Jyoti Yadav to lead UP Ranji Squad, R P Singh in the team

Kanpur, Nov 20 (UNI) Left hand batsman Jyoti Yadav will lead the 18-member Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy squad announced here this evening.

He will lead the side in the absence of Mohd Kaif and Suresh Raina who are on national duty in South Africa. The bowling department has been bolstered by the presence of Rudra Pratap Singh, who is dropped from Team India.

Rajendra Singh Hans will be the team coach while Gopal Sharma is the manager.

Ranji Trophy champion UP will take on Saurashtra in the season opener from November 23 in Kanpur. The team has been selected for first two matches, P D Bajpayee, the Secretary ( Sports Administration) of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) said.

The team: Jyoti Yadav ( Captain), Rizwan Shamshad, Shivakant Shukla, Ravikant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava, Shalabh Srivastava, A W Zaidi, Gyanendra Pandey, Aamir Khan, R P Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ratnesh Mishra, Peeyush Chawla, Praveen Gupta, Rohit Prakash, Utkarsh Chandra,Tahir Abbas and Ali Hamid Zaidi.

Expressing satisfaction over the composition of the team, the skipper Jyoti told UNI that they would strive to perform like the champions. ''The team is perfect blend of youth and experience with R P Singh and Praveen Kumar leading the pace attack with spin support from young Peeyush Chawla,''he said adding, ''We have some exciting batsmen in the team as well.'' UNI SB MB DH KP2021