Indian cricket off season discussion

[Arjun]

As for as TN team i would like to include a spinner in place of Naresh. May be Dhandapani. In your team, Hemant and Vasudeva Das dont find a place. I too dont find a place for them. How about Suresh S in place of Anirudha.

The purpose behind the TN selection is to get Vidyut's left-arm spin back in action, as well as give him a licence to score quick. You then have two spinners- Vidyut and Ramkumar. Why pick a third? That would be as good as going back to ancient times. Anirudha is an attacking opener who has had some success in the final (and most important) stages of ROD, so he's worth a try. Suresh may be played as a bowler who can launch a rapid charge with the bat at number 8- your comments on that?

As for the Punjab side, that was just an idea I suggested, since Chopra's chances of making a Delhi side are minimal, with Sehwag and Gambhir scoring runs thick and fast and Dhawan sitting on the bench. On the other hand, Punjab does not have an opening partner for Ravneet Ricky, so this transfer would help Chopra as well as the Punjab side. Just like Ajit Bhoite moving to Maharashtra- they need a spinner (batting may be a bonus) and he fits the bill- besides, Baroda now have Pawar and Yusuf Pathan.

 

[Arjun]

Delhi are missing an all-rounder, so they can try out young legspinner Abhishek Sharma. have not seen much of him, but Bishan Bedi thinks he's a good young prospect for the team. Another option can be Rajat Bhatia bowling as a regular first-change medium-pacer. Look at the Tier II sides- nearly every one of them has at least one all-rounder, so why not Delhi?

 

[ramkumar_gr]

The purpose behind the TN selection is to get Vidyut's left-arm spin back in action, as well as give him a licence to score quick. You then have two spinners- Vidyut and Ramkumar. Why pick a third? That would be as good as going back to ancient times. Anirudha is an attacking opener who has had some success in the final (and most important) stages of ROD, so he's worth a try. Suresh may be played as a bowler who can launch a rapid charge with the bat at number 8- your comments on that?

As for the Punjab side, that was just an idea I suggested, since Chopra's chances of making a Delhi side are minimal, with Sehwag and Gambhir scoring runs thick and fast and Dhawan sitting on the bench. On the other hand, Punjab does not have an opening partner for Ravneet Ricky, so this transfer would help Chopra as well as the Punjab side. Just like Ajit Bhoite moving to Maharashtra- they need a spinner (batting may be a bonus) and he fits the bill- besides, Baroda now have Pawar and Yusuf Pathan.

i just thought of a variety as vidyut and ramkumar, both are left-armers where dhandapani is an right arm off-spinner. As for Vidyut what you say may be right. In that case there is no place for Suresh. But will Ramesh find a place in the side as Vidyut did a more than decent job as an opener.

As for Punjab openers, if i remember right, there was one player calle Manish sharma right. He scored a lot of runs a season or two seasons before. Yes, Akash Chopra will not find a place in the Delhi side and his last season was very poor by any standards. May be Delhi has got plans to play Rajat Bhatia up the order as well.

 

[Arjun]

i just thought of a variety as vidyut and ramkumar, both are left-armers where dhandapani is an right arm off-spinner. As for Vidyut what you say may be right. In that case there is no place for Suresh. But will Ramesh find a place in the side as Vidyut did a more than decent job as an opener.

As for Punjab openers, if i remember right, there was one player calle Manish sharma right. He scored a lot of runs a season or two seasons before. Yes, Akash Chopra will not find a place in the Delhi side and his last season was very poor by any standards. May be Delhi has got plans to play Rajat Bhatia up the order as well.

The reason Vidyut should shifted back to the middle-order is that he can stay fit to bowl longer and hit more big shots in the middle-order. That will leave two spots open at the top, so one can be taken by Ramesh and the other, for Anirudha or even Suresh, if they're going in with 6 bowlers. Suresh may play as a bowler rather than as a batsman.

Manish (spelt as Muneesh on CricInfo) batted once, in the middle-order, so I doubt if he's a prospect as an opener. Binwant singh is not a regular opener for Punjab, while last year's opener Samrat Sharma hadn't done very well then. Chopra has got lots of runs whenever he has opened the innings. The Delhi side dosn't have to move Rajat Bhatia up the order, but use his swing bowling a lot more, just as the TN side did in the past.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

The reason Vidyut should shifted back to the middle-order is that he can stay fit to bowl longer and hit more big shots in the middle-order. That will leave two spots open at the top, so one can be taken by Ramesh and the other, for Anirudha or even Suresh, if they're going in with 6 bowlers. Suresh may play as a bowler rather than as a batsman.

