Teenager Aryan Juyal (109. 251b, 11x4) shone bright for Uttar Pradesh on the first day of its Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka, at the KSCA Stadium here on Tuesday.
Juyal’s patient knock carried Uttar Pradesh to 232 for five - a reasonable return for the visitor after a day of hard grind. The 18-year-old Juyal, playing only his second First-Class game, was mighty disappointed when he fell to a loose shot in the evening session. The opener played away from his body to a wide delivery from pacer Abhimanyu Mithun, and offered a sharp catch to Devdutt Padikkal at slip.
Mithun struck again in the same over, getting Rinku Singh to nick a full one to the wicketkeeper B.R. Sharath. Mohammad Saif (56 batting) and Saurabh Kumar (12 batting) hung around to avoid further damage.
Earlier, after electing to bat, Uttar Pradesh rode on a gritty knock from Juyal to blunt the Karnataka attack. The youngster was composed and calm, avoiding all big shots. He was strong off the back-foot, punching anything short through point and cover. Juyal put on 109 runs for the fourth wicket in the company of Saif. He brought up his maiden century with a crisp cut off left-arm spinner J. Suchith, and gleefully took in the applause from the small crowd.
He put aside the disappointment of his debut match, versus Railways a week ago, where he made 0 and 13. Juyal, the son of doctors, recalled the hurdles he faced when he decided to pursue cricket as a career. “My parents faced some criticism for allowing me to pursue cricket seriously. It was tough for them, with the way Indian society thinks. But my parents always encouraged me to follow my passion,” Juyal said.
The home team battled hard, keeping the ball in the right areas. For the most part, Juyal and his teammates shouldered arms to wide deliveries. When the edge was found, the ball dropped short of the catchers behind the stumps. The pitch, dry and docile, offered little reward to the toiling bowlers.
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