The stage is set for the inaugural season of the Uttarakhand Premier League (UPL) as the Player Draft was successfully held in Dehradun.
The draft saw a selection of “icon” players for both the men’s and women’s teams. The draft process has given the participating teams their full squads, with each franchise securing icon players who have made significant contributions to domestic cricket and beyond.
UPL 2024 – Men’s Squads:
Pithoragarh Hurricanes: Akash Madhwal (Captain & Icon), Vijay Sharma, Rohit Dangwal, Sunny Kashyap, Neeraj Rathour, Ashish Joshi, Vishal Kashyap, Parmender Chadda, Aryan Choudhary, Hitesh Naula, Aditya Naithani, Anmol Shah, Harsh Vikram Singh, Shivam Gupta, Shashank Wadhwa, Nikhil Harsh.
USN Indians: Kunal Chandela (Captain & Icon), Yuvraj Chouadhary, Aryan Sharma, Akhil Singh Rawat, Devendra Bora, Agrim Tiwari, Prashant Chauhan, Aarav Mahajan, Manish Gaur, Anay Basant Chhetri, Shashank Shekhar Pant, Rahul Negi, Abhinav Sharma, Ajay Dimri, Abhishek Roshan, Tejender Singh.
Dehradun Warriors: Aditya Tare (Captain & Icon), Dikshanshu Negi, Himashu Bisht, Abhay Negi, Vaibhav Bhatt, Satyam Baaliyan, Harjeet Singh, Sanskar Rawat, Sagar Rawat, Rakshit Rohi, Poorvansh Dhruv, Ashar Khan, Mohit Kumar, Aanjaniya Suryavansh, Deepak Kumar, Anshul Singh.
Haridwar Spring Elmas: Samarth Ravikumar (Captain & Icon), Girish Raturi, Saurabh Rawat, Prashant Kumar Bhati, Harman Singh, Saurav Chauhan, Shashwat Dangwal, Pramod Rawat, Sparsh Joshi, Kunal Veer Singh, Rajya Vardhan Singh, Aditya Rawat, Krishna Garg, Himanshu Sony, Prajiwal Rawat, Daksh Awana.
Nainital SG Pipers: Rajan Kumar (Captain & Icon), Avneesh Sudha, Mayank Mishra, Aditya Sethi, Prateek Pandey, Priyanshu Khanduri, Nikhil Pundir, Harsh Rana, Kartik Bhatt, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Abhyuday Bhatnagar, Arush Melkani, Aniket S Rahal, Naveen Kumar Singh, Sachin Bhati, Devansh Sharma.
UPL 2024 – Women’s Squads:
Nainital SG Pipers: Ekta Bisht (Captain & Icon), Kanchan Parihar, Megha Saini, Sweta Verma, Amisha Bahukhandi, Gunjan Bhandari, Radha Chand, Kanak Tapraniya, Vaishali Tulera, Dipika Chand, Pramila Rawat, Tanya Kanaujiya, Manisha Kunwar, KM Aarti, Priya.
Pithoragarh Hurricanes: Neelam Bisht (Captain & Icon), Raghavi Bisht, Neelam Bharadwaj, Safina, Jyoti Giri, Anjali Kathait, Preeti Bhandari, Muskan Kumari, Karuna Shety, Ankita Shah, Bhoomi Umar, Yashika Baunthiyal, Ananya Mehra, Nandina Kaushik, Ritika Chauhan.
Mussoorie Thunders: Mansi Joshi (Captain & Icon), Sarika Koli, Prema Rawat, Anjali Goswami, Nandini Kashyap, Reena Jindal, Divya Bohra, Shagun Chaudhary, Sakshi Joshi, Gaytri Arya, Nandini Sharma, Rudra Sharma, Neha Mehta, Garima Bisht, Sona Badola.
With the teams now finalized, the excitement for the inaugural season of the Uttarakhand Premier League is palpable. Fans can look forward to high-octane cricket action as these players take the field, aiming to etch their names in the history books of Uttarakhand cricket starting from 15th September at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun.
Teams and owners
5 men’s teams
1. Dehradun Warriors – Owned by Shailendra Bhadauria
2. Haridwar Spring Elmas – Owned by Fiyajuddin
3. Nainital SG Pipers – Owned by Dr. Rohan Gupta
4. Pithoragarh Hurricane – Owned by Parkash Singh & Krishna Shetty
5. Udham Singh Nagar Indians – Owned by Subhash Arora
3 women’s teams
1. Mussoorie Thunders – Owned by Parkash Singh
2. Nainital SG Pipers – Owned by Dr. Rohan Gupta
3. Pithoragarh Hurricane – Owned by Krishna Shetty
The UPL has announced a prize money pool of close to Rs 50 lacs. The winners of the men’s competition will take home Rs 25 lacs, while the champions of the women’s competition will be awarded Rs 7 lacs. The runner-ups will also be generously rewarded, with the men’s and women’s teams receiving Rs 12 lacs and Rs 3 lacs respectively. Additionally, the league will recognize individual brilliance, offering Rs 1 lac to the Men’s Player of the Series and INR 25,000 to the Women’s Player of the Series.
Jai Hind Auto Tech Industries have come on board to reward the respective Men’s and Women’s Player of the Series with an Electric Bike and Activa. Additionally, the UPL will see a Player of the Match award of Rs 10,000 given for all 16 matches across both competitions.
The UPL is set to kick off on 15th September at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun, with matches continuing until 22nd September 2024. The league will feature a total of 13 matches for the men’s teams and 3 matches for the women’s teams, culminating in a grand finale where the inaugural champions will be crowned.
