From IPL snub to Vijay Hazare heroics: Aryan Juyal lights up domestic circuit | Lucknow News

Lucknow: After being dropped from the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) squad and not even making the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction list, former Uttar Pradesh Ranji captain Aryan Juyal returned to the limelight with a brilliant 150 off 140 balls, guiding UP to a victory over Assam.Following this knock, Juyal became the second-highest run-scorer in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, amassing 390 runs at an average of 130, with 33 boundaries and 12 sixes in four matches. He is just 16 runs short of Karnataka’s Devdutt Padikkal, the leading run-getter so far, who has scored 406 runs. In his four Vijay Hazare outings, Juyal has smashed two centuries, including a 134 against Chandigarh. This was his sixth List A century, to go along with 10 fifties, at an average of 54.31. Speaking to TOI, Juyal shared his emotions and admitted that he did feel bad about missing out on the IPL this season. “It was difficult for me and it did hurt. I hadn’t expected that I wouldn’t be shortlisted for the auction. Among all the players, around 250-300, my name wasn’t there. Many times you feel that you’ve done enough and deserve a place somewhere,” he said. Talking about his Vijay Hazare preparations, Juyal said, “I spent four to five hours on the field or in net sessions, apart from fitness work. Since I have to do wicketkeeping as well, it feels like double the effort. In total, around six to seven hours of hard work every day, especially in the off-season, was very crucial.”When asked if he was targeting 150 runs before the downpour, Juyal said that he and Rinku Singh had discussed the weather conditions and decided to play the natural game. “As everybody knows how Rinku bhai plays, I played at my own pace and, luckily, completed the 150-run milestone before the umpires called us off.”