Bhuvaneshwar Kumar replaces Priyam Garg as UP skipper in Hazare Trophy
LUCKNOW: After his own belowpar performance, as well that of Uttar Pradesh team, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy last month, young skipper Priyam Garg was on Thursday replaced by Team India speedster and senior pro Bhuvaneshwar Kumar for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting at Bengaluru on February 20.
Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association didn’t clarify its stand about this “sudden change of heart” for a change in the leadership on Thursday, but insiders confirm that issue was being discussed for the quite some time. Young opener Karan Sharma, who remained the highest run getter in the T20 event, would continue to act as vice-captain in the 22-member side.
Right-hand batsman Garg, who led India to the runners-up position at the Under-19 Cricket World Cup last year, could score 57 in five matches with 35 being his highest, and Uttar Pradesh slumped to a poor sixth place in the seven-team Elite Group A of the Twenty20 domestic event.
“His (Garg) own performance wasn’t up to the mark,” said a selector on condition of anonymity. “Suresh Raina could have been a better choice to lead the side in the 50-over game (Hazare Trophy), but he turned up for the side only in the T20 event,” he said.
“Bhuvi has always been a big inspiration for the youngsters and the team would certainly benefit from his experience,” adding, “The event would also help the lanky pacer to prove his fitness once again for future India tours.”
After sustaining injuries during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates last year, Bhuvaneshwar was almost ruled out for six months, but the bowler managed to recover quickly and staged a comeback in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 Trophy at Bengaluru.
“He (Bhuvi) is due to join the team directly at Bengaluru as he has been doing rehab at National Cricket Academy at Bengaluru itself,” said a UPCA insider.
In terms of success in the Vijay Hazare Trophy so far, Uttar Pradesh emerged joint winners with Tamil Nadu in 2004-05 at Mumbai, before finishing runners-up in 2005-06, losing to Railways, also at Mumbai. Since then, the team’s performance has been disappointing. In the last five seasons, Uttar Pradesh did their best in 2015-16 when they lost to Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinals, but thereafter they could never make it to the knockout stages.
“Call it a selection mismatch or lack of commitment among the players, but we are unable to make our presence felt in the premier event though we have one of the best pools of talent in the domestic circuit,” said another selector, refusing to be named.
Meanwhile, the ongoing camp of the probables at Kamla Club in Kanpur was in the news for an alleged “tussle” between a few players and one of the support staff members.
Eyewitnesses claimed that a “group of players” were making fun of a support staff member, who got annoyed and started shouting at them.
“The staff member has limits of tolerance and the players of a particular district were commenting on him,” said a person said to be aware of the issue.
Like others, Uttar Pradesh, who have been put in the Elite Group C of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with hosts Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Railways and Bihar, will have to reach Bengaluru on Saturday. The team would remain in quarantine for six days. As many as three Covid tests would be done on February 13, 15 and 17. They would be allowed to practise on February 19.
The side would launch their campaign with their opening match against Karnataka on February 20. Next, they would take on Kerala on February 22, Bihar on February 24, Railways on February 26 and Odisha on February 28.
The quarterfinals will be played on March 8 and 9. The semi-finals are slated for March 11. The final is scheduled on March 14.
TEAM
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (captain), Karan Sharma (vice-captain), Priyam Garg, Akshdeep nath, Sameer Choudhary, Madhav Kaushik, Abhishek Goswami, Samarth Singh, Almas Shaukat, Upendra Yadav, Aryan Juyal, Kartik Tyagi, Shivam Mavi, Mohsin Khan, Aaquib Khan, Shanu Saini, Purnank Tyagi, Yogendra Doyla, Jasmer Dhankar, Munindra Mourya and Shivam Sharma.