Praveen Kumar’s ‘hurt elbow’ may keep him off match

Talking to The Indian Express,UP team manager and former Ranji Trophy player Ashish Winston Zaidi,“ I have come to know that Praveen is doubtful concerning the match at Lucknow. The real picture will be clear by Tuesday when UP team arrives here for practice in the morning session.” Praveen is understood to have conveyed to the team officials over phone that “the elbow injury he suffered during UP vs Punjab match has yet not cured.”

Praveen got engaged on Sunday and is due to get married on November 18.

UP team had a good practice session in the afternoon at Akhilesh Das Stadium— the venue of the match. The team resorted to serious practice from about 2.30 pm to about 5.00 pm. International players from UP like Piyush Chawla,RP Singh and Sudeep Tyagi could be seen sweating it out at the nets. However,UP captain Mohammad Kaif was conspicuous by his absence. He is expected to be there when both UP and Orissa arrive at the venue at 9.30 am for practice on Tuesday morning. SS Das led Orissa team could not have practice today as it reached the state capital in the evening.

The groundsmen could be seen working at the wicket. Excessive grass on the edges of the pitch was being removed with the grass mowers while the a heavy roller was employed to give ‘final touches’ to it.

Commenting on the Das Stadium wicket,Zaidi said that it was a “sporting wicket” which is likely to help both the bowlers and the batsmen. He said that the outfield has also improved compared to last year when UP faced Delhi in the Ranji match.

He admitted that the presence of quite a few internationals is a plus for the UP team. “The presence of internationals in the squad does make a difference to the opponents. Presently,UP team is the top most bowling side in the country due to the presence of talented players like Piyush Chawla,RP Singh,Sudeep Tyagi and Praveen Kumar. But at the same time it would be wrong to underestimate any side and the UP team will try to give its level best.”

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Digvijay Singh whose services will not be available to the team as they had to reach Mumbai for the Under-22 CK Nayudu Cricket Tournament have been replaced by Eklavya Dwivedi and Prashant Gupta,Zaidi informed.