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A day after his name was dropped from the BCCI's central contract list, Team India discard Rudra Pratap Singh let his performance do the talking and put UP in the driver's seat on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy tie against Orissa at Lucknow. Earlier, he had a Grade 'B' contract. The 'Rae Bareli Express' as RP is fondly referred to, took six wickets including the prized one of opener Natraj Behera who blasted a ton on Friday. RP finished the day with figures of 21-8-48-6. This spell is RP's best haul in Ranji Trophy. His previous best in First Class cricket was 5 for 33 against Maharashtra at Kolhapur in the year 2004.
However, the dejection of not having his name in BCCI's contract list yesterday was apparent on RP Singh's face. He refused to talk to the media after the match and asked it to write whatever it wants to about his day's performance. To a 'lucky' channel, he is reported to have said that presently he is concentrating on his game hard.
Only last month a deadly bowling spell by pacer RP Singh (5 for 8) helped Uttar Pradesh prevail over Railways in a match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Central Zone Twenty20 league at Jaipur.
In reply to UP's first innings total of 403 runs, Orissa managed to score 232 runs losing nine wickets in 91 overs today. To save a follow on, the visitors still need to put up 254 runs on the board. With Orissa having left with only one wicket in hand in their first innings, it is almost decided that UP will attain 3 points by virtue of a first innings lead if not an outright victory. The hosts are now in a position to dictate terms to the Orissa and if they are able to force a follow on and take early wickets in Orissa's second innings, there could be a possibility of an outright victory as well. A victory will definitely be a confidence booster for UP for the matches ahead.
Orissa opener Natraj Behera played a highly responsible innings and also got a reward in terms of getting his first Ranji Trophy century today. He got a life when when his catch was dropped by wicket-keeper Mohammad Amir Khan of a Sudeep Tyagi ball when he was only at 14 and at Orissa at 23 for 3 in 13.5 overs. This miss proved costly for UP. Natraj stood at the crease like a true fighter for 80.4 overs while wickets kept falling in quick succession at the other end. Natraj was finally caught at slip by UP skipper Mohammad Kaif of an RP Singh delivery. His 113 run knock came off 244 balls which featured 17 boundaries. He was given some support by Biplab Samantray (20), Alok Sahoo (29) and Debasis Mohanty (30). However, besides them only a few batsmen could stay at the crease for a reasonable amount of time.
Besides Natraj, others who became victims of the RP Singh onslaught included fellow opener and Orissa skipper Shiv Sunder Das (1), Govind Poddar (1), Biplab Samantray (20), Subhrajit Sahoo (6) and tailender Basant Mohanty (5). Shalabh Srivastav, Sudeep Tyagi and Praveen Gupta took one wicket each.
Alok Sahoo also got a life when he was at 26. He was dropped by Shalabh Srivastav in the 62nd over at mid-wicket. However, he could not make much use of the opportunity as he scored just three more runs before being bowled out by Praveen Gupta. Talented batsman Natraj said he succeeded in scoring a century in pressuring circumstances because he kept asking himself to play his natural game. Commenting on the fact that he batted with confidence against a team which is regarded as the strongest bowling side in the domestic circuit by many, Natraj said, " Performing well against UP bowlers will go a long way in boosting my confidence. My ideal is Virender Sehwag so I believe in playing my natural game irrespective of the circumstances."
Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 1st innings: 403;Orissa 1st innings: 232 for nine in 91 overs ( Nataraj Behera 113, Biplab Samantray 20, Alok Sahoo 29, Debasis Mohanty 30 not out, Dhiraj Singh 1 not out; RP Singh 6 for 48, Praveen Gupta 1 for 15, Sudeep Tyagi 1 for 47, Shalabh Srivastava 1 for 49).
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