Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Uttar Pradesh squad and team preview

Uttar Pradesh have a long shot at the title, but a shot nonetheless.

Uttar Pradesh have been one of the more dominant sides in the Ranji Trophy. The province which literally translates to ‘Northern Territory’ engulfs the most populous state of India. The team often has representation in the national Indian side, a trait which is reflective of their quality in the Ranji Trophy circuit. At present, players such as Suresh Raina, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Piyush Chawla, and Praveen Kumar have been part of the Indian setup at some point. While Raina and Bhuvneshwar continue to remain vital cogs of Team India in limited overs, Praveen and Chawla are not on the national selectors’ radars. Read all Ranji Trophy 2015-16 team previews here

Uttar Pradesh are pooled in Group B with mighty sides of the ilk of Mumbai, Punjab, Tamil Nadu And Baroda, among others. They will have to be at the top of their game to compete and they do possess the players to make a significant impact even against top teams.

Skipper Praveen did exceptionally well for Uttar Pradesh in the seven games off the previous season that he featured in. He topped the wicket-taking charts for the side with 23 wickets at an average of 18.60, while Chawla snared 14 in seven matches.

Uttar Pradesh will have some concerns in the spin department in light of the decline of Chawla’s wicket-taking ability. Chawla has compensated his downfall in the bowling department with runs, but Uttar Pradesh will need him to step up with the ball. However, they will be encouraged by the emergence of the talented left-arm Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who has not got an extended run in First-Class cricket yet.

The batting charts for UP were not the most impressive in the previous season. Tanmay Srivastava topped the batting charts with 389 runs off 12 innings in eight matches at a less-than-impressive average of 32.41. Eklavya Dwivedi came in next with 379 runs in 13 innings at a more respectable average of 37.90. The inclusion of the prodigious Sarfaraz Khan, recently transferred from Mumbai, will bolster the batting.

There are some other talented players like Ankit Rajpoot and Akshdeep Nath in the side, but UP perhaps will not be touted as favourites to the championship going into the tournament. That said, if they take one match at a time, and if good fortune is willing to smile upon them, UP could be in contention.

UP Squad: Praveen Kumar (c), Eklavya Dwivedi (vc), Akshdeep Nath, Almas Shaukat, Amit Mishra, Himanshu Asnora, Piyush Chawla, Israr Azim, Sarfaraz Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Saif, Deependra Pandey, Ankit Rajpoot, Saurabh Kumar, Umang Sharma, Tanmay Srivastava.

(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)

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