Ex-captain Raina to bolster UP against Odisha
RAINA, WHO HAD EARLIER CHOSE TO SKIP THE FIRST TWO MATCHES OF THE SEASON, DECIDED TO PLAY THE SECOND ONE AFTER MISSING THE FIRST ONE AGAINST GOA AT KANPUR. HE HAS BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THE FORM, AND THIS WOULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO REDEEM CONFIDENCE
LUCKNOW : All eyes would be on former captain Suresh Raina, when former champions Uttar Pradesh take on hosts Odisha in an Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match, starting Monday, at the KIIT Cricket Stadium in Bubneshwar.
Raina, who had earlier chose to skip the first two matches of the season, decided to play the second one after missing the first one against Goa at Kanpur. He has been struggling with the form, and this would be an opportunity for him to redeem confidence.
Young skipper Akshdeep Nath, who led the side to an innings and 247-run win against Goa in the season opener before Diwali, hopes to see his ex-skipper doing well in the four-day encounter on a green but batsmen friendly wicket.
“Raina has always been as asset to the side and I am sure that he would come good. We all want him to get going in his natural style,” said Akshdeep on the eve of the match on Sunday. “He (Raina) is an experienced player and his presence in the team is good enough to motivate everyone.
“So far we haven’t decided to replace Raina with whom and will take a final call only on match-day,” said Akshdeep, adding, “We all are ready and raring to go. Our win in the opening match was very necessary as we had not been doing well for the last many matches and here we would like to continue our winning streak.”
Terming rivals Odisha a good bunch of cricketer in their own den, Akshdeep said that UP’s aim would again be to score big in the first innings and let its bowlers do the rest for the side.
“Odisha is a good bowling side as well as good unit on the home turf. They have good seamers as well as left-arm spinners too, and our mission would be to defy them through our batting.”
There were four debutants in the UP side, who were excellent with their responsibilities.
Shivam Mavi (4/25) and Yash Dayal (2/52) did well along with experienced Ankit Rajpoot (2/53) and Saurabh Kumar (2/19) to get Goa out for 152 in the first innings. In the second innings too, Ankit plucked five wickets, whereas Saurabh Kumar and Shivam Mavi had four and one wicket, respectively.
In fact, it was UP’s batting which made all the difference to Goa. Leading from the front skipper Aakshdeep smashed 194, whereas Mohammad Saif made 126. Debutant Priyam Garg remained unbeaten on 117, after another debutant opener Madhav Kaushik hit 92 as UP scored 564 in the first innings.
As far as Odisha are concerned, they have just one pint, which they could get from the draw game against Haryana in the season opener on home turf. Though they scored 324 and 267 in two innings, their bowlers allowed Haryana to score 442 and take first innings lead.
Opener Anurag Saranagi struck a century in the first innings, whereas it was Biplab Samantaray (103) in the second innings for the side. Debabrata Pradhan (3/96) was the best performer among the Odisha bowlers. Suryakant Pradhan, Rajesh Mohanty and Govinda Poddar had two wickets each.