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Indian Domestic Season 2011/2012

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
If Sudhindra is bowling at 115-120kph, then he is too slow for international cricket, imo.
 

nsniks

State Vice-Captain
What about India A? They said that they'll get something in for India A, like a series of tours. With the retirement of the top Test pros round the corner, India A tours are essential in breeding future India players. While there's talk of throwing out the seniors from Tests, to usher in young talent, this so-called young talent is costing India matches in the frontline in ODIs/T20Is itself. If they play enough A-team cricket against other futures teams, they'll be ready when they face them in actual internationals, and also be better prepared to face top international players.

They should get long FC stretches in their tours abroad, with no more than 2 T20s, with limited ODs. They should tour England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, and maybe Sri Lanka (Pakistan not yet an option), but not waste time in non-Test countries.

Anyway, the India A selection should consist largely of young players barely two or three seasons old, not too fresh, not too old, and with just one or two experienced players:
  • Batsmen: Mukund, Dhawan, Pawan, Robin Bist, Raina, Rohit Sharma
  • Wicketkeeper: Saha
  • Spinners: Appanna, Ojha, Abdulla, Yusuf Pathan
  • Seamers: Yo Mahesh, Sudhindra, Dinda, Aaron
There will be an India A tour to Windies in May
 
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Shri

Mr. Glass
If Sudhindra is bowling at 115-120kph, then he is too slow for international cricket, imo.
Yeah but we shouldn't just be looking for wayward 145Kmph bowlers either. Bowlers who bowl well at 125-135Ks should be given a go. Asif wasn't much faster than that when he was bowling like a god in tests.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah but we shouldn't just be looking for wayward 145Kmph bowlers either. Bowlers who bowl well at 125-135Ks should be given a go. Asif wasn't much faster than that when he was bowling like a god in tests.
I'm very much pro 120-130kph bowlers, but there has to be a limit.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Yeah but we shouldn't just be looking for wayward 145Kmph bowlers either. Bowlers who bowl well at 125-135Ks should be given a go. Asif wasn't much faster than that when he was bowling like a god in tests.
We've given Praveen and Vinay a go in tests, with much criticism from the foreign media and fans about their speeds.

I think the Indian panel are actually far less averse to selecting medium fast bowlers with discipline than other selection panels.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Not sure if anyone has linked to this article:

Sharda Ugra on the international-class ground in Anantapur | Specials | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

Locals refer to their ground as "our Perth". When Venkatesh Prasad turned up here, in his contemporary avatar, as coach, he wanted to run out and bowl on the wicket. Kaif said he'd never seen a track like it in India. Praveen Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi and Zaheer Khan (who came within a wicket of making it to their honours board) would like to roll the pitch up and put it into their kitbags. It has grass, bounce, healthy carry, and life that holds through a first-class game.

The general lamentation about the deadening of India's pitches may well be true, but dotted around the country, particularly in the moffusil, like in Vapi and Valsad in the west and Lahli up north, there lie some gems; wickets that are exceptional in their originality and distinctive in character.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
If Sudhindra is bowling at 115-120kph, then he is too slow for international cricket, imo.
Yeah but we shouldn't just be looking for wayward 145Kmph bowlers either. Bowlers who bowl well at 125-135Ks should be given a go. Asif wasn't much faster than that when he was bowling like a god in tests.
I'm very much pro 120-130kph bowlers, but there has to be a limit.
We've given Praveen and Vinay a go in tests, with much criticism from the foreign media and fans about their speeds...
I think the Indian panel are actually far less averse to selecting medium fast bowlers with discipline than other selection panels.
He's good enough for futures cricket, and there, he will realise the need for extra pace. He can add it while he's still learning. That's a trade-off, either you pick the extremely wayward Umesh Yadav who's blazingly fast (or wicketless Ishant who's decently fast) or you opt for someone like Sudhindra who's slow but still effective. Coaching and science can add some serious pace.

We've seen medium-pacers picked on domestic excellence, and some left out despite it- there's a clear pattern- the better batsmen somehow make it, however brief their stay may be. Gagandeep, Paul and Bose missed out, while JP Yadav, Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar cut it. That's a huge negative for Sudhindra, and he needs more pace.
There will be an India A tour to Windies in May
Not ideal, but will do. I'd still prefer England/Australia/SA/NZ.
Not sure if anyone has linked to this article:
They've also got a good outfield. However, the decision to cut out games at Railways' home stadium, the Karnail Singh Stadium, and also raise a stink over wickets falling in a heap at a Hyderabad ground, clearly indicates a strong bias towards flat decks with no help for the bowlers.
 

Manee

Cricketer Of The Year
Coaching and science can add some serious pace.
For Indians, has it ever?


