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The former India batter, who led Punjab to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title last season, ending their 30-year trophy drought, has decided to shift his base to Tripura. The 32-year-old made his debut for Punjab in 2010 and remained one of their most consistent players for 14 years. Mandeep, however, was reportedly told that he wouldn’t be considered for white-ball cricket this season, and that’s why he decided to make the switch.
Wriddhiman Saha and Sudip Chatterjee
(Tripura to Bengal)
The man Mandeep is replacing is a 39-year-old wicketkeeper-batter who is heading back to his home state after spending a couple of years at Tripura. Saha went to Tripura before the 2022-23 season following a tiff with the Cricket Association of Bengal but everything seems to be sorted now. Along with Saha, left-handed batter Chatterjee has also moved back to Bengal.
(Tamil Nadu to Kerala)
In August, the 30-year-old batter made the painful decision to move away from Tamil Nadu, a state in which he made his debut at the age of 17. He wasn’t picked in Tamil Nadu’s Ranji squad last season. “My idea was to have a new challenge and play all three formats, and Kerala was a good opportunity. I still have a lot of cricket left in me, and I want to do very well in a new setup,” Aparajith told Cricket.com after making the switch.
(Kerala to Karnataka)
The leg spin-bowling all-rounder’s stay at Kerala lasted for only one year as he has decided to go back and play for his home state, Karnataka. Gopal was one of Karnataka’s most-consistent players for a decade and played a major role in them winning back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles. He had a decent season for Kerala and would now want to make an impact for his home team.
(Tamil Nadu to Madhya Pradesh)
Another case of a player moving to another state looking for more opportunities, having a mediocre season and then returning back to his home state. Kuldeep got to feature in only three first-class games and picked up as many wickets at an average of 58.66. He made his ODI debut in December 2022 but hasn’t done much since then.
(Vidarbha to Kerala)
Kerala will not have the services of Gopal but they have managed to get Sarwate on board for the upcoming season. The spin-bowling all-rounder won back-to-back titles with Vidarbha and even picked up 40 wickets in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy, leading his team to the finale. The left-arm spinner bowled only 11 overs in the final against Mumbai and received a lot of flak from the coaching staff. That was the key reason why he left Vidarbha.
(Odisha to Madhya Pradesh)
It was learnt that Senapati’s move was inspired by Madhya Pradesh coach Chandrakant Pandit. Senapati, who has represented Odisha in nearly 140 games, has 2967 runs in the longest format, eight hundreds, and 12 50s, including 277 in last year’s Ranji Trophy against Madhya Pradesh. This move will be integral to MP’s plans across formats, given that they have consistently challenged top teams for the title.
Other players who have switched states this season
R. Samarth (Karnataka to Uttarakhand)
Jiwanjot Singh (Uttarakhand to Tripura)
Paras Dogra (Puducherry to Jammu and Kashmir)
Harpreet Singh (Chhattisgarh to Madhya Pradesh)
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