Dhruv’s sparkling spell helps UP start well vs Jharkhand
LUCKNOW: Allahabad’s Dhruv Pratap Singh could make it to the playing XI in the match against Jammu and Kashmir only last week after team’s regulars Ankit Rajpoot and Shivam Mavi left for Sri Lanka with India ‘A’ after a consistent showing for former champions Uttar Pradesh this season.
Dhruv, a right-arm seamer, remained unimpressive with no wicket in his 16.2 overs in the tie that Uttar Pradesh won by six wickets. But, this didn’t disappoint new skipper Akshdeep Nath who chose to put his bet on him again and it paid rich dividends.
On Friday, the 21-year-old boy came up with a stunning performance, bagging four wickets to help hosts Ranji Trophy start cautiously against spirited Jharkhand in their crucial Elite Group C encounter here. Jharkhand finished the day early at 276/6 in 84 overs as bad light hit the final overs. Lanky Dhruv, playing just his fifth first class match, used the hard deck of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee International Cricket Stadium quite well, bagging two wickets each in his two spells to leave Jharkhand struggling at 157/6 even before tea. He had Utkarsh Singh (19) leg before wicket, Saurabh Tiwary (8) caught by Akshdeep Nath at the first slip, shattering the middle stump of skipper Ishan Kishan (54, 42b, 10x4) before forcing Anukul Roy (15) to offer a high catch to stumper Upendra Yadav. In fact, it was a good toss to win for hosts as they put Jharkhand on the back foot quite early in the game as young Yash Dayal beat opener Md Nazim (0) with his pace, edging the batsman to offer a simple and straight catch to Suresh Raina at second slip in the very second over. Before that gutsy seamer
Intiyaz Ahmed trapped other opener Kumar Deobrat (33, 75b, 5x4). Coming back to the side after missing three matches this season, left-hander Ishan looked quite comfortable in the middle from the very first ball, striking it nicely all-around the ground. He was ruthless to left-arm orthodox spinner Saurabh Kumar, striking consecutive five boundaries in bowlers first over, which yielded for 21 runs.
He along with senior pro Ishank Jaggi kept rotating the strike on a blistering pace as the duo added 50-run in just 44 balls as Jharkhand were 119/4 in 34 overs at lunch. Playing cautiously then, Jaggi (76*, 176b, 8x4) and Shahbaz Nadeem (70*, 136b, 10x4) helped the side finish the day at a respectable 278/6, stitching together unbeaten 121run for the seventh wicket.
The final figure of wickets on board could have been different if Mohd Saif had not missed a straight one off Yash Dayal in the 75th over. Jaggi was on 75 then.