Punjab's Mandeep Singh moves to Tripura; R Samarth leaves Karnataka for Uttarakhand

Tripura have acquired the services of Mandeep Singh for the upcoming season. Mandeep, who led Punjab to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in 2023-24, fills the spot vacated by Wriddhiman Saha , who was with the side for the past two seasons as captain and mentor.

Saha has confirmed his return to Bengal along with top-order batter Sudip Chatterjee after a "friendly discussion" with Sourav Ganguly, who doesn't hold an official position in Bengal cricket but is hugely influential. The first sign of things to come was when Saha was picked as one of the marquee players in the Bengal T20 League in June.

Saha, who will turn 40 this year, had left Bengal following a public fallout with a CAB official who accused him of giving "all sorts of excuses" to skip Ranji Trophy matches. Saha, who played the last of his 40 Tests in December 2021, has so far featured in 136 first-class matches and has been in two Ranji Trophy finals for Bengal.

Tripura's second professional signing, also from Punjab, is opener Jiwanjot Singh . The 33-year-old batter was with Uttarakhand in 2023-24 and Chhattisgarh for a while previously. Jiwanjot's exit from Uttarakhand has opened the doors for opener R Samarth , who until recently represented Karnataka.