Ranji Trophy: Change in mindset key to Uttarakhand’s success

The Supreme Court-mandated Justice Lodha reforms that forced the BCCI to have separate teams for each state has, one could argue, produced mixed results. Though Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram have remained punching bags with records being re-written at their expense, teams like Uttarakhand have punched above their weight.

The Central Zone team defeated Jharkhand by an innings and reached their maiden Ranji Trophy semifinals last week to get there. Based in Dehradun, but playing their Feb 15-19 semifinals against Karnataka in Lucknow due to lack of stadium, the berth is not a fluke — Uttarakhand had reached the quarterfinals twice since they enjoyed the separate existence in 2018. Rishabh Pant, Aysuh Badoni and Anuj Raw-at are just some of the names that belong from Uttarakhand, a part of Uttar Pradesh as recently as 2000.



Navneet Mishra, manager of the Ranji team, told TOI, “We don’t have money, bank balance or infra-structure. But we have junoon.” They don’t have their selectors either. Mahim Verma, secretary of Cricket Association of Uttarakhand, said, “Our constitution warrants that selectors should have a minimum experience of 25 first-class matches. We don’t have such people. But maybe it’s better to have selectors from outside as there is less pressure and headache.” Three of their selectors, including chairman, belong to J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Assam.

Though the state’s coaching partnership with former India and Mumbai batting stalwart Wasim Jaffer ended on a bitter note in 2021, their decision to rope in Manish Jha as head coach — originally from Bengal, played for Services, based in Delhi and having coaching experience with Manipur and Del-hi U-23s — has worked.

“We were earlier preparing for the Ranji season by playing limited overs matches. That was not in tune with our goal. I started multi-day red-ball practice matches among Ranji probables and U-23 players. The players used to go for the slog eyeing an IPL contract,” said Jha.

“But this (red-ball, multi-day) is the actual format of cricket. These matches have helped players get into the correct mindset. We have worked a lot on the fitness of all the players.

“The training programme and indoor nets (June 15 to Sept 15 are three months of heavy rains) have also helped,” he added.


Get the latest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 updates, including the full schedule, teams, live scores, points table, and key series stats such as top run-scorers and wicket-takers.