IPL: Who is Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Upendra Yadav?
What's the story
Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper-batsman Upendra Yadav bagged his maiden IPL contract in the recently-concluded mini-auction.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) picked him for Rs. 25 lakh after Mumbai Indians initiated the bid.
Upendra slammed an incredible double-century in the Group B match against Mumbai in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy.
He has been impressive in the domestic circuit.
Here are his stats so far.
Stats
A look at his professional stats
Upendra burst onto India's domestic circuit through T20 cricket, having made his debut in 2014.
He later announced himself in First-Class (2016) and List A (2018) cricket.
The right-handed batter has racked up 646 runs from 30 T20s at a strike rate of 123.04. His tally includes two fifties.
Upendra also has 1,309 FC and 931 List A runs.
Match
Upendra shone for India A in Bangladesh
Upendra served as India A's wicket-keeper in the 1st unofficial Test against Bangladesh A earlier this month.
He scored an unbeaten 71 off 122 balls in the first innings (5 fours and 2 sixes).
Upendra was also impressive behind the stumps.
Upendra, who moved from UP to Railways, recently played the Ranji Trophy matches against Punjab and Vidarbha.
Early days
Who is Upendra Yadav?
Upendra, who hails from Kanpur, made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2016 under former Indian batter Suresh Raina.
The former is the son of Dewan Singh Yadav, a retired sub-inspector of UP Police.
Upendra's elder brother Varun Yadav (31) helped the former chase his dream of playing professional cricket.
As per Upendra, his brother "gave up his dream of becoming a cricketer".
Double-ton
A historic double-century
As stated, Upendra slammed a magnificent double-century in the 2019/20 Ranji Trophy Group B match against Mumbai.
He slammed an unbeaten 203 off 239 balls (27 fours and 3 sixes) as UP declared their first innings at 625/8.
Upendra broke Piyush Chawla's record for the highest-ever individual score by a UP number seven batter in First-Class cricket.
Meanwhile, the match ended in a draw.
Information
Third wicket-keeper for SRH
Upendra is the only Indian wicket-keeper in SRH's squad for IPL 2023. The Orange Army also bought South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen for Rs. 5.25 crore and retained Glenn Phillips for Rs 1.5 crore. The Indian batter would want to prove his mettle.