tiwari had depleted our pace battery. The way Janmejay responded to the challenge goes to show that UPL has taught him how to handle nerves,’’ said Jha, who asks the rookies to lead the team huddle occasionally in a bid to promote equality within the squad.
Hailed for scoring tough runs, the technically proficient Lakshya Raichandani earned an elevation to Ranji at the tender age of 16 as Uttarakhand’s line-up sought a binding glue to complement its flamboyance. He impressed with three fifties in his debut season, the eventual in the semi-final against Karnataka where he faced Prasidh Krishna’s thunderbolts. His bold wristy flicks from the middle-stump and a cover driven four on the last ball of the day with eight catchers close in demonstrated why batting coach Rashmi Ranjan Parida, a two-time Ranji champion, envisages in Lakshya an illustrious servant of Uttarakhand cricket.
‘’We rid players of the insecurity that if they get out attempting a shot then they’ll receive an earful. We broke the psychological barriers, communicating to the boys that you won’t be questioned for backing your strengths,’’ Jha remarked, his outlook elucidating the crunchy slog sweeps Saurabh Rawat unleashed against the wrong ‘uns of Shreyas Gopal as Uttarakhand contested their maiden Ranji semi-final after eight years of toil.
While these are decisions underpinned by cricketing logic, manuevers that drop jaws to the floor are not beyond the boss. Tail-ender Yuvraj Choudhary’s rapier-like bat speed caught Jha’s eye, prompting his selection over eight specialist openers in Uttarakhand’s roster for SMAT 2024. ‘’He’d never opened the innings in his life,’’ Jha recounts. ‘’I apprised him that you have the fearless approach needed at the top of the order in T20 cricket.’’ A glorious experiment in UPL enabled Yuvraj to not only cement his position in the slam-bang format but also transition seamlessly to the longer versions. He made 96 in Uttarakhand’s pursuit of 332 versus Mumbai in VHT last year besides negotiating 272 balls from Railways in Ranji as the match situation demanded Uttarakhand kill time.
Jha summoned pacer Aditya Rawat, 18, in do-or-die encounters in the absence of spearhead Deepak, who was once benched after an eight-wicket haul because his body language at the ground had an air of insouciance to it that was all too synonymous with Uttarakhand’s initial demeanour towards cricket. ‘’I conveyed to Deepak that being a senior player if you relax in the field I can’t expect the youngsters to slide and dive,’’ Jha chided. ‘’He took the criticism in the right spirit and promised that the mistake won’t ever be repeated. It was a necessary evil. Ruffled some feathers obviously but we had to set the precedent that no one is above the team.’’
The issue of selfish motives was first broached to Jha by batting mainstay and current all-format captain Kunal Chandela, an alumni of Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, a state-of-the-art facility in Dehradun which is unequivocally the heartbeat of Uttarakhand cricket. Outsiders Jivanjot Singh and Ravikumar Samarth who had marshalled the troops viewed the tip of the iceberg; Kunal recognized the vested interests in an era of Ranji Trophy where fees can range from 25,000 to 60,000 INR per match day based on the experience and participation factors. ‘’We sent the message across that alignment with the team principles was sacrosanct,’’ Jha established. ‘’Everyone got into the frame of mind that if I play for my spot and betray the team in the process, I’ll be axed.’’
The talisman walked the talk. Once an opening partner of Gautam Gambhir in Delhi, Kunal had joined Uttarakhand in 2021 due to selectorial ebbs and flows in a powerhouse. He steadied their ship from 38/2 with a hundred against Baroda in Ranji 2023-24. His gem of a knock began with risky dabs executed so late that he might as well have played them off the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Kunal teased the umpire again on 99, unfurling a lap sweep right off the stumps to trundler Shashwat Rawat. ‘’His skillset was extraordinary, but he used to suffer from concentration lapses if fatigue set in at the crease or if the weather turned hot and humid. His fitness wasn’t up to the mark, leading to a bad conversion rate,’’ noted Uttarakhand’s S&C coach Vinit Yadav, echoing the sentiments of Aditya Tare who took the mickey out of Kunal by labelling him ‘one declared’, alluding to his sloth in the inner ring.
