Lucknow, Oct 7 (IANS) After years of being on the fringes of Uttar Pradesh cricket, Zeeshan Ansari is set to make his return to the Ranji Trophy squad after a gap of six years, marking another significant chapter in the leg-spinner’s remarkable resurgence.
The 26-year-old, who last played a Ranji Trophy match for Uttar Pradesh in 2020, has been named in the state squad for the upcoming season after forcing his way back into the reckoning with a standout domestic campaign.
IANS has learned that the selectors have shown faith in him and the squad will be officially announced soon.
The squad, led by Karan Sharma, includes Rinku Singh, Aradhya Yadav, Aryan Juyal (WK), Madhav Kaushik, Adarsh Singh, Sidharth Yadav, Prashantveer, Kartik Yadav, Ansari, Vansh Choudhary, Yash Dayal, Kunal Tyagi, Priyam Garg, Abhinandan Singh and Kartik Tyagi. Abhishek Goswami and Chikara have been named as stand-by players.
It makes Ansari’s return even more remarkable considering the way his career seemed to drift following his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh against Railways on October 6, 2017. Ansari was considered a promising young leg-spinner, as he was part of India’s squad for the 2016 Under-19 World Cup along with Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan. State-level opportunities were few, his progress stagnated, and he had to look elsewhere.
Beyond regular play in local tournaments in Lucknow, Ansari also played league cricket in Kolkata and was often seen around the Uttar Pradesh dressing room as a net bowler. Until the beginning of 2025, his proximity to the state team rarely translated into opportunities on the field.
Ansari’s big breakthrough came in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he proved to be one of the most effective bowlers for Uttar Pradesh. A leg-break and googly bowler, he took 21 wickets in eight matches at a stunning 16.52 apiece, always the man to break partnerships and come through in pressure situations.
He was a constant threat with his ability to change pace and flight and bowl the googly at opportune moments, especially on surfaces that were becoming more batsman-friendly.
Interestingly, despite making his state debut in the 2017-18 season, the last Vijay Hazare Trophy was Ansari’s first domestic 50-over competition. His white-ball emergence therefore came relatively late in a career that had begun nearly a decade earlier.
The 21-wicket campaign not only revived his Uttar Pradesh career but also pushed him into the national selectors’ vision. He was subsequently fast-tracked into the India A squad for the two unofficial Tests against Sri Lanka A later this month.
That call-up highlighted the unusual trajectory of Ansari’s career. While he has attracted significant attention through white-ball cricket in the last three years, his red-ball credentials remain relatively limited.
Ansari has played only five first-class matches, including Ranji Trophy appearances for Uttar Pradesh, and has taken 17 wickets. His best figures are 3/33, which came against Tripura.
His return also comes at a time when the pool of specialist wrist-spinners available for red-ball cricket has become relatively thin.
A look at the leading wicket-takers from the last Ranji Trophy season underlines the selectors’ dilemma. Mayank Mishra, Siddharth Desai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Sharma, Vishal Jayswal and Saurabh Kumar – all slow left-arm orthodox bowlers – featured among the top 10 wicket-takers, with J&K seamer Auqib Nabi leading the charts with 60 wickets.
There was only one leg-break bowler among the top 10: Karnataka veteran Shreyas Gopal, who finished third with 48 wickets.
The scarcity of wrist-spinners becomes even more evident when the next group of leading wicket-takers are considered. Between 11 and 20, there were two off-spinners – 33-year-old Saransh Jain, who is with India A, and domestic stalwart Jalaj Saxena – alongside pace bowlers Mohammed Nidheesh of Kerala and Sunil Kumar of J&K.
The remaining names in that bracket were left-arm orthodox spinners Sagar Udeshi, Shams Mulani, Amit Shukla, Nachiket Bhute, Parth Rekhade and Anukul Roy.
In all, 13 of the 20 bowlers in that broader group were left-arm spinners, while the only leg-break bowler in the top 10 was no longer in contention for India.
That shortage has created an opening for a bowler like Ansari, whose ability to turn the ball both ways and operate as an attacking wrist-spinner offers a different dimension.
For Ansari, however, the journey back to the Ranji setup is about much more than filling a statistical gap.
His career appeared to be losing momentum after his early promise with India’s Under-19 team, but his persistence through local cricket, league cricket, net-bowling opportunities and limited state chances eventually brought him back into the spotlight.
The 21 wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy became the catalyst. Now, after six years away from the Ranji fold, Ansari has another opportunity to establish himself in the red-ball format that once provided his first platform in senior cricket.
His inclusion in the Uttar Pradesh squad, followed by the India A call-up, represents a rapid rise for a player who only recently found himself outside the state’s immediate plans.
From an India Under-19 prospect in 2016 to a net bowler struggling for a state opportunity, and now an India A-bound leg-spinner preparing for a Ranji return, Ansari’s career has taken an unexpected turn.
The next challenge will be to translate his white-ball resurgence into sustained success with the red ball -beginning with Uttar Pradesh, where his first-class journey started on October 6, 2017.
–IANS
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