UPwardly mobile at a fast pace

He is an effective all-rounder. Players like him throw open plenty of options. Watch out for him,8217;8217; Uttar Pradesh skipper Mohammed Kaif had said of Praveen Kumar on the eve of their Elite Division Ranji Trophy Semi-final. On Friday 8212; the opening day of the five-day clash being played at the Wankhede Stadium 8212; the 22-year-old justified his skipper8217;s faith.

Bowling in tandem with the wily warhorse, Ashish Winston Zaidi, Kumar struck with the very first delivery of his 24-over spell. He trapped stumper Vinayak Samant surprisingly promoted to open the innings in front of the wicket with a peach of a delivery. 8216;8216;The gameplan was simple,8217;8217; he said. 8216;8216;8217;Bowl within your limitations and stick to the basics. Wait for the batsmen to make mistakes,8217;8217; Kumar, who finished with a 4-wicket haul added.

The brief was followed to the 8216;T8217; by UP8217;s speed triumvirate consisting of Zaidi, Kumar and Shallabh Srivastava. Between them they shared eight wickets to restrict the hosts one short of 200 in an innings which lasted a forgettable 84 overs over a span of unfruitful 351 minutes.

8216;8216;They UP bowlers were very disciplined,8217;8217; Mumbai coach Karsan Ghavri observed after the day8217;s proceedings. However, he admitted that some of the batsmen 8216;8216;8217;threw their wickets away.8217;8217;

8216;8216;8217;The wicket was doing a bit and the conditions were ideal for seam bowling. The idea was to pitch it at the right spots,8217;8217; Kumar, who swelled his tally to 31 wickets this season, said.