“Yes, we were short of bowlers. So Tyagi was taken in. We needed someone good to fill the place,” said skipper Mohammed Kaif said. And Tyagi made most of the opportunity. “He is a quick learner,” said Kaif.

UP bowling coach Zaidi is also impressed with the bowler. “He is very hard working. We want to groom him into very good bowler. His height ( 6.3”) is his advantage. The match against Bengal was covered live and he touched 139 kmph. He has the potential. His in-swing is also good,” said Zaidi.

In the semi-final against Saurashtra, he and Kumar took eight wickets each, four in each innings, to ensure his side’s smooth sailing into the final for the second time in three years.

Saurashtra, too, had some brownie points from the season. “It has been a very good season. The players have started believing in themselves that they can beat anyone. Our target is the next Ranji,” said their skipper Jaydev Shah.

But Shah was still rueing the dropped chance of Kaif in the first innings when the UP captain was on 20. Kaif went on to make 80. “Those 60 runs made the difference,” said Shah.

Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh: 188 & 100 vs Saurashtra :127 & 113 (Sitanshu Kotak 52; Praveen Kumar 4/39, Sudeep Tyagi 4/42).