Uttarakhand Cricket Team

The Uttarakhand cricket team represents the state of Uttarakhand in Indian domestic cricket, governed by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU). Although Uttarakhand was formed as a state in 2000, its cricket development was hampered for years by administrative disputes between rival associations, which delayed the state's full recognition by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The logjam broke following the Lodha Committee reforms, and in July 2018, the BCCI formally named Uttarakhand as one of nine new teams to join India's domestic cricket structure, granting it entry into the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy from the 2018-19 season onward.

Led by experienced campaigner Rajat Bhatia as their first captain, Uttarakhand made an immediate impact in their debut 2018-19 season, remaining unbeaten across 15 matches in the lead up to their Ranji Trophy quarter-final. In their opening Ranji fixture, they defeated Bihar by 10 wickets, and went on to win the Plate Group by beating Manipur, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh, before their campaign ended with a heavy quarter final defeat to Vidarbha by an innings and 115 runs.

In the same debut season, opening batter Karanveer (Karn) Kaushal announced himself with the first ever double century in Vijay Hazare Trophy history, scoring 202 runs against Sikkim, while finishing as the team's leading run-scorer with 489 runs. Pace bowler Deepak Dhapola was the side's leading wicket taker in that campaign.

The Uttarakhand cricket team plays its home matches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun, which has served as the team's primary venue since its Ranji Trophy debut. Despite early infrastructural limitations common to a newly recognised state team, the stadium has provided Uttarakhand cricket team with a stable home base to build its domestic programme around.

Since their debut, Uttarakhand have played 48 Ranji Trophy matches, winning 16 and losing 17 (as of November 2025), competing consistently in the Elite Group without yet winning a Ranji title.

In the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (India's List A and T20 domestic tournaments), Uttarakhand have made steady progress in the group stages but are yet to advance beyond them in either competition.

• Kunal Chandela: Current captain of the Uttarakhand cricket team in first-class cricket.
• Aditya Tare: Former Mumbai wicketkeeper-batter who joined Uttarakhand and continues as the side's primary gloveman.
• Akash Madhwal: Pace bowling all rounder who became a household name after his match winning five wicket haul for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2023 Eliminator.
• Deepak Dhapola: The team's leading fast bowler since its debut season, known for his consistent wicket taking form.
• Karanveer (Karn) Kaushal: Scored the first-ever double century in Vijay Hazare Trophy history, for Uttarakhand against Sikkim in 2018.
• Rajat Bhatia: The team's first-ever captain, who led their unbeaten run through the 2018-19 debut season.

Note: Rishabh Pant, India's star wicketkeeper batter, hails from Roorkee in Uttarakhand but plays his domestic first-class cricket for Delhi, not the Uttarakhand state team.

In February 2021, former India opener Wasim Jaffer resigned as Uttarakhand's head coach, just days before the Vijay Hazare Trophy, citing interference and bias from CAU selectors and its secretary, Mahim Verma, in team selection matters. Verma rejected the allegations, stating Jaffer had been given the resources and staff he requested, but that the association's selectors were unhappy with his insistence on picking his own preferred XI after a disappointing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign.

The episode escalated when Uttarakhand's team manager reportedly alleged that Jaffer had shown communal bias in team matters, including changing the team's rallying slogan. Jaffer strongly denied these allegations in a public statement, explaining that he had suggested a religiously neutral, state-focused slogan ("Go Uttarakhand") given the team's mixed-faith composition – a practice he said he had adopted from his time with Vidarbha. CAU's CEO later confirmed no formal complaint had been officially lodged against him, and prominent former India cricketers publicly backed Jaffer following the incident. Jaffer was the third Uttarakhand coach to resign in a short span, following KP Bhaskar (2019) and Gursharan Singh (2020).

As one of Indian cricket's newer state teams, Uttarakhand's journey reflects both the promise and growing pains of a young domestic side.

It represents:

• One of nine new state teams admitted to BCCI's domestic structure in 2018, following years of administrative deadlock
• A side that has produced a Vijay Hazare double centurion and an IPL-winning bowler within its first decade
• A team still searching for its first major domestic title, but showing gradual, sustained improvement across formats

With a growing crop of domestic performers and a stable home base in Dehradun, Uttarakhand cricket team continues to build toward the day it can challenge India's more established domestic powerhouses for silverware.