Tags:
Journalism of Courage
All-rounder Dhruv Singh’s prowess in bowling pales in comparison to his exploits with the bat. On Wednesday,it was his medium pace that helped Haryana skittle out Uttar Pradesh for 167. Dhruv’s hat-trick was the moment of the day at the Mohan Meakins stadium after Uttar Pradesh won the toss and elected to field.
The Uttar Pradesh innings folded up an hour after lunch. The Mohammad Kaif-led side had hoped to see off the new ball and then settle down but Dhruv’s gentle in-swingers did the trick for Haryana on this wicket.
Parvinder Singh,Shivakant Shukla and Asish Yadav were all dismissed by Dhruv on way to his hat-trick. From 54 for two Uttar Pradesh fell to 54 for five. Shukla and Yadav were trapped leg-before-wicket,while Parvinder was caught in the slip cordon.
“The feeling is amazing. You don’t get a hat-trick very often,” said Dhruv. The Haryana No.6 was going through a lean patch. But the hat-trick could just trigger a turnaround in form.
“I just bowled a consistent line and length. I think the Uttar Pradesh batsmen paid the price for playing too many shots too early,” 24-year-old Dhruv said. He represented Rajasthan in the under-16 level but could not advance further. He tried to break into the Delhi team but could not find a place so he packed his bags and headed for Gurgaon in order to switch teams.
Uttar Pradesh,at one point in time,looked like being bowled out for less than 100. But Piyush Chawla and Amir Khan added 53 runs for the eighth wicket to save Uttar Pradesh the blushes.
The greenish wicket that held moisture in the morning made Dhruv’s gentle medium pace more effective but he still had to bowl in the right areas. In reply,Haryana were 84 for no loss.
Brief scores: UP 1 st Innings 167 all out in 49.5 overs (Piyush Chawla 49,Bhuvnesh Kumar 23; Sachin Rana 4/51,Dhruv Singh 3/25) Haryana 1 st Innings 84 for no loss in 32 overs (Nitin Saini batting 49,Rahul Dewan 34 batting)