We've seen medium-pacers picked on domestic excellence, and some left out despite it- there's a clear pattern- the better batsmen somehow make it, however brief their stay may be. Gagandeep, Paul and Bose missed out, while JP Yadav, Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar cut it. That's a huge negative for Sudhindra, and he needs more pace.
Praveen nor Vinay were selected on their batting. Their batting was very likely completely ignored in considerations. No idea what happened with Bose though, I heard he could bowl 125-130kph and he took five wickets on the tour of England in 2007, outbowling Ishant. Would love to see how more than an isolated domestic stalwart would fare at international level. Shame to see Vinay perform so poorly in his Test but Praveen did well. I'm sure one of Gagandeep (though he doesn't make the Punjab side anymore, so I guess he's finished), Paul and Bose could have done well if given a sufficient chance at international level in their prime. Dhawal Kulkarni is the one I watch and I am very impressed when I see him in the IPL but it would seem the wickets have dried up for him. I see him as a far greater prospect than Mithun.
 

nsniks

State Vice-Captain
Chirag jani from Saurashtra, scored 98*(67), in a chase of 308 against Maharashtra with his side at 7/186 and later on 232/9 in 43 overs.

Saurashtra 308/9 (50.0 ov, CS Jani 98*, SK Trivedi 4*, MM Sayyed 0/54) - Match over | Live Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

More details:

When last man Trivedi walked out to bat, Saurashtra needed 79 runs to win in 7.3 overs and the equation changed to 31 off two overs.

In the 49th over bowled by Sangram Atitkar, Jani plundered 21 runs hitting two fours and two massive sixes as Saurashtra went into the last over with just 10 runs to win.

However, pacer Mohsin Sayyad conceded only three runs off the first five balls. Needing six runs off the last ball to tie the match for his team, Jani could manage only a four to leave his team three runs short of a win, and himself two runs short of a well-deserved century.
 

Cruxdude

International Debutant
Chirag jani from Saurashtra, scored 98*(67), in a chase of 308 against Maharashtra with his side at 7/186 and later on 232/9 in 43 overs.

Saurashtra 308/9 (50.0 ov, CS Jani 98*, SK Trivedi 4*, MM Sayyed 0/54) - Match over | Live Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

More details:

When last man Trivedi walked out to bat, Saurashtra needed 79 runs to win in 7.3 overs and the equation changed to 31 off two overs.

In the 49th over bowled by Sangram Atitkar, Jani plundered 21 runs hitting two fours and two massive sixes as Saurashtra went into the last over with just 10 runs to win.

However, pacer Mohsin Sayyad conceded only three runs off the first five balls. Needing six runs off the last ball to tie the match for his team, Jani could manage only a four to leave his team three runs short of a win, and himself two runs short of a well-deserved century.
That too on his debut. Pretty ridiculous.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
In the much-ignored Vijay Hazare Trophy, Laxmiratan Shukla smashed (that's an understatement) a blazing 151 to win the game against Jharkhand in Eden Gardens. That's a serious push for a place in the national side, struggling as they give Ravindra Jadeja chance after chance. If the Indian selectors ignore age, he should be in front.

Elsewhere, Karnataka are making a conscious effort to promote Abhimanyu Mithun as a middle-order striker. It's had decent results, though without a golden jubilee yet, and he's also taken more than a few wickets. TN captain Balaji, though, is staying down, but still doing well as a striker and getting wickets. Piyush Chawla is another run-scoring bowler in good form here.

Form, however, has deserted Harbhajan Singh. He's neither getting runs nor taking wickets.

Not so Uthappa. He struggled to convert starts initially, but now scored a rapid century against Hyderabad. It won't hold much, as it was scored at a college ground, but the Hyderabad attack had Pragyan Ojha in it.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Akash Chopra has slammed the BCCI technical committee for ignoring his proposals and going on with the existing, flawed model. They think nothing is wrong with three points for a lead and five or six for a win. Clearly, this is one of Ganguly's weaknesses as an administrator- he didn't want the change. Not long ago, this technical committee squashed any proposal to have foreign teams or even foreign players in the domestic circuit, again a flawed and out-of-time rule. He's not happy, and for a reason.

Remember Zaheer Khan's comment that certain Mumbai cricket administrators are holding back Mumbai cricket and not keen on taking it ahead? He's been vindicated, though he's blamed the wrong (Milind Rege) person, as the MCA, under a failed politician whose tenure as Chief Minister of the state has been full of failure, has stagnated. Now Lalchand Rajput and Ajit Wadekar are critical of the state, and say Mumbai cricket has been held back. First Rajput was critical, and in response, the MCA slammed him. Rajput will get back, but Wadekar was harsh on them, and that's an understatement.
 
