All the leading run-scorers are from teams playing out draws, and three of the top five are from Group C teams- one being Maharashtra, who play out draws, and the other, the much-whipped Tripura. Only Kerala's Sanju Samson is playing for a team that doesn't keep drawing blanks, and he's at seven. Samson has a fan club on Cricinfo, who desperately want him to be playing for India before 'it's too late'. Comical, this. Ditto Baba Aparajith. On the other hand, Jaggi, Khadiwale and Jadhav have played a lot longer, but don't seem to have these funny fan clubs supporting them.
The leading wicket-takers, no doubt, are from teams that have won and lost. Rishi Dhawan is leading with 29 wickets- the next best has 18. He's also been scoring plenty for that team. However, when you already have Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashwin, and you're making an all-round superstar out of Jadeja, this bloke doesn't fit in, when he has played just 30 FC games. He's also struggling in limited-overs cricket (while Bucky, Bipul Sharma and old hands Bhatia/Shukla don't), so he's clearly a little raw, and needs to fine-tune his game in lower leagues. Already Mohit Sharma's struggling when the pitch is slow, the outfield is wet, and his pace isn't enough. Harbhajan has 18 wickets too. But that's too late now, sadly. Not too late for Odisha's Basanth Mohanty, who's not just chipping away, but running through batting sides- or should I say, weaving through. But someone bowling at 120K as an international bowler? Needs some time in the labs first, to get over 135K like Shami.
Himachal were on top in this group, but the loss against Hyderabad has dented them a fair bit. They struggle to take wickets in the second innings, and it's a recurring problem. The best performing team, ironically, is Railways, who often field plenty of aged players, and don't have the world-class facilities that city/state teams often have. Gujarat's win against Punjab takes them to the top of the table, but Punjab are not out yet. Delhi, though, are hanging by a thread. Jharkhand and Baroda may get relegated to the bottom tier. The Pathans' poor fitness is hurting Baroda, while Jharkhand, lacking a decent all-rounder and strong batting, have lost two of their four games. That's sad, given that they've got the fastest set of bowlers in this bunch.
The televised Ranji game had Umesh Yadav in action. He did well largely, but for a few deliveries on the pads. Bowled fast, but didn't get enough wickets- although all bowled/leg-before. Not a good sign in the lead-up to the South Africa tour. Shrikant Wagh, though, has been chipping away a few, but on a flat deck, his medium pace posed no threat. This attack did not perform, clearly. Nor did Jharkhand, although they had a very weak batting unit backing them up. Sehwag's India career is more or less over, but I'm not sure how relevant he'll be in the Delhi middle-order, getting out for low scores. At least Gambhir and Ishant are doing their bit in taking Delhi ahead. Pragyan Ojha has been patchy, while Ashok Dinda has had a good season so far.