India off-spinner Jayant Yadav will turn out for Puducherry in 2025-26 after receiving a no-objection certificate from his home state Haryana. The 35-year-old believes the move is the best way to keep playing “all three formats”, something he has struggled to do since Haryana’s white-ball set-up was reshuffled two seasons ago.
“I still feel I’ve plenty to offer in one-day and T20 cricket as well as the Ranji grind,” Jayant said after paperwork was completed late on Thursday. “Puducherry have been clear they see me as a three-format player, which made the decision easier.”
Haryana’s rise in 50-over cricket – they lifted the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2023-24 – coincided with increased opportunities for younger spin-all-rounders Nishant Sindhu and Rahul Tewatia. Jayant, while still first-choice in red-ball cricket, did not feature regularly in the shorter versions last term.
Even so, his Ranji numbers remain strong: 28 wickets in eight matches last winter, including a battling three-for in the quarter-final defeat to Mumbai. Overall, he sits on 265 first-class wickets and 2924 runs, highlighted by a marathon 211 against Karnataka back in 2012-13 – the innings that produced a record 392-run eighth-wicket stand with Amit Mishra.
Puducherry will use Jayant as one of their three out-station professionals alongside Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Puneet Datey and Mumbai wicketkeeper Siddhant Adhatrao. Cricket Association president P Damodaran welcomed the late signing, saying in a brief note, “Jayant’s experience will steady both our dressing-room and our attack.”
The off-spinner slots in after batter Armaan Jaffer pulled out because of personal reasons. Coaching staff expect him to share new-ball duties in one-day cricket and bowl long spells in the Ranji campaign.
Jayant last played Test cricket in Mohali against Sri Lanka in 2022 – the sixth appearance of a stop-start international career that also includes two T20Is. He remains with Gujarat Titans in the IPL, after earlier stints at Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, and insists that franchise commitments will not clash with his domestic responsibilities.
“At this stage you just want to be on the park as much as possible,” he added. “If that means starting fresh with a new state, so be it.”
