When Lord Tennyson had said ‘Old order changeth yielding place to the new’ he wasn’t exactly referring to the evolution of Cricketers in India but his words would appear very apt in describing the great sea-change that’s taken place from the days (in 1960’s and 70’s ) when players from Mumbai historically dominated international cricket in India.

With the likes of Umrigar, Borde, Bapu Nadkarni, Sunil Gavaskar, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Manjrekar and others (& later of course the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to Rohit Sharma, the present Indian captain who has been carrying the baton for the Bombay Club and ‘Mumbai Indians’ in IPL), the Indian Squad that’s played international games would boast of the talented players who had emerged from the ‘Maidans’ and parks of mega metros like Mumbai and also Bangalore, Chennai till ‘Kapil’s Devils’ from the North burst on India’s scene post 1983 WC Win ! Ranchi’s ‘MS Dhoni’ phenomenon paved way for a great churn happening in cricket from hinterlands.

However, many critics believe that the trend changed with the arrival of Sourav Ganguly as India’s Captain. It helped build a strong foundation that consolidated it’s position in world cricket by handpicking local talents regardless of the place they came from. It was only during his regime when Allahabad’s young Mohd. Kaif made it to India’s team to strengthen the middle order while also being a real live-wire on the field. Brilliant swing bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar and RP Singh and the skillful leggie Piyush Chawla made UP proud of their feats, all hailing from different parts of the State.

Among the notable cricketers from UP who have played for India, the most prolific with all round abilities, was the versatile Suresh Raina. He made his ODI debut in 2005 and scored a century in his first Test in 2010 in Sri Lanka. His last international match was in July 2018. A left-handed batsman, Raina (18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is) emerged as a clean hitter of the ball and then went on to establish himself as one of India’s best limited-overs batsmen and has also played a huge role in CSK team’s success in the IPL !

Another name from UP that’s made waves in the last decade is that of ‘Kuldeep Yadav’ the artful wrist spinner and wily ‘Chinaman’ bowler from Kanpur. Along with the great Ravi Ashwin and all-rounder Jadeja, he now forms India’s feared and potent spin attack. 

The latest crop of immensely gifted players who have originated from UP are excellent products of a fiercely combative IPL tournament where they play for various franchises and also having gone through the grind of the domestic circuit. Young Yashasvi Jaiswal is already big name of reckon with in International scene and Dhruv Jurel has shown his class as a superb wicket-keeper batter.Gutsy Rinku Singh looks a potential T20 finisher !      

But, unlike in the past where UP’s erstwhile star players of the likes of Gopal Sharma and Gyanendra Pandey always represented their State in Ranji Trophy matches, many players who’ve hit big-time migrate to other States. That’s possibly why UP (as a Team), despite its talent pool, isn’t at the Top in the Domestic Circuits !