UP aim for an outright win against Rajasthan
Only wins in both the matches would help Uttar Pradesh keep their hopes alive for a knockout berth
LUCKNOW : Mission outright wins in the remaining two matches would be very much in the minds of Karan Sharmaled Uttar Pradesh, when they take on Rajasthan in their fourday elite Group A Under-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy, beginning Thursday, at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
With 20 points in six matches, which included two wins and two loses, Uttar Pradesh need to win both their matches at all cost to keep their hopes alive for a knockout berth in the knockout and home advantage is with them as after Kanpur, they would be playing against Punjab at Ghaziabad from February 14.
“Have told the boys to score wins in both the matches as only then we have a possibility to making the cut for the knockout race,” team’s coach Mohd Aamir said on Wednesday. “Boys need to exploit the home conditions well to make it to the knockout,” said Amir, former Ranji Trophy stumper from Kanpur itself.
While admiring team’s fascinating an innings and tworun win in the last match against Karnataka, Amir said that the win at Mysore last week, regenerated hopes of team making it to the knockout. “After putting up 400 plus runs in the match, which included a superb century by skipper Karan Sharma, our bowlers, especially left-arm spinner Shiva Singh did great, bagging 10 wickets in the match.”
“What we need now is just to carry on the winning momentum in the match against Rajasthan as well as Punjab in the last match,” said Aamir, adding, “Snapping 20 Karnataka wickets on a flat wicket was really difficult, but our bowlers came up with some amazing spell and left the rival batsmen running for shelters.”
“Batting is our strength and we would like to mount a good total for the rivals by batting first, if we win the toss against
Rajasthan. We have some quality spinners as well pacers in the side and they are capable enough to surprise any kind of rivals in home conditions.”
The 22-yard strip at the Green Park Stadium promises to help both batsmen as well as bowlers, but batting on this turf in the first two hours would be a real test for the batsmen of either sides. After conceding lead to Vidarbha in the opening match, Uttar Pradesh notched up an innings and 135 runs against Hyderabad in the second match, whereas they third match against Maharashtra remained unfinished.
The roller-coaster ride for the side continued even then as Uttar Pradesh conceded first innings lead to Gujarat in their next match, but they overpowered Andhra’s huge first innings total of 617 in the next game to collect three points in the next game. Centuries by skipper Karan Sharma (194), Rahul S Rawat (126), Sawan Singh (123*) and Sandeep Tomar (103*) were the major highlights.
“Presence of Shiva Singh, who has so far taken 13 wickets in last two matches, in the team has been a big boost to our confidence, and I am sure that Singh would continue his good run with red cherry here too,” said Aamir. Other left-arm orthodox spinner Trishal Vijay Trivedi (15 wkts0 too has done well.
As expected UP’s batting would revolve around skipper Karan Sharma (557 runs), Sameer Choudhary (554), Sandeep Tomar (367) and Rahul S Rawat (350).
Before coming to Kanpur, Ajay Singh Kookna-led Rajasthan lost to Gujarat by four wickets at Udaipur. With five points in six matches so far, Rajasthan would surely be looking for their first win so taking them lightly would be difficult for the hosts.
TEAMS
Rajasthan: Ajay Singh Kookna (captain), Suraj Ahuja (w-k), Ajay Gigna, Deepak Karwasara, Samarprit Joshi, Deepak Choudhary, Sahil Dhiwan, Divya Gajraj, Hitesh Patel, Pushpendra Singh, Manav Suthar, Ajay Raj Singh, Devesh Agarwal, Karan Lamba and Anil Swami.
Uttar Pradesh: Karan Sharma (captain), Sandeep Tomar (w-k), Vineet Panwar, Abhishek Goswami, Rahul Singh Rawat, Sameer Chaudhary, Sawan Singh, Shivam Pandey, Shiva Singh, Kunal Yadav, Mohit Jangra, Jasmer, Trishal Trivedi, Ayush Vatsa and Hritik Srivastava.