‘’There was no sugarcoating whatsoever,’’ Kunal admitted. ‘’Abhimanyu Easwaran called me slow and lazy, insisting that complacency stood between me and higher honours. Such harsh words coming from my well-wishers triggered me.’’
Fairly dependent on his output, Uttarakhand could ill-afford Kunal leaving runs out there. Under the watchful guidance of Vinit, the skipper embarked on a transformation journey. ‘’He was committed to the fitness regime as we designed a conditioning programme inspired by batting movements, like running between the wickets,’’ Vinit expounded. ‘’As a team we started organizing afternoon sessions to amp up the bodily heat resistance and prolong performance at venues like Nagpur or Indore.’’
His anaerobic capacity rectified, Kunal entered a purple patch kickstarting with UPL 2025, which he finished as the top run-scorer. His then career-best 88 off 49 led a rescue operation from 32/3 against Karnataka in SMAT while an ensuing 94 off 54 handed Saurashtra an upset. The juggernaut rolled on smoothly to List-A cricket, with Kunal’s 118 in front of Punjab sandwiched between a bountiful Ranji harvest. He faced 1,343 balls, the sixth highest, to amass 741 runs in 14 innings including a double ton against Assam. Rarely a shrinking violet, Kunal gave left-arm spinner Manishi the charge and whipped him against the turn through mid-wicket after Jharkhand drew first blood on 41 in the quarter-final at home. Having notched up back-to-back Vizzy Trophy triple hundreds in 2017, Kunal knew better than to allow the prodigy who dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply in his fifth first-class tie to ease into a groove.
Be it reaching out to spank a wide tempter or pulling out the broom to send the ball scorching through square leg, Kunal counterpunched with aplomb. ‘’As a batting group we believe in setting the pace of the game in the first innings. Going into a shell is a poor strategy, so I maintained a positive intent on the green-top against Jharkhand because we’d restricted them to an ordinary total,’’ avers Kunal, whose calculated risk-taking proffered Uttarakhand a lead of 96 runs.
It set the stage for Mayank Mishra to weave his magic, although there was a caveat. The action had progressed to the third day, and the pitch that saw Jharkhand collapse to 80/5 after losing the toss had put its demons to sleep. Albeit the left-arm orthodox held a personal grudge against this opponent, for he’d tried, in vain, to break into their Ranji side for three years when Uttarakhand was yet to feature on BCCI’s map. Once Abhay Negi claimed the top-order, Mishra was introduced into the attack with the swiftness of his arm ball.
Much like Ravindra Jadeja, he threatens both edges by alternating between the undercutter and the stock delivery. One lands on the leather to hold its line while the other on the seam, gripping and biting the surface to deviate from its path. Out of his 59 wickets in Ranji 2025-26, an aggregate next best only to Auqib Nabi, his fifer against the old foe was the perfect summation of his abilities, with left-handers Virat Singh and Robin Minz caught at slip and trapped plumb respectively from an identical spot.
At the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur, the youthful energy that Uttarakhand has invested into made its presence felt. Subtle jabs directed at the willow-wielders punctuated the vociferous applause for Mishra’s craft, the atmosphere so intimidating psychologically that Jharkhand lost 8/30 in the second innings. The internal discord and self-centeredness now peculiarities of a bygone era, Jha had successfully managed to build a unit that won and lost together. A microcosm of the dedication to the cause was Aarav Mahajan’s vigil at forward short leg in the bonus-point win against Haryana, courtesy of Jagadeesha Suchith’s 11-wicket haul. The teenager produced a sharp run-out and catch despite an injured knee as well as a fractured finger. His one-handed stunner at cover point to dislodge Gujarat centurion Jaymeet Patel was Uttarakhand’s finest moment in the field, although Suchith’s wonder grab at long-on does provide stiff competition.
