Bengaluru: Former Karnataka skipper R Samarth became the first high-profile cricketer from the State this season to seek a No Objection Certificate (NOC), the old-school right-handed batter inking a deal with Uttarakhand.
“I feel time has to come to make a move after having served Karnataka cricket for a decade. I’ve been playing all three formats consistently for Karnataka and I felt this was the time to take up a new challenge,” Samarth told DH on Thursday.
“KSCA has given me everything and I am what I am due to them. Right from playing age-group cricket and then graduating to the senior side, making by Ranji Trophy debut against powerhouse Mumbai (Dec 2013) during Karnataka’s victorious campaign, going on to play for India A... the journey has been phenomenal.
“But like I said, there comes a stage in every cricketer’s life where they have to make tough calls. I’ve been playing at the top level in the domestic circuit for a decade but I feel I still have a lot of cricket left in me. I can’t wait to start a new innings with Uttarakhand.”
Samarth’s decision to switch to the hill state comes following a disappointing 2023-24 season where he managed just 341 runs in 13 innings (Avg 26.23) in the Ranji Trophy where Karnataka crashed out in the quarterfinals against Vidarbha. He struggled for form in the preceding Vijay Hazare Trophy too, posting 226 runs in 8 innings.
Last season itself, the new selection committee headed by J Abhiram signalled their intentions of ushering in a change by dropping senior off-spinner K Gowtham and handing out as many as seven debuts. The committee often kept saying youngsters were the future and unless they are thrown into the deep end, they wouldn’t learn how to swim.
With Karnataka youngsters doing really well in several age-group tournaments last season, the talk is they’ll be given more chances this year too following another trophy-less season last time.
When asked if last season’s form played a part in his decision, Samarth said he only wanted to try something new. “No, not at all. Last season may have been bad but before that in 2022-23 I scored over 600 runs in Ranji Trophy. Players go through their ups and downs. I just felt like starting something new in my life.”