Build-up to Indian Domestic Season 2008-09

[Arjun]

Zimbabwe to play duleep trophy next season.
Will play in the indian domestic oneday series this year think its the deoheder cup,excuse me if my spelling is wrong.

It's the Deodhar Trophy, where zonal teams square off against one another. The competition is expected to be a lot tighter.

Then the Board officials complain that the foreign teams are not up to the mark. Why is the BCCI settling for so little? We know how seriously minnow nations take this initiative- when they should send a full team, they send an under-strength association/board XI.

 

[adharcric]

Dravid and Badri ton up!

 

[Precambrian]

What an innings from Dravid! Surely with back to back 100s, he's roared back into form!!! Whoa!

 

[adharcric]

On another note, Murali Vijay almost certainly has to be injured - there's no way Bandekar would make the XI ahead of him otherwise. Opening for Pujara?

 

[Arjun]

It's good to see Dravid and Badri score rapid tons, but the form of Mishra is a major cause for concern. Only a wicket for over a hundred runs with eight no-balls is not a good showing by Harbhajan's spin partner and one of the top three spinners in India.

In fact, all the bowlers except Rajat Bhatia have economy rates over four. Now, I must ask, how big is the Rajkot ground? Not too big, maybe, and may have a flat pitch and fast outfield. You can't expect this to happen in the Brabourne Stadium, or Chepauk/KSCA/Mohali. Either way, North Zone's second-string attack isn't much good here, and they've run into South Zone frontliners.

Elsewhere, Rajesh Pawar takes six wickets to crush East Zone. Let's just hope he follows that up with a few runs.

 

[Arjun]

Here's a hilarious goof-up by CricInfo:

                                             First-class career 
 Batsmen        Runs B [B]4s[/B] 6s SR                         Mat Runs Ave   
 *BD Thaker (rhb) 18 32 3 0 56.25  striker             35 2052 48.85   
 AM Rahane (rhb)  23 32 [B]34[/B] 0 71.87  non-striker    24 2278 63.27   
     
 Bowlers           O M R W Econ               Mat Wkts Ave   
 *RR Bose (rfm) 6.0 2 13 1 2.16  (0nb, 0w)    73 267 23.84   
 AB Dinda (rmf) 3.0 0 23 0 7.66  (0nb, 0w)    26  84 30.72

If you're reading this thread RIGHT NOW...go here.

 

[adharcric]

Just noticed ... why isn't Sreesanth playing?

 

[Precambrian]

It's good to see Dravid and Badri score rapid tons, but the form of Mishra is a major cause for concern. Only a wicket for over a hundred runs with eight no-balls is not a good showing by Harbhajan's spin partner and one of the top three spinners in India.

In fact, all the bowlers except Rajat Bhatia have economy rates over four. Now, I must ask, how big is the Rajkot ground? Not too big, maybe, and may have a flat pitch and fast outfield. You can't expect this to happen in the Brabourne Stadium, or Chepauk/KSCA/Mohali. Either way, North Zone's second-string attack isn't much good here, and they've run into South Zone frontliners.

Elsewhere, Rajesh Pawar takes six wickets to crush East Zone. Let's just hope he follows that up with a few runs.

8 no balls? Sounds like he had an off day. Better he has those in domestic cricket and saves it up for the big ones.

Bamboozled by Dravid's rapid ton. Suggests that it is a dead flat road out there. Not good for cricket sadly. However, good to see Badri get some runs and rightfully stake a claim for the NZ tour.

 

[honestbharani]

Go Badri..



Still think Vijay will get in as the incumbent 3rd opener if he recovers..

 

[Arjun]

West Zone crushed East Zone in three days. It was a good all-round match for Rajesh Pawar, who took six wickets, then top-scored with a 50 and then chipped in with more wickets to lead them to the finals. Elsewhere, the heavy load of South's 548 crushed North, as South won by 411 runs.

 

[Arjun]

West take on South in the Duleep finals. Scores here. The match is available on Neo Sports (Green) on ODI days and Neo Cricket (Purple) on other days. Sreesanth overstepped often, and even covered the danger area twice. It's a tough return, but he then got one to move away a little to snare Bhavik Thaker. He then snared a second wicket as the day's play ended. Ashwin was the other top bowler, taking two top-order wickets. Rahane's purple patch continued, as he scored a century and is still standing. He's played a chanceless innings, scoring all around, with clean strokes. He stands a very good chance of leapfrogging the competition, on form, especially if West win.

 

[Arjun]

Ashwin is getting some amount of turn and bounce here. A confident caught-behind chance was turned down. He's bowled 44 overs, taking 3 for 122. West are at 418/7.

