Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
The season has already started and two matches are finished. All games are being played on neutral venues, but beyond largely empty stands, the impact on the games hasn't been much- or hasn't been there at all. We have a new team on the block- Chhattisgarh, captained by Mohammed Kaif. In what may be a questionable move, Jalaj Saxena has shifted from Madhya Pradesh, a decent but under-achieving Group A/B team, to Group C strugglers Kerala- only because Kerala has a poor record! He seems to have realised there's no chance for him to make the Indian side (which is unfortunate, because Ashwin isn't quite the one you'd have as all-rounder, and Jadeja is far from perfect, while Jalaj opens the batting for his team), and Kerala also has Mumbai's oft-ignored spinner Iqbal Abdulla. And the balls are pink! Or vermillion, maybe?
It's been a good start for Mumbai, Punjab, Odisha, Jharkhand, Delhi and Rajasthan- but Delhi, right now (as I type), are in trouble against Karnataka, and in rather disappointing circumstances, have lost too many wickets for too few to Aravind Sreenath, a bloke who's in and out of the Karnataka side. Right now, ignored again by the national selectors, Pankaj Singh and Ishwar Pandey are in the top three bowlers, with Chhattisgarh's Ajay Mandal, playing his first season, already leading the pack. It's early days in batting, given the very odd top ten that we're seeing.
It's been a good start for Mumbai, Punjab, Odisha, Jharkhand, Delhi and Rajasthan- but Delhi, right now (as I type), are in trouble against Karnataka, and in rather disappointing circumstances, have lost too many wickets for too few to Aravind Sreenath, a bloke who's in and out of the Karnataka side. Right now, ignored again by the national selectors, Pankaj Singh and Ishwar Pandey are in the top three bowlers, with Chhattisgarh's Ajay Mandal, playing his first season, already leading the pack. It's early days in batting, given the very odd top ten that we're seeing.