This conversion of half-chances from players at the opposite ends of the age spectrum is an ode to the zero-tolerance fitness policy devised by Jha. ‘’After the last season, a reading of 16.7 in the Yo-Yo Test was made the norm for selection eligibility,’’ he drew a line in the sand, having observed that lethargy cost Uttarakhand dearly towards the rear end of previous campaigns. ‘’Naturally the Pahadi people are strong, but the requirements of cricket are different. Compound movements that aid fast-twitch muscle fibers to unleash explosive energy were imperative.’’
To put into perspective the significance of Olympic jerks, snatches and planks, the 35-year-old Mayank bowled 376 overs in the recent Ranji, the heaviest workload barring Shreyas Gopal’s. ‘’I think my shelf life has increased by four years. I didn’t take as many wickets in the last three years combined that I’ve scalped this season,’’ Mayank concedes with a chuckle. ‘’My accuracy improved and I was durably putting my body behind the ball to impart those revolutions. It’s been a phenomenal change,’’ acknowledges the tweaker who was nearing a century on the weighing scale when he ended his stint as a cricket tutor at Sherwood College in Nainital upon learning about the BCCI affiliation.
With Uttarakhand in its infancy his guile and credentials made for an attractive proposition, but the mirror painted a not-so-convincing picture. His cricket-loving father’s encouragement, the verbal volleys from Jha, and blunt introspection, in that chronological order, swung the needle to 70 kilograms.
‘’Earlier, Mayank would get stiff, with the tension knots affecting his rhythm and consistency,’’ Vinit pointed out. ‘’We started monitoring his vitals in each phase of play to introduce rehab exercises and pliability drills while conducting optimal gym sessions in between matches. We educated Mayank that nutrition and recovery are integral components of athletic sustenance; he took the feedback and applied it to his lifestyle to go from good to great.’’ His hat thrown in the fray for Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup, it is scarcely believable that Mayank was contemplating retirement in February 2025 after two nightmarish seasons in a row, a subcontinental sin as 8 out of the top ten Ranji wicket-takers spin the cherry.
Known for his art of generating drift both ways, a quality he honed at the behest of Philadelphia CC coach Norman Smith as deception in the flight owing to a slower trajectory clicked on true Durham strips, Mayank could’ve dethroned Nabi had he played against Bengal at Eden Gardens. The smattering of grass on the deck made all-rounder Suchith a wiser pick, reaffirmed by the venom Akash Deep and Mohammad Shami spewed on the Uttarakhand pair of Kunal and Prashant Chopra. Parida was on the edge of his seat throughout as the battle unfolded. ‘’Shami was eager for a comeback into the Indian Test side. He was bowling in a probing channel at a serious pace, yet our kingpins added 146 to resist Bengal’s aspirations of an outright win for the time being. I enjoyed that duel to the hilt.’’
Along with Bhupen Lalwani and the three-dimensional Suchith, Prashant moved to Uttarakhand ahead of the 2025-26 domestic season. Variable bounce is a characteristic of the black-soil pitches up north, hence the drafting of an acclimatized veteran from Himachal Pradesh. The knowledge a luminary brings to the table is of paramount importance, not only on the park but also inside the pavilion. ‘’Aditya, Jivanjot, and Swapnil Singh fostered maturity in our naive camp,’’ Jha emphasizes. ‘’Kunal was a big boost, and having Prashant and Suchith around in his first year as Ranji captain made a world of difference. For a newbie in Lakshya, having Kunal at the non-striker’s end is a huge relief, as evidenced by their double century partnership that flattened Assam. It’d be a travesty to judge the seniors solely by the scoresheet.’’
