Pacer Ankit Rajpoot and coach Vijay Dahiya not weighed down by the fact that Uttar Pradesh have won the Ranji Trophy only once as compared to their semi-finals opponent Mumbai, who have attained glory 41 times
Uttar Pradesh pacer Ankit Rajpoot during the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Karnataka at Alur, near Bangalore, last week
Karan Sharma’s Uttar Pradesh are in for some hard cricket when they meet Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semi-finals beginning in Bangalore on Tuesday. And the enormity of the task is not lost on their pacer Ankit Rajpoot, who is leading UP’s bowling charts with 15 wickets this season. UP claimed their solitary Ranji Trophy title in 2005-06.
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“Whenever we play Mumbai, it’s always a special match. It’s a semi-final against a team that have won the Ranji Trophy 41 times, so it’s bigger this time,” Rajpoot told mid-day from Bangalore on Sunday.
Vijay Dahiya
The 28-year-old pacer, who has claimed 230 wickets from 67 first-class games, was captain when UP lost to Mumbai on the first innings at the Wankhede Stadium despite scoring 625-8 declared in 2019-20. Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan smashed an unbeaten 301 in the same game against his former team.
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‘Strong batting order’
“Mumbai have a strong batting order. When we played them at Wankhede a few years ago, Shams Mulani came in at No.8 and scored a half-century [65]. We lost the game,” Rajpoot recalled. Sarfaraz and Mulani shared a 150-run seventh-wicket stand that helped Mumbai take the lead and declare their first innings at 688-7. However, the experienced seamer insisted the young UP team will give their 100 per cent. “We don’t have big names or experienced players. Ours is a young team, but we have a lot of skillful and talented players and we don’t need to worry. We will give our best. We not only have a good bowling attack. Our batting line-up is equally good. I believe it will be 50–50. Whoever plays well throughout the match will win.”
A balanced side
UP coach, Vijay Dahiya, who guided Delhi to win the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy title, reckoned his team are a balanced one. “I am just looking at this young UP bunch that need to go out there and feel they belong there. Our bowling is a strong point, but I love the way our batsmen have played so far. So it’s XI v XI,” said the former India wicketkeeper.
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