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Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
In better news, Robin Uthappa scored yet another blistering century, as his team's wicketkeeper and opener, this time at the Chinnaswamy. Fair, the Andhra attack was weaker than the Hyd bowling, but he's made it two in two, and at a bigger ground, which is more away than home for India.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla is the best all-rounder to choose for batting. Seriously. He follows his 151 with a four-wicket haul to win a match for Bengal. Why he's still left out while shady brokers like Jadeja still enjoy confidence of the powers that be is a mystery. Drop Jadeja for Shukla and you'll have a full-strength Indian side, irrespective of how many openers play in it.

I wouldn't say the same of Yusuf Pathan, though. Baroda may have trumped Saurashtra by 52 runs and Yusuf scored a century with ten sixes, typical Yusuf style, but it was at the tiny MCA ground at BKC- hardly Test or even ODI standard. Yusuf, as usual, was smashed all around the park in four overs. While we're fine with his batting, ideal for seven, his bowling needs to tighten up if he's to return to the national side.

At a time when the team management has thought of doing away with at least one of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Gambhir, Mukund scores a rapid century against Hyderabad. The flip side- Hyderabad has a weak bowling attack, Ojha notwithstanding (and he's not much good anyway in ODs), it was in a college ground, and TN lost by nearly 40 runs chasing a Hyderabad total of 335. Yo Mahesh has been poor with bat and ball in this series.

UPSET: Maharashtra beat Mumbai by 15 runs at the Heyday. Abhishek Nayar had a good all-round game, clearly an indication that there are options beyond Jadeja, but couldn't win it- and it wasn't even significant, as he was eight short of fifty and took two wickets, though for little. Iqbal Abdulla, though wicketless, got a quick fifty, while Dhawal Kulkarni, though short of runs, took two.

Harbhajan Singh took a wicket here, which is as big a news scoop as Jadeja taking a wicket abroad (or a rush of wickets in India). Punjab choked Services and won big. Hang on, Services?

While Delhi and Haryana lack star power in this event, it was still a tight match as Delhi won in the final over. You can check out the weather reports on the BCCI's schedule of domestic games- 'HAZE', 'SMOKE' amongst sunlight and 'clear'- which is represented by the Moon!
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Asia Cup coming, and with four places up for grabs, we will get a few from this bunch, mostly in batting. That's where the conclusions are clearer. Robin Uthappa started poorly, but has smashed his way back in contention with two rapid centuries. Also in line are wicketkeepers Dinesh Karthik and Wriddhiman Saha. You've got unusual suspects in the top of the list- DB Ravi Teja of Hyderabad and Swapnil Asnodkar (of IPL 2008 fame) from Goa. A very unusual suspect is Ganesh Sathish from Karnataka. Laxmi Shukla may be in as a number seven who can bowl seam-up. Yusuf Pathan ate up the Saurashtra attack setting up a big win for Baroda, but his bowling has been less of a factor, though Sunil Gavaskar has rallied behind him for a place in the ODI/T20I squad. With the team's poor bowling holding them back and also impacting the batting, you'll need a stronger bowling lineup. Rahane and Pujara, two blokes everyone seems to push for in the national side, have had a poor tournament.

No conclusions at all from the bowling charts. None of these blokes can represent the country, even at this stage.
 

nsniks

State Vice-Captain
Asia Cup coming, and with four places up for grabs, we will get a few from this bunch, mostly in batting. That's where the conclusions are clearer. Robin Uthappa started poorly, but has smashed his way back in contention with two rapid centuries. Also in line are wicketkeepers Dinesh Karthik and Wriddhiman Saha. You've got unusual suspects in the top of the list- DB Ravi Teja of Hyderabad and Swapnil Asnodkar (of IPL 2008 fame) from Goa. A very unusual suspect is Ganesh Sathish from Karnataka. Laxmi Shukla may be in as a number seven who can bowl seam-up. Yusuf Pathan ate up the Saurashtra attack setting up a big win for Baroda, but his bowling has been less of a factor, though Sunil Gavaskar has rallied behind him for a place in the ODI/T20I squad. With the team's poor bowling holding them back and also impacting the batting, you'll need a stronger bowling lineup. Rahane and Pujara, two blokes everyone seems to push for in the national side, have had a poor tournament.

No conclusions at all from the bowling charts. None of these blokes can represent the country, even at this stage.
Do you think Piyush chawla could be a good candidate for number 7 spot???? He can bowl, agressive batsmen and a good fielder.

And do you think Dinda should get a call for Asia Cup??
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Well-rounded package, but he's neither set the runs charts nor wickets tally on fire this season. He's been balanced, but that's it. Fitness may not be up to the mark. What really may break the deal is a murmur or whisper that he's fudged his age all along- something broken out by a senior cricket journalist, though hinted subtlely, and eventually a few fans spent enough time to decide. If he's in form with the ball and bat, and does well on the field, he'll be an ideal middle-overs batsman at seven, but we don't know much about his age and fitness.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
Bengal wins the Vijay Hazare Trophy. No one noticed.

