Sudeep Tyagi kissed the pitch as his teammates rushed towards him for a huddle. He had just disturbed the timber of Sitanshu ‘Fevicol’ Kotak here at the Motibaug ground, taking Uttar Pradesh into the final of the Ranji Trophy. As Kotak fell for 52, Saurashtra’s Ranji final hopes ended short of 48 runs as they folded up for 113, adding only 20 runs to the overnight score of 93/7 in their second essay. Praveen Kumar took the two earlier wickets in the morning.

Tyagi, in his maiden Ranji appearance, played a pivotal role in UP’s success this year. Before UP’s first match, the 20-year-old had to his credit just two wickets from as many matches in an under-22 tournament. No one thought he would make it to the Ranji squad. And now, after seven matches with 39 wickets in his kitty, the lanky fast bowler is the second highest wicket-taker, one wicket behind Vinay Kumar of Karnataka.

“One selector asked us to see him. He was impressive at the nets and we picked him up,” said Gyanendra Pandey, UP coach.

And in the first match itself, he justified his inclusion, taking 10 wickets, six in first innings and four in second, against Orissa. And then in the second match against Andhra Pradesh, he took nine wickets to emerge as the unlikely hero of the side. “It was a dream debut,” was Tyagi’s one-liner.

What probably worked in favour of the Ghaziabad lad is the fact that UP were short of bowlers at the beginning of the season. RP Singh and Kumar were with the Indian team. Saulabh Srivastav had joined ICL. Ashish Winston Zaidi had retired.

... contd.