Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal and other uncapped players who impressed in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2014-15

The 2014-15 season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy saw some brilliant performances.

The 2014-15 season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy saw brilliant performances from players in a period of around three weeks. Varun Arora looks at some of the best performances put up by uncapped players in the tournament.

Mayank Agarwal: The 23-year-old youngster smacked 426 runs in the competition including two big centuries against Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. He was at his very best against Punjab in the finals held at Gujarat as he hit 125 runs off 100 balls and took Karnataka to a huge total. His 162 against Andhra Pradesh at Secundarabad was unarguably the best knock of the tournament.

Shreevats Goswami: The stylish left-handed batsman was the second-highest run-getter in the tournament with 447 runs. He scored two centuries and two half-centuries for Bengal which also helped them reach the semi-finals. He contributed 45 in the semi-final against Karnataka, but Bengal lost in the dying moments of the match.

Sandeep Sharma: Sandeep Sharma, who last played in the 2014 Indian Premiere League (IPL), made a comeback with the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was one of the crucial strike bowlers for Punjab as he picked up 17 wickets in the six matches he played.  The swing bowler reinstated his abilities after recuperating from injury with wickets in all stages of the game.

Amitoze Singh: Amitoze Singh played an important role for Punjab both with the bat and ball. He picked up 11 wickets, and was the fourth highest run-scorer with the bat with 422 runs, just behind Mayank. He stood tall for Punjab, adding crucial runs at the top and was also handy with his medium-pace.

Manish Pandey: Manish Pandey ended as the highest run scorer in this year’s Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was consistent with the bat as he scored four fifties and one century.  He was instrumental in Karnataka’s win over Mumbai in the third quarter-final when he remained unbeaten on 99 chasing a score of 286. Pandey was oozing confidence and looked a totally revamped batsman.

Ankit Bawne: Ankit Bawne featured in four matches, and ended with a mind-boggling average of 297. He scored centuries in two innings and remained not out on three occasions. He made an unbeaten on 110 when Maharashtra lost to Saurashtra at Ahmedabad.

Veer Pratap Singh: He formed an integral of Bengal’s bowling setup. He ended the tournament with two five-wicket hauls and a total of 15 wickets from five matches. Veer Pratap Singh ran through Vidarbha’s batting line-up in the first quarter-final, which also rewarded him with his best figures of six for 52 in List A.

(Varun Arora is a reporter with CricketCountry. He started as a medium-fast bowler, converted to an opening batsman but finally settled with his passion of writing about the game. His Twitter handle is @varunjgd)

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