Uttar Pradesh in Ranji Trophy: Karnataka scored 178 runs for the loss of five wickets at the end of the fourth and final day of play at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium on Saturday. Karnataka got three points based on the lead in the first innings, while Uttar Pradesh had to be satisfied with one point.
Poor Performance Ends UP’s Ranji Trophy Campaign
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh took the innings forward from 325 runs for the loss of five wickets. Aditya Sharma (41) along with Saurabh Kumar (54) made a valuable partnership of 77 runs for the seventh wicket and took the team past the 400-run mark. Apart from these two, Vipraaj Nigam contributed a quick 26 runs and Shivam Mavi contributed 15 runs.
In such a situation, Karnataka needed 261 runs to win this match. However, this target was not easy considering the condition of the pitch and the number of overs.
Karnataka, who came to play in the second innings in response to Uttar Pradesh’s 261 runs, started well, but the team faltered as soon as Nikkin Jose (48) and captain Mayank Agarwal (27) were out. R. Smran (15) and first innings centurion Krishnan Sreejith (07) were bowled by Vipraj Nigam, bringing excitement to the match.
At the same time, Shreyas Gopal (01) soon returned to the pavilion. Karnataka did not lose any wickets after this and Manish Pandey (36) and Abhinav Manohar (31) returned unbeaten. Krishnan Sreejith became the man of the match. Vipraj Nigam took two wickets and Aaqib Khan took one.
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Strategic Errors Cost Uttar Pradesh in Ranji Trophy
The Ekana Stadium has a total of nine pitches including black, red and mixed. Karnataka plays on red soil only. Despite this, why did they play the match against the visiting team on red soil? Why did they bat first after winning the toss? Sunil Joshi is from Karnataka.
Why did Joshi, who has experience in many international matches, decide to play the match on red soil despite knowing this? Apart from this, Karnataka included three fast bowlers on the fast pitch of red soil, while Uttar Pradesh kept only two bowlers in the final eleven. It is necessary to review these questions.
Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) paid Rs 40 lakh to Sunil Joshi for the post of head coach last year, but the team’s performance was disappointing. UP played a total of seven matches in the last season and won only one, while six matches were drawn.
Uttar Pradesh remained in sixth position in the Elite B Group. The question is that if Joshi’s coaching did not improve the team’s performance, then why was he retained again? Perhaps no one has the answer to this.
