LUCKNOW, Sept. 29 -- The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) seems to have planned out its strategy well for the senior team's possible success in the upcoming domestic season as now out of four home matches, three will be played at one venue to make full use of the home advantage. In fact, allocating Ranji Trophy's home matches to different venues across the state like 'free bees' in the past hit hard the team's progress and that's the reason why despite being one of the domestic giants, Uttar Pradesh could win the coveted trophy only once in 2025-06 here in Lucknow. As per the fixtures of the new season released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Uttar Pradesh will begin their Ranji Trophy season with a home match against Andhra from October 15 to 18 at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, their best hunting ground so far. This will be followed by the second home match at the same venue against Odisha from October 25 to 28 and third home game in Kanpur against Nagaland from November 8 to 11 before playing their last home game at Victoria Park Ground in Meerut against Jharkhand from January 22 to 25. But before that third home game, Uttar Pradesh would be playing their first away game from November 1 to 4 against Baroda at Vadodara. Uttar Pradesh would also be travelling to Coimbatore to take on Tamil Nadu from November 16 to 19 in their second away game. Former champions Uttar Pradesh will conclude their Elite Group A league matches with a match against hosts and former champions Vidarbha at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur from January 29 to February 1. "It's good that UPCA has learnt from their mistakes in the past and now hosting all three home games at one venue, which is best suited to the team's game plan as being the headquarters of the state cricket body, our players are habitual of playing on the surface here," said a UPCA official on condition of anonymity. He, however, said that even the fourth home match, which has been allocated to Meerut, should also be organised in Kanpur. "Why is UPCA still under pressure from the Meerut Gang? Playing four matches on home turf every season makes a significant difference and helps the side to qualify for the knockouts," he added. Uttar Pradesh, which often missed this advantage for its inconsistent venues, struggled to make it to even the knockout stage. In the last 10 seasons, Uttar Pradesh has played 28 matches, won just two, lost five and drawn 21. These matches were played at seven venues in the state. Out of 10 matches at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, UP could win just one, and the result of nine others ended in a draw. The side conceded its first innings lead in four matches, whereas one match remained unfinished. Uttar Pradesh's worst home track record is at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, where they conceded their lead in six out of 11 matches. It won and lost one match each, besides drawing six. At Meerut's Victoria Park Ground, Uttar Pradesh has never won out of three matches so far. In Ghaziabad, UP lost the only match they played at the Nehru Stadium. UP's three other matches-one each at Lucknow's Sports Galaxy Ground, TMU Moradabad and Greater Noida-also ended in tame draws. "Mumbai are 42-time champions as they plan their home matches and play mostly at Wankhede. They know the conditions well and the venue suits their game plan," former UP's skipper and coach Gyanendra Pandey said. "We need to pick a certain ground and get it prepared according to our strength as in the longer version of the game, planning makes all the difference in the end," he said, adding, "it's good the UP are playing three home matches in Kanpur as all the players had their training too at this venue," said Pandey, who handled that camp. "Home advantage allows the home side to make full use of the opportunity and I am sure that UP this time will do much better in Ranji Trophy," he added. Former Test cricketer and ex-UP captain Gopal Sharma too had advocated for good use of the home advantage. "Home advantage is very important in domestic cricket, especially in the Ranji Trophy. If you make proper use of this home advantage, it remains helpful for the side to make it to the knockouts quite easily," said Sharma. He also said that even during his playing days, UPCA used to conduct matches mostly at Agra and other places. "We hardly used to play at the Green Park Stadium. I feel that UPCA needs to identify a home ground and prepare it well," said Sharma, who's also the vice-president of UPCA. However, one of the key functionaries of the UPCA said that distribution of matches like 'lollipops' to different district units remains a sincere part of UPCA's politics as it helps garner votes. "UPCA never bothered about the genuine needs of the game, but kept luring its member units across the state by giving them hosting rights of the domestic matches," claimed a UPCA insider on condition of anonymity....