I saw the final of the Deodhar Trophy on TV, though I was close to the venue when going in and out of a project meeting. What happened in the last ten overs was complete stupidity. First, Kedar Jadhav threw his wicket away with a poor stroke. He should know that he's not completely out of the frame for national selection, and that poor, match-losing stroke may eventually cost him a place in the ODI XI. Surya Yadav was poor throughout his innings- while he thrived on singles and twos, the strike rate suggested they were not enough. Axar Patel may call himself a batting all-rounder and target a World Cup berth and he has form on his side, but that stroke was atrocious. All of them batted like raw tailenders that Shaz and DSK were- and these two were capable, but irresponsible.
You can't say much positive about a batting side that falls like ninepins to the erratic Ashoke Dinda and feeble Biplab Samantray and a veteran spinner who played more matches than took wickets. I'd say Veer Pratap Singh's performance has been the most relevant, but while he's done well in Ranji, he's been relatively poor in the two matches he got in Deodhar. He has, however, the right raw material, and once he's at Umesh Yadav's pace, he can be a national prospect. Can't say that about Sandeep Sharma, the leading wicket taker in ODs this season, who's just a slow bowler who does well when it's windy and the pitch is grassy. Pankaj Singh, on the other hand, cranks up his OD game a great deal to take a rush of wickets in much fewer games- he's second in the tally, despite playing a lot less. With the bat, Manoj Tiwary is the one bloke who's likely to slot right into the World Cup XI on form, and while Mayank Agarwal has done well this season, he's too raw. Likewise Karun Nair.
