Heat, pitch to test UP, Vidarbha in quarterfinal
: Hot and humid conditions and an underprepared pitch will test two-time champions Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha when they face each other in the four-day Under-25 Col CK Nayudu Trophy quarterfinal, beginning in Vadodara on Tuesday.
The mercury is expected to touch 43 degrees Celsius over the next four days. Besides, an “underprepared” pitch at Alembic 2 Cricket Ground could trouble the players.
“The situation is tough here as it’s hot and humid. The pitch seems unprepared with a lot of dampness are there. Just four fans inside the player’s pavilion have made things further difficult for everyone,” UP’s chief coach Obaid Kamal said on Monday just after the team’s strenuous training session.
“I was surprised to see a wet pitch with a lot of dampness on it this morning so I chose to speak to the people concerned. Though they have promised to keep the pitch open throughout the day in order to get it dried, in this situation the toss is going to make a lot of difference in the game,” he said.
“Whoever wins the toss here will certainly opt to bowl. Given the conditions, I don’t think that the match would last more than three days.” He, however, said the conditions would be the same for both sides.
Kamal indicated a few changes in the Playing XI on Tuesday. “We have plenty of options for the match and have included a few fresh faces for the game. Though a final call on the Playing XI would only be taken on Tuesday morning, we have inducted two left-arm spinners i.e. Shanu Saini and Ankit Chaudhary, besides having pacer Aquib Khan.”
So far, Uttar Pradesh’s journey in the event has been phenomenal. After winning the first game in Elite Group F against Himachal Pradesh by four wickets, they crushed Goa by 10 wickets before finishing off the campaign with a 164-run win against Kerala.
Young opening batter Aanjaneya Suryvanshi who hails from Basti but plays his cricket in Lucknow, has been in a terrific form. He stands in third place among top 100 batters this season with 460 runs in three innings. This includes his 135run knock against Kerala in the last league match.
Skipper Sameer Choudhary has scored 345 runs so far with 128 being his best. Prince Yadav, Sameer Rizvi, Siddharth Yadav, and keeper-batter Pranjal Saini too have done well. They would hope to continue their run-scoring streak against Vidarbha too.
As far as bowling is concerned, pacer Kunal Yadav with 12 wickets at an economy of 2.76 has been the best so far for Uttar Pradesh. Prince Yadav (12 wkts) too has done well. They will have the additional support of skipper Chaudhary (7 wkts), who bowls accurately.
Though Vidarbha lost to Maharashtra by 29 runs in the second league match in the Elite Group D, they won the first game against Chandigarh by 209 runs, and then defeated Railways by an innings and 171 runs to qualify for the knockout.
“Unlike in the past, the standard of Vidarbha cricket has gone up in the last few years. They have been a strong side. We are not taking them lightly, but are banking on our own strength,” said Kamal. “I have told the boys to put their best foot forward. If they play according to the game plan, I am sure to see Uttar Pradesh moving into the semi-finals,” he added.