Sriwastava rips through Haryana in Super League clash

Haryana took on Uttar Pradesh in a Super League encounter of the Ranji Trophy 1999-2000 season at Rohtak in early March. On winning the toss, Uttar Pradesh captain Gyanendra Pandey had no hesitation in asking Haryana to bat. He threw the ball to Shalabh Sriwastava, who had just returned from winning the Under-19 World Cup at Sri Lanka.

Before ten runs were on the board, Sriwastava sent Jitender Singh back to the pavilion, having him caught by Mohammed Kaif, his captain at the Under-19 level. Although his senior partner Ashish Winston Zaidi did not meet with success, Sriwastava toiled manfully on.

The pitch was a slow one, as is often the case in Ranji Trophy matches. Gyanendra Pandey had no choice but to bring himself and the other spinners on to the attack sooner rather than later. Unfortunately for him, it was a ploy that did not work. The Haryana batsmen began to rebuild their innings, and managed to get to 79/1 before the skipper removed the second opener Parender Sharma.

Sriwastava was once more in the thick of the action. He forced breakthroughs at regular intervals, slowing down any possible progress for the Haryana team. Dalal, Puri and Ohlan in the middle order managed just 11 runs between them as Sriwastava scalped all three. He came back strongly to knock out the tail, ending with 6/82.

Haryana were humbled, having managed just 198 before they were all out. Heading for what should have been certain defeat, Haryana were saved by rain. Although Sriwastava performance was one that deserved to see his side win, he had to be content with a draw. Points were shared and no one benefited but Uttar Pradesh - they had discovered a fine young fast bowler in Shalabh Sriwastava.