We’re just a few sleeps away from the Uttarakhand Premier League 2024 going on floors in the picturesque city of Dehradun. The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium will play host to 12 men’s matches and four women’s matches over a span of eight days, commencing September 15.
Five teams – Dehradun Warriors, Haridwar Spring Almas, Nainital SG Pipers, Pithoragarh Hurricanes and USN Indians – will battle it out for the coveted trophy. A single round-robin format sees each team play each other once before a two-match playoff round. While the table-toppers secure a direct path into the final, the teams that finish second and third will contest the Eliminator, the winner of which will then progress to the summit clash.
With the state’s best players set to enlighten the mountains of Uttarakhand, we take a look at each team and their squad composition here:
Dehradun Warriors
Led by the veteran wicket-keeper batter Aditya Tare, the Dehradun Warriors boast of a well-rounded squad that covers all bases. The core of the team lies in its all-round depth with the experienced Dikshanshu Negi, Abhay Negi and the exciting Ashar Khan headlining the same. While Tare will shoulder majority of the responsibility on the batting front, he will turn towards Negi, Vaibhav Bhatt and Himanshu Bisht to duly rally around him.
Satyam Baaliyan remains a key player to watch out for with the ball, with the right-arm seamer picking up 18 wickets in the 2023-24 BCCI Men’s U23 State A Trophy. Considering the value that wrist-spinners bring to the T20 format, Negi is bound to play a pivotal role on that front as well as a wicket-taker through the middle-overs. His ability to bowl off-spin too makes him a fascinating player to keep an eye on.
Squad: Aditya Tare (Captain & Icon), Abhay Negi, Harjeet Singh, Dikshanshu Negi, Himashu Bisht, Vaibhav Bhatt, Satyam Baaliyan, Ashar Khan, Sanskar Rawat, Sagar Rawat, Rakshit Rohi, Poorvansh Dhruv, Mohit Kumar, Aanjaniya Suryavansh, Deepak Kumar, Anshul Singh.
Haridwar Spring Elmas
Representing the town dubbed the ‘Gateway to Gods’, the Haridwar Spring Elmas will be chomping at the bit to leave their mark in UPL 2024. Captaining the side as its icon player is Karnataka veteran Ravikumar Samarth, who makes his foray into cricket in Uttarakhand for the first time via the UPL.
While Samarth is the side’s star attraction, Saurabh Rawat is another big name to watch out for as far as the Spring Elmas’ chances with the bat go. All-rounders Sparsh Joshi, Girish Raturi and Pramod Rawat could be the team’s X-Factors, with Raturi in particular possessing the ability to hit a long ball besides picking up regular wickets with his medium pace.
Another vital trump card in the side’s ranks is Sparsh Joshi, who will be expected to land early blows considering his ability to swing the new ball. A name that a lot of eyes will be fixed on though is Aditya Rawat, who was recently selected in India’s U19 red ball squad to face the touring Australians later this month.
Squad: Ravikumar Samarth (Captain & Icon), Sparsh Joshi, Girish Raturi, Pramod Rawat, Saurabh Rawat, Prashant Kumar Bhati, Harman Singh, Saurav Chauhan, Shashwat Dangwal, Krishna Garg, Kunal Veer Singh, Rajya Vardhan Singh, Aditya Rawat, Krishna Garg, Himanshu Sony, Prajiwal Rawat, Daksh Awana.
Nainital SG Pipers
A team blessed with a host of well-established names, the Nainital SG Pipers certainly have the elements to light up UPL 2024. Leading the side is Rajan Kumar, who brings in the wealth of sharing the dressing room with some of the game’s finest at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Kumar’s skiddy left-arm pace and inward angle will be a force to reckon with while another left-arm bowler, Mayank Mishra, will don the role of the side’s lead spinner. With 20 wickets from 19 outings, Mishra is Uttarakhand’s second highest wicket-taker in T20s.
There’s enough firepower on the batting front too with Avneesh Sudha, Uttarakhand’s highest run-scorer in T20s, leading the way. Priyanshu Khanduri and Prateek Pandey complete the nucleus of the batting lineup, giving the SG Pipers a robust look ahead of the season.
Squad: Rajan Kumar (Captain & Icon), Mayank Mishra, Avneesh Sudha, Prateek Pandey, Priyanshu Khanduri, Nikhil Pundir, Harsh Rana, Kartik Bhatt, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Abhyuday Bhatnagar, Arush Melkani, Aditya Sethi, Aniket S Rahal, Naveen Kumar Singh, Sachin Bhati, Devansh Sharma.
Pithoragarh Hurricanes
The team that made headlines having acquired the face of Uttarakhand cricket at the player draft. The Pithoragarh Hurricanes have the elements to blow opposition units out of the water, starting with Akash Madhwal, who is the first Uttarakhand cricketer to play the IPL.
The Mumbai Indians pacer, who captains Uttarakhand in white ball cricket, will lead the Hurricanes in UPL 2024. His skiddy deliveries off the surface and ability to fire yorkers make him the bowler to watch out for in the tournament although the Hurricanes have enough elsewhere too to fall back upon.
Vishal Kashyap and Neeraj Rathour are the mainstays in the batting department, with the experienced Ashish Joshi expected to add some fireworks of his own. With the ball, left-arm spinners Rohit Dangwal and Sunny Kashyap will be tasked with tying batters down, while Anmol Shah is also a vital cog in the Hurricanes’ setup.
Squad: Akash Madhwal (Captain & Icon), Anmol Shah, Ashish Joshi, Rohit Dangwal, Sunny Kashyap, Neeraj Rathour, Vishal Kashyap, Parmender Chadda, Aryan Choudhary, Hitesh Naula, Aditya Naithani, Vijay Sharma, Harsh Vikram Singh, Shivam Gupta, Shashank Wadhwa, Nikhil Harsh.
USN Indians
Led by former Delhi batter and now a mainstay in the Uttarakhand side Kunal Chandela, the USN Indians wear an enterprising look ahead of UPL 2024.
Chandela’s thirst for big runs places him at the top of the pile as far as star batters in the tournament go. The hard-hitting Akhil Singh Rawat will be one to watch out for as he shares the batting load alongside Chandela and Manish Gaur.
The bowling attack will be in the able hands of Devendra Bora and Yuvraj Choudhary, both of whom were amongst the top wicket-takers at the 2023-24 BCCI U23 State A Trophy. The ace weapon though is left-arm seamer Agrim Tiwari, who boasts of the best bowling strike-rate (15.52) among those who have played a minimum of 10 T20s for Uttarakhand.
Squad: Kunal Chandela (Captain & Icon), Abhinav Sharma, Akhil Singh Rawat, Devendra Bora, Agrim Tiwari, Yuvraj Choudhary, Aryan Sharma, Prashant Chauhan, Aarav Mahajan, Manish Gaur, Anay Chhetri, Shashank Pant, Rahul Negi, Abhinav Sharma, Ajay Dimri, Abhishek Roshan, Tejender Singh.
