Ranji Trophy 2016-17: Kuldeep, Eklavya pull UP out of troubles against Punjab

Hyderabad: It appeared like Uttar Pradesh will continue their poor run in this Ranji Trophy 2016-17 before Kuldeep Yadav, Eklavya Dwivedi and Rinku’s half centuries pushed them to 300/6 on day 1 against Punjab here at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.

Once again, UP came into the game in absence of their regular captain Suresh Raina and Dwivedi handing captaincy to Tanmay Srivastava. Srivastava won the toss in his first game as captain and elected to bat on a pitch that has produced maximum points for the team batting first. However, the new UP captain took the strike on the first ball of the innings which turned out to be his last as he edged it behind to the keeper off Sandeep Sharma.

Sandeep struck again to send back the other opener Samrath for 12. Umang Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan put together 40 runs before Sarfaraz continued his struggles by pulling a short ball straight to square leg off Shukbek Singh Gill. After Lunch, Shukbek struck twice. The first it was Umang Sharma, who was caught behind after a 128-ball 49 which brought an end to his 4th wicket stand of 53 with Rinku Singh.

Rinku got to his fifty in 74 balls with 8 fours but a couple of balls later, he was trapped in front by Shukbek. Eklavya Dwivedi and Kuldeep Yadav added a crucial 101-run stand in 26.3 overs for the 6th wicket to take their side towards a respectable total after been 5 down for just 143. Dwivedi scored runs at a good pace while Kuldeep gave the much-needed support.

Also read- Ranji Trophy 2016-17: Round 5, Day 1 Review

Yuvraj Singh, who bowled amidst the cheers from the decent crowd, almost caught Kuldeep in front on the first ball that he bowled. Dwivedi scored 60 off 77 balls with 7 fours and a six before getting cleaned up by left-arm spinner Vinay Choudhary, who went for quite a lot of runs. He gave away 105 runs in his 20 overs including 4 sixes, 2 of them were hit by Kuldeep.

The chinaman ensured UP didn’t lose any more wickets as he and Saurabh Kumar added 56 runs in the 16 overs after Dwivedi’s wicket. Kuldeep brought up his 4th first-class fifty, his 3rd this season and the 2nd in the current Ranji Trophy with a boundary. He was unbeaten on 62 at stumps after batting for 147 balls, striking 3 fours and 2 sixes. Saurabh added a quick 39 off 45 balls with 2 sixes and 3 fours. UP extracted 113 runs in 29 overs in the final session for the loss of one wicket. Indian Cricket team’s chief selector, MSK Prasad was present at the venue during the 1st day play.

Kuldeep Yadav, the top scorer for Uttar Pradesh with an unbeaten 62 while batting at 7 is hopeful about his first FC century. After the day’s play, Kuldeep told to CricTracker: “The pitch is good to bat on. I scored 60 runs in the first game here (against Madhya Pradesh) and I was confident about my batting. I think 450 is a good score for Punjab. It’s a very good wicket to bat on. I am looking forward to my first first-class ton.”

Brief Scores:

UP: 300/6 (Kuldeep Yadav 62*, Eklavya Dwivedi 60; Shubek Gill 3/52)