LUCKNOW, Oct. 7 -- Leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari is back in the Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy squad for the 2026-27 season, ending a six-year absence from the state's red-ball side and capping a long, uneven rise from Aliganj's lanes in Lucknow to India's domestic elite. Ansari has been drafted in the 16-member squad for the opening match against hosts Bihar, starting Sunday in Rajgir. Batter Karan Sharma will lead the side. Other members of the team are Rinku Singh, Aradhya Yadav, Arjyan Juyal (wk), Madhav Kaushik, Adarsh Singh, Sidharth Yadav, Prashantveer, Kartik Yadav, Vansh Choudhary, Yash Dayal, Kunal Tyagi, Priyam Garg, Abhinandan Singh and Kartik Tyagi. Ansari's journey in Uttar Pradesh has always been a roller coaster ride. In 2014, at 15, he was called for Uttar Pradesh Under-16 trials but was not selected. The same season, he made the state Under-19 and Under-23 sides anyway. In the 2014-15 Cooch Behar Trophy (Under-19), Ansari took 40 wickets-the tournament's highest tally-while also claiming 18 wickets at an average of 13.44 in the Colonel CK Nayudu Under-23 tournament, including three five-wicket hauls. This surge earned him a place in India's squad for the 2016 Under-19 World Cup, where at 16 he was the youngest member of a team packed with future internationals such as Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan. Ansari's Under-19 success opened the door to senior cricket. He made his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy against Railways, taking three wickets in each innings. The following season, he had already topped Uttar Pradesh's wicket-taking in the CK Nayudu Trophy with 30 dismissals, reinforcing his claim for red-ball opportunities. But instead of a steady rise, he hit a wall. After a decent initial Ranji stint, he was dropped and then largely frozen out as in one season he did not play any Under-19 or Under-23 matches either, caught in a selection limbo where he was deemed "too senior" for age-group cricket yet not trusted in the XI. The drama continued for him as between 2017 and 2020 he featured in only five Ranji matches, taking 17 wickets with best figures of 3/33 against Tripura, before his last appearance in January 2020 against Tamil Nadu in Kanpur. For nearly six years, he did not play a Ranji game at all. Ansari's route back was via white-ball cricket and sheer persistence. He rebuilt his reputation in the Uttar Pradesh T20 League, becoming a standout performer over multiple seasons. By 2024 he emerged as the tournament's highest wicket-taker, and in 2025 he continued to dominate, finishing among the leading bowlers again with 15 wickets in 13 games and earlier in the season 14 wickets from six matches as the league's top wicket-taker. In total, across 32 UP T20 League matches he has claimed 64 wickets, including a five-wicket haul against Kanpur Superstars, proving he could deliver under pressure and at crucial junctures-something captains like Rinku Singh reportedly backed by using him in key phases. This consistency, coupled with a strong 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy where he took 21 wickets in eight matches to become the third-highest wicket-taker, forced selectors to reconsider him for red-ball cricket. In the IPL 2025 mega auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad bought Ansari for Rs 40 lakh even though he had played just one T20 for his state before then. He had emerged on the radar of IPL franchises after topping the wickets charts in the inaugural UP T20 league with 24 strikes in 12 games at an economy rate of 7.60. In a high-scoring final, he claimed figures of 4-0-20-1 to set up victory for Meerut Mavericks, often fronting up to bowl at the death and tricking batters with his googlies....