Left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith, opener Prashant Chopra and middle-order batter Bhupen Lalwani have opted to represent Uttarakhand from the 2025-26 Indian domestic campaign. All three are expected to get their bearings by turning out in the Uttarakhand Premier League later this month.
Suchith arrives after a single, highly productive season with Nagaland, where he collected 43 wickets in six first-class outings to finish as the Plate-group’s leading wicket-taker. The 31-year-old, who previously came through Karnataka’s system, made his senior domestic debut back in the 2013-14 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and has since played across all formats.
Chopra, the most experienced of the trio, leaves Himachal Pradesh after 14 years and more than 5,000 first-class runs. His 2024-25 return included 386 runs in seven matches, highlighted by a fluent 171 against his new team. The right-hander has proved consistent in the shorter formats as well, scoring 4,012 List A runs at an average just shy of 42 and clearing the 2,000-run mark in T20 cricket.
Lalwani’s journey has been shorter but no less itinerant. The 25-year-old played age-group cricket for Mumbai, debuted for them in early 2020, and moved to Chhattisgarh ahead of last season. Limited chances there—two Ranji fixtures and no white-ball appearances—prompted the latest switch. He sits on 16 first-class matches in total.
Uttarakhand’s move forms part of a wider pre-season reshuffle. Karun Nair has returned to Karnataka, Harshal Patel is back with Gujarat, and Jalaj Saxena has swapped Kerala for Maharashtra. Player movement is common under the BCCI’s one-season cooling-off rule, which allows cricketers to change state sides to find opportunities.
Head coach Gursharan Singh welcomed the new faces in a brief statement released by the association. “They add experience across formats and should help our young core settle,” he said, adding that the Premier League would offer a “useful dress rehearsal” before the Ranji Trophy begins in December.
Uttarakhand finished mid-table in Elite Group C last year and regularly leaned on their seam attack at the Dehradun base. The addition of Suchith’s left-arm spin gives them a variation they have lacked, while Chopra’s top-order stability and Lalwani’s busy middle-overs game are expected to bolster a batting line-up that faded in the second half of the previous campaign.
Whether the trio translate past numbers into immediate impact will become clear once the red-ball season starts, but for now Uttarakhand have acted decisively in the transfer window—quietly strengthening without the fanfare.
