Baba Aparajith embraces Kerala over Tamil Nadu for upcoming domestic season

Baba Aparajith is all set to join Kerala after playing for over a decade for Tamil Nadu. After Shreyas Gopal’s departure, the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) was in the hunt for an all-rounder and after months of negotiation, Aparajith has made a move. As per reports, Kerala approached the 30-year-old in June and made an informal proposal and it is only recently that he made it official.

Notably, Gopal joined Karnataka Cricket Association ahead of the new domestic season. The leg-spinner spent a year in Kerala before switching back to his home state. Meanwhile, Aparajith was dropped from Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy squad last year, which prompted the all-rounder to leave the state team. He expressed a desire to play alongside Sanju Samson and in his absence, Aparajith is also expected to lead the team. 

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Tamil Nadu also bid goodbye to pacer Kuldeep Sen. He joined the state team last year and ahead of the new season, the 27-year-old moved back to Madhya Pradesh. The Rewa-born cricketer expected more game time after the move but unfortunately, he got just three first-class games for Tamil Nadu and picked three wickets. 

The other move is of Mandeep Singh to Tripura. Veteran keeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha returned to Bengal which opened the door for Tripura to sign another marquee player. Mandeep led the Punjab team last season as they managed to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). Despite so, he failed to get a team in the IPL, which should fuel him to get better in the next season.

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Tripura have also signed Jiwanjot Singh for the forthcoming season. He was with Uttarakhand in the 2023-24 season and with Chattisgarh before that. He has played 92 first-class games in his career and has scored 5451 runs at an average of 38.11. His move has opened the doors for Uttarakhand to sign Ravikumar Samarth, who left Karnataka to join them.