Saha seems a winner in the battle of the keeper-batsmen, but Karthik's superior strike rate and past India experience should put him slightly ahead at times. You now have options beyond MS Dhoni, who can at the very least take a break and recuperate, and beyond Parthiv Patel, who's not good enough.

With Yusuf Pathan as the preferred batting all-rounder and Ravindra Jadeja (still, somehow) India's 'best' all-rounder, Laxmi Ratan Shukla didn't stop short of proving a point. Already with a century in one game and four wickets in another, he's done both in the finals, winning the game almost single-handedly for Bengal. He scores on so many points, including fielding, it makes sense to include him in India's first XI without a second thought- like IPL credentials and powerful hitting made it for Yusuf Pathan and Dhoni's unflinching faith and also an age certificate made it for Jadeja. What's stopping the selectors? Maybe he doesn't play for Saurashtra? Really.

Anustup Majumdar has also had a good tournament. Also in the top ten run-getters with Bengal teammates Shukla and Saha, he may be a bit far from an India call-up, but India A it is.

Bowling charts are populated by perennial extras and newcomers, so you can't make much out of this, except IPL teams. Top-rated bowlers, though, struggled, notably Dhawal Kulkarni, who had a dream debut season, but fell away since.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
It's West vs North in the Deodhar Trophy. But who's watching? Or rather, who's in the team to make you watch?

Parthiv Patel scored 78, until he was out. Rahane and Pujara are going strong here. West have lost a single wicket and are over 200. Live score on the BCCI site, but there's no streaming video.

So far, Harbhajan still struggles with the ball. It's time to set him aside for a longer term, though the paucity of spin options doesn't help. Chawla's been better, and got more runs, but his age is still a controversy- maybe selectors have taken note of that senior journalist's observation?

Iqbal Abdulla has made a strong case for a promotion to the national side. Nearly fifty OD games, a very, very impressive strike rate and decent economy. He can also score a few runs, and is good on the field.
 

nsniks

State Vice-Captain
West Zone wins the Deodhar trophy. Rahane scored a ton, Jadhav scored a quickfire 67 and Pujara scored 71. Pujara seems to be getting into form with his last 4 scores being 32, 80, 70, 71. For a guy who is considered as a test prospect, Pujara has a great List A record with an average of 52.28.

Munaf Patel and Iqbal abdullah picked up 4-4 wickets. Considering our seam bowling performance in ODI's this year, Munaf should be considering getting a recall in ODI squad.
 

Arjun

Cricketer Of The Year
The IPL's poor cousin, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, got some support from Harbhajan Singh and Rajat Bhatia. Harbhajan says this event is by no means small, as it gives the entire domestic player base a chance to perform and excel, which the foreigner-centric IPL doesn't. It is a good chance for these blokes to impress the selectors in the lead-up to the World T20, and both players and selectors need to take it seriously. Rajat Bhatia, who scored a century against Railways and then took two wickets to win the game, said he wants more India regulars, including all his Delhi teammates, to appear in this event, so that there is some star power in this event to make it relevant for players, fans and officials alike. Both talk sense.

The knockouts are being played in Mumbai, either in Brabourne, or at the BKC ground. While the BKC is essentially an academy ground, Brabourne performances count for a lot more. So far, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik and Yusuf Pathan are amongst the top scorers, and haven't even played their full quota of matches.
nsniks said:
West Zone wins the Deodhar trophy. Rahane scored a ton, Jadhav scored a quickfire 67 and Pujara scored 71. Pujara seems to be getting into form with his last 4 scores being 32, 80, 70, 71. For a guy who is considered as a test prospect, Pujara has a great List A record with an average of 52.28...Munaf Patel and Iqbal abdullah picked up 4-4 wickets. Considering our seam bowling performance in ODI's this year, Munaf should be considering getting a recall in ODI squad.
Pujara has good India-A credentials, but he'll still have to compete with Badrinath (double domestic/reserves experience) and Rahane (wins titles for Mumbai/West). Munaf Patel is nothing special now- he's only medium pace, and will struggle like all the other pacers playing for India. He can't bat or field at all. It's time to move on to Umesh Yadav, and rotate him with Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron, all of whom offer more value per place than Munaf.

The spin base is in worse shape than the pace stock. Iqbal Abdulla is one of the best limited-overs spinners in India, and should be in ahead of the likes of Jadeja and Rahul Sharma, both of whom are too raw and don't turn th ball much. His fielding and batting are a huge plus- makes sense to pick Abdulla over Jadeja any day.
 
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