From Punjab to Himachal: Pukhraj Mann’s ‘risky’ move sparks a breakthrough season

When Pukhraj Mann travelled to Chennai in August last year to feature in the Buchi Babu Invitational tournament for Punjab, little did he know that the tournament would play a decisive role in his career.

Amid cut-throat competition for a spot in the team, things worsened for Mann as he suffered an injury during the tournament. Unsure about his future plans, Mann consulted some of his seniors and made the toughest decision of his life—moving to Himachal Pradesh just before the season started.

With VRV Singh as the head coach, Mann slowly got into the groove and overcoming the teething troubles, proved himself with 272 runs in five matches of the Ranji Trophy, and followed it up with a stellar performance in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, amassing 558 runs in six games, and becoming the highest run-getter from Himachal.

“After I got injured during the Buchi Babu tournament, I was a little confused in terms of whether I would be able to play properly for (Punjab) again, and that’s why I decided to take up this opportunity with Himachal. I had to take this risk,” he told  Sportstar.

Having played age-group cricket for Punjab, Mann broke into the State’s senior team three years ago. But with intense competition, he was in and out of the team. Ahead of this season, he wasn’t sure whether he would be able to find a slot for himself in the team, which forced him to shift allegiance.

He, however, is happy to have played his bit for the new team. “There was no preparation before joining the team. In cricket, there is nothing like a small team or a big team. But I am happy with the way things are going,” he said, adding: “The target is to play for India. The short-term target is to do well in the IPL, and hopefully, it happens soon.”

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In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Mann scored three centuries—against Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Goa— and also remained consistent against Punjab and Mumbai. Despite putting up spirited shows against big teams, Himachal failed to finish the close games, and Mann is hopeful that things would change in the future.

“We have fought a lot in two or three matches, and the results should have gone in our favour. But they didn’t. We will prepare much better in the future, and hopefully, will be able to close in on those games” he said.

Published on Jan 07, 2026