UP?s very own ?pitch panthers?

They can gorge out the guts from any opposition. They have the ‘teeth’ to rip apart any opponent. And, all these panthers of the pitch have been groomed in Uttar Pradesh!

But first, the background.

Right-arm offie Gopal Sharma was the first from UP to don Team India colours since the Maharajkumar of Vizianagaram in 1936. Gopal’s journey came to an end with his last Test match in 1990-91 against Sri Lanka, and there was no one to talk about UP’s presence since.

Gopal, whose forte was accuracy and stamina, made his international debut against England in 1984-85. He shadowed the then, in-form L Sivaramakrishnan with his dazzling performance. But, later, with greats like Maninder, Shastri, Arshad Ayub, Shivlal Yadav and Narendra Hirwani around, Gopal was soon forgotten.

After him, it was only Lucknow’s Rudra Pratap Singh who made it to the Indian team as a seam bowler, but he could also play just two ODIs in 1986. The only wicket he managed was that of Dean Jones in his second and final match.

Former spinner Anand Shukla was the first cricketer from the State to become a member of the national selection committee in 1990. But, his four-year tenure didn’t see any cricketer from the State making it to the national side. Gyanendra Pandey, Rizwan Shamshad and Manoj Mugdal, besides Ashish Winston Zaidi, were a few other prominent names, who deserved to be part of the Indian team, but couldn’t make it.

However, things soon changed. A boom happened. Muradnagar’s Suresh Raina made his debut for India in the tri-series in Sri Lanka in 2005 and soon, his friend Rudra Pratap Singh joined him in the dressing room.

After losing the first two matches of the Ranji Trophy in 2005, no one could think of UP even playing in the knock-outs. It was Mohd Kaif who not only put things back on track in the knock-outs but also masterminded UP’s historical title win against Bengal in January. For the first time in the 72-year-old history of domestic cricket, UP lifted the coveted trophy. And now, the ‘impact’ of the UP cricketers is such that six of them have made it to three teams of the upcoming Challenger Series.

“UP has enough talent at the junior level and it’s a very good sign for Indian cricket. Cricketers from the zone have proved their worth on both the domestic and international circuit, especially the juniors,” says former national selector Gopal, who has played 11 ODIs and five Tests.

“It’s true that being a selector from the zone, I put forth the cases of our players, but only due to their laudable records,” says the former offie, adding that, “Rudra’s 71 wickets in domestic cricket in 2004 and Praveen Kumar’s 41 in 2005 speak volumes of their calibre as good seamers.”

Coach at the ‘infamous’ Gomti Nagar Cricket Hostel, Pramod Kumar Gupta too, believes that the forthcoming domestic season will provide opportunities to Praveen Kumar, Tanmay Srivastava and Ravikant Shukla to knock at Team India doors.

“Kaif, Raina, Rudra and Piyush Chawla have proved their worth in the Team India, and now it’s time for youngsters like Praveen and Tanmay to make it to the team,” said Gupta.

He, however, accepted that the standard of UP cricket has risen to a new height and there is very minor difference between the calibre of players who make it to the top six.

All said and done, “The boom in UP cricket has also attracted youngsters to look forward for a place in Team India,” he says.

Atta boys!