Uttar Pradesh will take on Baroda in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2014 final and for the right to be known as the best T20 State team in first-class cricket.
The IPL-7 has taken away the established players and many youngsters adept in the frenetic pace of the T20 format, leaving the door open for their teammates to be in the limelight at the Wankhede stadium on Monday morning.
The absence of Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and young spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the Super League at Rajkot resulted in UP unearthing a match-winner in opener Prashant Gupta, a clean striker of the ball with a first-ever T20 century against his name.
Slow bowler Ali Murtuza slipped into the role played effortlessly by team captain Chawla so far. Akshdeep Nath assumed all-rounder duties and showed his utility in vital stages.
The absence of all-rounders Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan is a huge setback for Baroda in a T20 event, but adversity appears to have made the team stronger.
Lesser known seamers L. Meriwala, Hardik Pandya and batsman Aditya Waghmode encashed the opportunities with individual displays in the Super League.
A blessingUP coach Venkatesh Prasad, a former India new ball bowler, views the absence of key players as a blessing, allowing him to assess others in match situation.
“We are fortunate to be playing the final (ahead of Goa on net run-rate). Having said that, UP is a young team but played outstanding cricket in the super league and earlier topped Central Zone.”
He added, “UP players are used to the longer format, now are adjusting to T20.”
He feels that leg-spinner Chawla’s showing in the zonal phase should be understood to appreciate the joint effort by his teammates in the Super League.
“Chawla led the side really well, scored runs, kept runs down in the middle-overs and took wickets.
“India swing bowler Praveen Kumar is proving his utility. He is accurate upfront. With his ability to swing the ball both ways, Praveen is valuable at the start and again in death overs.”
India new ball bowler Munaf Patel in the rival camp, overlooked by IPL sides, is expected to play a similar containing role in the final.
“Baroda is a tough opponent, have really good players and won the title before (2012). Like us, they too topped the West Zone and Super League,” observed the UP coach.
Prasad expects his players to rise to the occasion.
“Our young bowlers are learning. So too our batsmen who realise the value of rotating strike and not getting stuck, also the importance of keeping wickets in hand so that they can launch into big shots later.”
