Suchith feels he “didn’t do justice” to his ability as a cricketer at Karnataka, and has now set his sights on maximising his all-round skills for Uttarakhand. His role as a professional also involves mentoring younger players and bringing the best out of them as well.
“Uttarakhand has now given me an opportunity to fulfill my dream,” Suchith says on the sidelines of a training session at Chepauk. “I want to make sure I have not left any stone unturned and [on] the day I retire, I shouldn’t have any regrets.
“There is more added to being a professional – like improving the local boys and help them get better as cricketers. Also, tactically being there when the captain [Kunal Chandela] needs me. I come from a background where I have played for Karnataka and have experience to share. As a pro, you are expected to perform and you need to perform through the season.”
“I take the responsibility when my day is going really well,” Suchith says. “I tend to attack and go for wickets during those days, but when Mayank is doing really well, I sometimes play second fiddle. Whenever I’m given a chance, I want to support the bowlers.”
“I wanted to fine-tune my skills by working with him,” Suchith says. “I was able to bowl a lot more volume and be more accurate with my bowling. I started bowling from wider of the crease and behind the crease also. I started using the angles. My trajectory was a bit loopy before that. I started keeping a much flatter trajectory and tried to mix up the pace in the similar trajectory where it would be deceptive for the batsmen.”
With the bat, Suchith has become a crisis man for Uttarakhand in the lower middle order. In 2025-26, he scored 234 runs in six innings from No.7. Among players from the Elite Group, only Services’ Nakul Sharma (324), Karnataka’s Shreyas Gopal (306) and Haryana’s Parth Vats (251) made more runs than Suchith from that position.
“My batting role has been enhanced from the last season,” Suchith says. “There was a phase where the lower order wasn’t contributing for Uttarakhand much earlier… now at No.6 or 7, I bat with the tail and try to score those runs. In Ranji Trophy, whenever the team goes all the way, it is the lower-order runs which counts the most. I think we were able to do that last season.”
Other major teams in the domestic circuit have been taking note of such performances from Uttarakhand and aren’t taking them lightly anymore.
“Nobody thinks Uttarakhand are a smaller team now,” Suchith says. “When I went to the Naman [BCCI] awards this year because I was the top wicket-taker for Nagaland in the previous year, each person congratulated me for Uttarakhand qualifying for the semi-finals. So, our performances are being talked about on the big stage. We don’t have superstars, but we have boys who want to put their hands up and perform for Uttarakhand.”
The monsoon in Uttarakhand often plays havoc with the team’s outdoor training sessions, but despite those challenges they haven’t compromised on their prep. Whether Chepauk offers a turner or a bouncy, red-soil surface or a much flatter one, Uttarakhand believe they can cope with all conditions.
“Before this Ranji season, we had a ten-day camp at Abhimanyu Cricket Academy in Dehradun and we travelled to Srinagar to play two four-day games against Jammu & Kashmir,” Suchith says. “It was a full side with only Nabi missing. We were able to rack up 600 runs in one of those games. We back our ability to adjust and adapt.
“If you had told me J&K will win last season, not many would have believed you,” Suchith says. “Auqib Nabi is a clear example – be it from any state, if you take 50-60 wickets, you will be recognised at the next level. You can go on to play for the county or get a big IPL contract. Again, we’re not a small team anymore.”
With or without Washington Sundar and B Sai Sudharsan, Tamil Nadu have stars in their line-up, but Suchith and Co can render them shineless on their day.
Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo