LUCKNOW, Dec. 9 -- At the start of the new domestic season for UP this time, names of Gyanendra Pandey and Arvind Kapoor were in the reckoning for the position of coach of the senior cricket team and the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association chose Kapoor, a former Railways and Uttar Pradesh cricketer with just 15 first-class matches to his name. The outcome of the UPCA's decision is not surprising yet Pandey, a former Team India cricketer with a vast experience of playing 117 first-class matches and guiding Uttar Pradesh to a number of summit clashes, came out triumphant with Uttar Pradesh's under-23 team finishing runner-up in the Men's State A Trophy, losing to Tamil Nadu in the final last week. On the contrary, under Kapoor's guidance former champions Uttar Pradesh after struggling in the Ranji Trophy, on Monday made an early exit from the prestigious Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), losing to Bihar by six wickets in their last league match at Kolkata. Last season, Uttar Pradesh reached the quarterfinals. With just three wins in the seven-team Group D, Uttar Pradesh finished fourth with 12 points. However, a poor show in the white-ball event will also have a serious impact on Uttar Pradesh players ahead of the December 16 auction for the cash-rich Indian Premier League for which the SMAT happens to be the ideal event to pick players. In Ranji Trophy too, Uttar Pradesh are languishing at fifth position in Elite Group A with 17 points, and to make it to the knockout, they require to win both their remaining matches after a break in January and that too with big margins as Vidarbha (25 pts), Andhra (22 pts) and Jharkhand (18 pts) are already up in the points table. "Such results in senior cricket are very much expected as when things happen according to the wish of one individual, who isn't even a member of the UPCA but has got backing of UPCA's godfather," said a UPCA insider on condition of anonymity on Monday. "Nothing has changed in Uttar Pradesh in the last many years as now cricket has been a business and not a sport any more for we people," he added. On Monday, it was Uttar Pradesh's poor show both with willow and ball. First, they struggled in batting, scoring just 144/6 after being sent to bat first at the Jadavpur University Ground, and found themselves struggling with bowling too despite having Team India discard Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shivam Mavi in the ranks as Bihar romped home with four balls to spare and six wickets in hands. Barring pacer Prince Yadav, who took 3/24 in his first match of the season, no one could impress Bihar batters, especially opener Piyush Singh, who struck 54-ball 57 with the help of four boundaries and a six to win the Player of the Match award. Fellow opener Ayush Loharuka (36, 36b, 4x4, 1x6) and Bipin Saurabh (26*, 16b, 3x4, 1x6) also did well for the winners. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh after losing opener and stand-in skipper Aryan Juyal (13) in the second over, kept losing wickets on regular intervals. Young all-rounder Prashant Veer remained the highest run getter, scoring an unbeaten 40 in 26 balls with the help of five boundaries and a six, whereas Sameer Rizvi made 22 in 17 balls with the help of four boundaries. UP's biggest setback in this format was Team India discard Rinku Singh, who could score 172 runs with 65 being his highest at an average of 24.57. He overall finished third in batting behind Aryan Juyal (201 runs) and Sameer Rizvi (191 runs). Uttar Pradesh's next and last white ball assignment will now be Vijay Hazare Trophy where they begin their campaign in Elite Group B against Hyderabad on December 24 at Rajkot....