It is not a hackneyed cliche, for Jha once put his job at stake to retain Aditya, the bulwark from Mumbai, given his intellect and soft skills were as pivotal to Uttarakhand as his runs, which were in short supply much to the selectors’ chagrin. ‘’Aditya was an excellent sounding board,’’ Jha ascertained. ‘’He radiated good vibes and everyone seemed to rally around him, so I didn’t hesitate in offering my livelihood up as collateral to fetch him an ultimate chance.’’ While 650 runs in Ranji 2024 at an average of 54 was Aditya’s repayment of the faith, it was also an evidence of Jha’s faculty to avoid knee-jerk reactions of the ilk that categorized Uttarakhand’s cricket before the pandemic.
He considers Chandrakant Pandit his role model – a leaf was plucked out of his book with regard to collection of mobile devices post dinner for the sake of ideal recovery – and has completed the BCCI Level-B coaching certification alongside Amol Mazumdar. While Pandit guided Madhya Pradesh to their maiden Ranji title in the 2021-22 season after narrowly losing the 1998-99 final as captain, Mazumdar has an even stellar redemption story. The run machine etched himself in the golden annals of Ranji but could never advance to the national side as Virender Sehwag linked up with the fantastic four to raise India’s ceiling. In November 2025, under Muzumdar’s tutelage, Harmanpreet Kaur lifted the country’s first-ever Women’s ODI World Cup.
Uttarakhand has risen from the ashes like a phoenix in Jha’s reign. If participation in red-ball exposure meets such as Buchi Babu or KSCA Invitational is ensured, the temperament checkbox will be ticked too. For, 233 and 260 were all they could manage against behemoth Karnataka whereas in 2022, Mumbai steamrolled the underdogs for 69 to inflict a 725-run loss, the worst first-class drubbing in terms of runs. In the aftermath, rival coach Amol offered some consolatory words to Jha. ‘’Mumbai has all the infrastructure for quality practice and a massive talent pool. Compare that to Uttarakhand where resources are meager and you have a limited group of players. Respect for getting the best out of them. Don’t lose hope and keep working hard.’’ Gone are the days of surveillance as a flying cop, but Mahim can vouch for Jha’s assiduousness.
‘’It is my dream as well to win the Ranji Trophy,’’ Jha manifests. ‘’I played for Services till 2008, but government institutions were a regressive lot. I never got a feel of the knock-outs. When I joined Uttarakhand after guiding Manipur, Sikkim, Delhi U23s and Nepal Women, I was not only determined but also equipped to troubleshoot.’’
In Ranji 2025-26, Tripura dealt Bengal a gut punch, securing its second draw in 18 first-class fixtures since their inception against the eastern giant. Nagaland justified their promotion from Plate to Elite group by posting 446 versus Tamil Nadu, a marathon effort lasting two days. Had Uttarakhand grasped a stumping in the 27th over, bowled by Mayank, a KL Rahul century wouldn’t have seen the light of the day. Although Karnataka stormed into the final, Jammu and Kashmir ground the eight-time victors to dust to script their first Ranji triumph in almost 70 years.
The crux of the matter is that India’s domestic cricket is in the pink of its health, with the gap between the hunter and hunted down to the extent that roles switch every now and then. Take, for instance, Devendra Bora bouncing out the most authoritative puller on the planet, Rohit Sharma, for a golden duck in his third List A appearance for Uttarakhand, the state which accomplished three quarter-final entries in six years before breaking the semi-final hoodoo riding on Kunal and Mayank’s peak.
If the felicitation ceremonies upon the troops’ return from the promising endeavour are something to go by, the population of Uttarakhand will be awash with happy hormones should the project Jha has undertaken culminate in the coveted silverware.
2 thoughts on “Main pacer dropped over lazy fielding, spinner pondering retirement creates history, tailender picked ahead of eight specialist openers: How Uttarakhand went from ruckus and rebellion to Ranji Trophy semi-final”
The journey of uttrakhand cricket and the contribution of Manish Jha is very well covered it is mandatory to acknowledge the progress and publishing the same creates record for others to follow. As far as Manish Jha I would like to add that uttrakhand was benefitted by hiring him as he is a very hardworking, self disciplined very much focused on his assignments.
We’re happy to hear the positive feedback.