High on confidence, Kunal Chandela’s Uttarakhand eyes bigger success

CHENNAI: Domestic cricket has given quite a few fairy tales across the past few seasons, and Uttarakhand’s steady rise has been one of the better ones. Since the 2021-22 domestic season, Kunal Chandela’s men have made the knockouts thrice in five years, and also reached the semi-final last season before its exit against Karnataka. 

Central to Uttarakhand’s success last year was skipper Kunal Chandela, who broke through the roof, with 741 runs, averaging a staggering 57.00, scoring two hundreds and going past the fifty-run mark four times. Jagadeesha Suchith, who moved from Nagaland to Uttarakhand, too made a telling impact for the state as a professional, with 454 runs, and picked up 26 wickets, averaging 27.19. 

You can see that confidence in Chandela, ahead of their clash against Tamil Nadu at Chepauk, as he casually whips out a ‘Whichever team plays better across those 22 yards will take the game.’

What was once viewed as a tricky contest for Uttarakhand is now a tricky affair for domestic giants Tamil Nadu, with the travelling skipper Chandela confident of his side’s chances in the lead-up to the clash. 

“For us, home or away conditions don’t dictate our mindset. We focus purely on executing our brand of cricket, because at the end of the day, whichever team plays better across those 22 yards will take the game,” Chandela said ahead of the clash against TN. 

“Confidence is high because we’re coming off a strong season and playing with a settled, cohesive squad,” he added. 

It isn’t just the current generation of cricketers that are driving Uttarakhand’s success. What several big teams have struggled to do, Chandela’s team has managed to do it effortlessly – building a steady pipeline for the future. 

One of the biggest talents to come out in recent times is none other than 18-year-old Lakshya Raichandani, who has already smashed several records, including a double century as recently as last month against Australia U19 in Rajkot. It followed a double century and a century against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, a feat that’s quite tough considering the conditions. 

“The young talent coming through the pipeline has also been tremendous. Having someone like Lakshya Raichandani lead the India U-19 team gives the whole dressing room a lift—it proves our players are getting noticed by national selectors. 

"We have monitored his [Lakshya] progress since his Under-16 days, and he has always had an appetite for big scores. Turning fifties into massive hundreds reflects a player’s temperament and ability to anchor an innings.”

“When you bring someone with that composure into the middle order, it adds tremendous stability. Scoring a double hundred against an Australian side at the international level is a massive achievement, and watching him win matches with those knocks is fantastic."

Former Secretary of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU) and former Vice-President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Mahim Verma played a huge role in developing the system. 

“The management deserves a lot of credit for backing this group over the last two years. Our association secretary, Mahim Verma, has played a massive part by sticking with the squad. In competitive cricket, showing patience is rare, but giving this unit an extended run is finally paying dividends."

It runs through the unit, as runs are not just coming from the top order but also the middle order, with Avneesh Sudha scoring a well-constructed 90 in the Ranji Trophy opener against Railways this year, with wicketkeeper Saurabh Rawat topping the run-scoring in the innings, with a 201-ball 107. Even Mayank Mishra, who picked up 59 wickets last year, also scored his third half-century in red-ball format, a 51 off 155 balls. 

"Our middle and lower order features experienced players who have played a fair amount of first-class cricket. It’s encouraging to see the runs coming from numbers 5 through 8,” he said.

“Everyone has clarity on their role: the top order is there to absorb the new ball and set a base, while the middle order steps up whenever there’s an early stumble. When you have contributors from numbers 1 all the way down to 10 with both bat and ball, the team naturally becomes hard to beat."

However, Chandela knows that reaching the semi-final is just a small step, building a culture that can bring long-term success is the long-term goal. Now that the culture is built, the focus shifts towards attaining the biggest red-ball success in India: the Ranji Trophy.