Overall, a very good journey for us: Uttarakhand coach Jha

Once Karnataka made a mammoth 736 in the first innings of its Ranji Trophy semifinal, it was clear that Uttarakhand was on the mat. And as it turned out, Devdutt Padikkal & Co. progressed by virtue of a massive 503-run first-innings lead.

While these huge numbers are indicative of the gulf in class, it would be harsh to judge Uttarakhand based on these figures alone.

The hill State became a First Class team only in 2018-19, and has steadily improved, reaching the last-eight thrice, before its maiden run to the semifinals this edition.

“Overall, it was a very good journey for us,” head coach Manish Jha told reporters on Thursday. “We had to break that [quarterfinal] barrier and reach the semifinals, and we did that.

“Of course, we were trying to play the final, but unfortunately, we couldn’t deliver here. We didn’t take wickets in the first session on day one. We dropped catches and couldn’t capitalise. But for our players it was an amazing run.”

Jha stated that it was a shift in mindset that helped break the quarterfinal jinx.

“When we approached the quarterfinal this time, we treated it as just another game. Last three times, we got carried away by the emotions of reaching there after defeating big teams.

“This time, the team was calm in the dressing room and that’s why we were able to beat Jharkhand easily [by an innings and six runs].”

It is noteworthy that Uttarakhand left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra is the top wicket-taker this Ranji season (59 scalps) and skipper Kunal Chandela is the eighth-best run-getter (741). Apart from these, Jha pointed to the rise of youngsters as a big positive.

“Someone like 17-year-old Lakshya Raichandani facing India Test bowlers [Prasidh Krishna] and scoring runs [55, first-innings] and 18-year-old Aditya Rawat taking wickets (four for 154 in the first essay) show they can also dream of playing at a high level.

“This is a State that doesn’t have a lot of exposure. So to see players coming to this stage, being calm and delivering was great.”