Delhi: Former Indian batsman Suresh Raina has advocated making four teams from Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket. Raina, who attended the Amar Ujala dialogue program held in Lucknow, expressed his career, the struggle of early days and domestic cricket. He said that a huge state like Uttar Pradesh is entitled to four Ranji Trophy teams, because there is no dearth of talented players here.
Raina, popularly known as ‘Mr. IPL’, said that different types of cricket talents are seen in different regions of UP (Purvanchal, West, Central and Bundelkhand). There are best players in districts like Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Banaras, Prayagraj, Meerut, Noida, Shahjahanpur, which need a right platform.
In the program, when Raina was asked which players from UP can play for the Indian team in the future, he said, “There is a lot of talent here, there is a need to give him opportunity. If four teams of UP are made, more players will get a chance.”
However, Raina also regrets that this does not look possible. He said, “BCCI is a private body and the cricket culture of each state is different. Look at Maharashtra and Gujarat, there are different teams like Mumbai, Pune, Rajkot, Baroda, so why can’t it happen in UP?”
Raina also mentioned the stadiums present in UP, stadiums with modern facilities are being prepared in other cities including Lucknow, Banaras, Ghaziabad. He hoped that in future the youth of UP should get more opportunities and the scope of domestic cricket increased.
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