That’s all from this coverage, folks! For now, it’s me, Deepak Prakash, signing off on behalf of my colleagues, Abhishek Sharma, Tarun, and Paras Yadav. CHEERS!
Tomorrow as well, there is just one game in the UPT20, with Gorakhpur Lions taking on Kashi Rudras. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM IST.
Lucknow Falcons opened their winning account after losing their tournament opener in the ongoing UPT20. Meanwhile, Noida Kings failed to carry forward the winning momentum from their opening game.
Abhinandan Singh (POTM): "[How happy are you with your performance?] I’m very happy with today’s performance. Over the last three seasons, I was injured last year, then I played in the IPL this year, and now I’ve come here. This time, I came well prepared and tried to keep things as simple as possible.
[Any help from the surface?] Yes, there was a bit of help from the surface, but we also put in the hard work. The idea was to bowl as much as possible in the normal eight-metre to six-metre length. We had watched the previous game and noticed that batting on the middle length on this wicket was a little difficult, so we tried to bowl in that area as much as possible.
[On sharing dressing room with Virat Kohli in IPL] Virat bhaiya really motivated me, especially by talking to me about what I could do better and how I could improve further. All the coaches also worked with me during that period. Then I made it back into the 16-member squad, and it was a really good experience overall. A lot of what I think about and the discipline I have today, I learned from my IPL experience."
Player of the Match: Abhinandan Singh
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Skipper, Lucknow Falcons): "(On opening the account with a win) We are really happy with the win and in a game as fast-moving as this, a win here was very important for us.
(On the pitch) We can say that the pitch is a bit tricky and we were really well with the ball but we need to do a bit better in pacing the chase, as we have a bad habit of losing wickets in crunch moments, and yes, the pitch is a bit tricky.
(On fielding outfit) In this format, to grab your chances is one of the most imprtant aspect and, especially on tracks like this. We have been doing well in the field and I am happy with how the boys are responding in the field.
(On Abhinandan and Aaradhya) Well, Abhinandan is a senior player and having played in the IPL, he brings in a lot of experience and the way he played showed his quality. Speaking about Aaradhya, I feel he is one of the most talented and promising batters in our squad and we can count on him in sitauations as such and he is showing his quality, which makes things easy for us."