Imtiyaz shines with 3-wkt haul

After a long wait,UP pacer Imtiyaz Ahmed was finally able to prove his worth today by taking three crucial wickets,including that of Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer.

After a long wait,UP pacer Imtiyaz Ahmed was finally able to prove his worth today by taking three crucial wickets,including that of Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer. Belonging to a state which has players like RP Singh,Praveen Kumar,Sudeep Tyagi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the ranks has its own drawbacks too. It was not very surprising that despite making a Ranji Trophy debut in 2008,Imtiyaz has been able to play only four first-class matches till now. Imtiyaz got the chance to show his talent in the ongoing match between Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh as pacer Sudeep Tyagi hurt his finger during a practice session at Ghaziabad ahead of the UP vs Railways match.

In his fifth first-class match,the youngster was able to bring back the smile on the faces of the team coaches when he took the prized wicket of Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer. The breakthrough came for UP just when Jaffer (55 runs) was appearing to be a major threat for the hosts.

Besides Jaffer,Imtiyaz’s other victims were Dhawal Kulkarni and Suryakumar Yadav today. Though Imtiyaz has taken three wickets in first-class cricket earlier also but this haul was special for him. No doubt the 26-year-old from Bhadohi had a reason to cheer about.

” I felt good after taking Wasim Jaffer’s wicket. He is a big player who has not only the ability to stay at the crease for long but also to make a huge contribution for his team. I have a lot of respect for him. For me,this has been my most prized wicket till now,” he said with a smile. Imtiyaz did admit that he felt under pressure when he “was not able to take any wickets despite bowling well yesterday. Team captain Suresh Raina and coach Gyanendra Pandey asked me to maintain the line and length and I did just that.”

Imtiyaz said that though he may not have played many first-class matches,his confidence level increased drastically ever since he was selected in the Pune Warriors team by a renowned cricketer of his times like Geoff Marsh. “During the Pune Warriors selection trials held at Lucknow,about 25 young cricketers who had played first-class cricket had appeared in the trials to fill a pacer’s place which was lying vacant and I am happy that only I was selected.” Ali Hamid Zaidi,former Ranji Trophy player and cricket operations manager in the Pune Warriors team confided that Marsh had said that if you place Imtiyaz in Team India,then you will not be able to say that he has had no international experience in the past. “It was because of his talent that we selected him in our 15-member team. Though he could not play in any IPL match,there is no doubt that he is full of talent,” Zaidi said.

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