EDIT: We have South African umpire Erasmus in this match. Not something we see often here.

 

[Arjun]

It's a sleepy match unless you're following Badri, Rahane or Pujara. Really sleepy. South Zone have all but given up and North have more or less won the Trophy. Let's just hope they win the match outright.

 

[Arjun]

West have won. Powar won it for West with a seven-wicket haul. A pity his batting hasn't been up to the mark this season; he would have been that run-scoring spinner the team needs. Rajesh Pawar, though not so spectacular, has got the runs on the board. He will be useful in the series in New Zealand, if he's picked.

 

[adharcric]

West have won. Powar won it for West with a seven-wicket haul. A pity his batting hasn't been up to the mark this season; he would have been that run-scoring spinner the team needs. Rajesh Pawar, though not so spectacular, has got the runs on the board. He will be useful in the series in New Zealand, if he's picked.

Rajesh Pawar averaged 14 with the bat this season ...

 

[honestbharani]

I think Badri, Vijay and DK should get into the NZ test tour squad as the reserve opener, middle order and keeper.. As for the seamers, it should be Zak, Ishant, Munaf, Praveen and Irfan in that order. I am not convinced about Sree (even though his pace seemed ok in the second innings) or RPS or even Balaji just yet... The spinners will obviously be Bhajji and Mishra although I would really prefer it if Mishra can play as the lone spinner.. He is the more attacking option. But that is obviously not going to happen....


For the extra batter's spot, I think it might be Rohit Sharma or Raina, based on whoever performes better in the ODIs, if they pick the extra batter.


IF it was upto me, I would pick this squad of 16 for the 3 tests:


Sehwag (vc)
Gambhir
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Yuvraj
Dhoni (wk) (c)
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Ishant
Munaf


Reserves:

Vijay
Badri
Mishra
Praveen
Karthik


A back up for every spot should be enough for a 3 test series.

 

[Arjun]

Rajesh Pawar averaged 14 with the bat this season ...

He's not much of a Test prospect, though he's kept getting wickets cheaply for a long time. That average of 14 isn't enough at seven, but if you put it together with runs scored by, say, Harbhajan or Zaheer or especially both, it's not too bad. He should, however, be a prospect as a limited-overs spinner. He's not picked up too many wickets (31 in 30) but he's kept an average a shade over 31 and his batting average of 29 should be a hint. He's a significantly more reliable bowler than Jadeja, often taking wickets by the bucketful for a long time. While he averaged a little over 14 in Ranji, he's done a lot better in Duleep, and the combined figure is over 23.

The decline of Ramesh Powar's batting, though, is a matter of concern. With an average of 14 in Ranji and less than 10 in Duleep, his chances of making an Indian XI are now minimal.

 

[adharcric]

He's not much of a Test prospect, though he's kept getting wickets cheaply for a long time. That average of 14 isn't enough at seven, but if you put it together with runs scored by, say, Harbhajan or Zaheer or especially both, it's not too bad. He should, however, be a prospect as a limited-overs spinner. He's not picked up too many wickets (31 in 30) but he's kept an average a shade over 31 and his batting average of 29 should be a hint. He's a significantly more reliable bowler than Jadeja, often taking wickets by the bucketful for a long time. While he averaged a little over 14 in Ranji, he's done a lot better in Duleep, and the combined figure is over 23.

The decline of Ramesh Powar's batting, though, is a matter of concern. With an average of 14 in Ranji and less than 10 in Duleep, his chances of making an Indian XI are now minimal.

Jadeja has generally been a top-class limited-overs spinner, be it for India A or in domestic cricket. Pawar was clearly superior in first-class cricket until this season (Jadeja was quite ordinary until the past season) and he'll have to do much better in the domestic circuit to be a serious contender. For now, Harbhajan, Ojha, Mishra and Jadeja are all ahead of him as limited-overs spinners (in the selectors eyes, as well).

 

[Arjun]

The Vijay Hazare Trophy has started. I'm not sure if that's what the whole ROD series is called, but that's the name here in West Zone. There's a cracker of an encounter in Rajkot, between Mumbai and Baroda, possibly on a tiny ground. Irfan Pathan is leading the Baroda side. It's a star-studded match and is worth a watch- sadly, Neo Sports is not covering it. Results have not yet come in- it must be over by now. Cricinfo, however, uploaded scorecards for Karnataka/Andhra (Karnataka won by nine wickets) and two East Zone minnows (not worth reading- wait for Mumbai/Baroda).

 

[Manee]

Flicking through some scorecards, here are some highlights:
- Uthappa with 64 from 51 against Andhra
- Kohli and Manhas both with hundreds with strike rates over 90
- Nehra makes comeback from injury with 0/18 off 7.