Madhav Kaushik: Uttar Pradesh opener turns saviour for his side in Vijay Hazare Trophy final

Madhav Kaushik on Sunday played a classic opener’s ton, scoring 100
runs from 126 balls and building up Uttar Pradesh’s innings alongside partners
such as Samarth Singh and Akshdeep Nath in Sunday’s Vijay Hazare Trophy final in
New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Kaushik, who hails from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, made his debut in
the Ranji Trophy in the 2018-2019 season on November 1, 2018. The right-handed
batsman has so far scored a total of 85 runs in List-A cricket from five
matches.

Finishing off the innings with a total of 312/4 and a personal score of 158 runs off 156 balls, Kaushik saw  his side through a difficult phase, when Mumbai picked up Samarth Singh and Karan Sharma in quick succession.

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Sunday’s century would be the first for him, as never scored either
a 50 or a 100 in a domestic 50-over matches up until now.

Against Gujarat, he scored 15 runs in the previous match, while against
Delhi in the quarter finals, he scored 16. The paltry scores in the previous
matches seemingly fuelled his appetite for a big score, as the right-hander
fired away against Mumbai.

Starting off his innings slowly, the opener reached the 150-run mark
in a visibly celebratory fashion, smashing away Mumbai’s bowlers for boundaries
and sixes and controlling the pace of the match throughout the Uttar Pradesh
innings.

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The innings, working as an anchor for the big score, did not let the absence of skipper Karan Sharma be felt on the crease.