Manish (spelt as Muneesh on CricInfo) batted once, in the middle-order, so I doubt if he's a prospect as an opener. Binwant singh is not a regular opener for Punjab, while last year's opener Samrat Sharma hadn't done very well then. Chopra has got lots of runs whenever he has opened the innings. The Delhi side dosn't have to move Rajat Bhatia up the order, but use his swing bowling a lot more, just as the TN side did in the past.

Bhatia did a good job during his stint with TN. Yes, it would be bad if Punjab does not get an opener, after all they need good starts. something Inthikab Alam has to look at. as for as the other sides, Karnataka seem to be a spent force. Vijay Bharadwaj is woefully out of form. Barrington Rowland should be a bit more consistent, and some new blood should be introduced in the pace bowling department rather than the tried ones like Ganes, Aiyappa, Binny. Hyderabad, not even a single good batsman they can produce, it is a pity that a team which produced players of high calibre is struggling. Daniel Manohar was so inconsistent last season. Things for Andhra is looking better. with Venugopala, Gyaneswar in the frame, they will definitely fare better. Kerala, Goad, it is good that we dont discuss much about these teams. They never seem to improve. may be one in Asdonkar of Goa is an exception. Himachal Pradesh is relying heavily on Sangram Singh and i dont know what happened to Rajiv Nayyar.

 

[Arjun]

Bhatia did a good job during his stint with TN. Yes, it would be bad if Punjab does not get an opener, after all they need good starts. something Inthikab Alam has to look at. as for as the other sides, Karnataka seem to be a spent force. Vijay Bharadwaj is woefully out of form. Barrington Rowland should be a bit more consistent, and some new blood should be introduced in the pace bowling department rather than the tried ones like Ganes, Aiyappa, Binny. Hyderabad, not even a single good batsman they can produce, it is a pity that a team which produced players of high calibre is struggling. Daniel Manohar was so inconsistent last season. Things for Andhra is looking better. with Venugopala, Gyaneswar in the frame, they will definitely fare better. Kerala, Goad, it is good that we dont discuss much about these teams. They never seem to improve. may be one in Asdonkar of Goa is an exception. Himachal Pradesh is relying heavily on Sangram Singh and i dont know what happened to Rajiv Nayyar.

Karnataka- Without their top players of the recent past, they don't look challengers for the title. Aiyappa was the winner of the inagural Scorpio Speedster event, with a top speed of 135k, and is very new to the side. Vinay Kumar is just medium-pace and not that special- West and North have got after him in the Duleep Trophy. Ganesh is a has-been, while Vijay Bharadwaj doesn't have the right shot-selection. The less said of those two star-sons, the better- their inclusion was dodgy and the issue cost J Arun-kumar the captaincy of the side, since he didn't want them in the tea. One can understand why- their figures are laughable, but the association wanted them in the playing XI, so they replaced Arun with Somasunder, who allowed them an extended run in the side, which, obviously didn't help. They can try out young all-rounder Gaurav Dhiman.

Hyderabad lack an all-rounder. Neither Daniel Manohar nor Shivlal Yadav junior are good enough to even be in the side, let alone play an all-round role. Tey depend far too much on VVS Laxman, while young Ambati Rayudu, once tipped as the next Tendulkar (for some strange reason) had a horror run this season. Anurag Singh, not so famous, had a decent run. Left-arm seamer Vishnuvardhan seems a good bat, and better than wicketkeeper Khaleel. NP Singh has had a good run this season, and is a lot more accurate than some bowlers who play for the national side.

Goa and Kerala have at least one all-rounder each, unlike the superior Hyderabad side. Kerala have Sunil Oasis, with figures an all-rounder would be proud of, as well as spinner Sreekumar Nair, once a Duleep contender, who can also score runs. Goa's Amit Dani was an ex-Mumbai player, who bats in the middle-order and bowls medium-pace stuff first-change. Andhra have performed well because of Venugopal, but need some strength in their bowling attack. Himachal depend a lot on ex-Haryana opener/medium-pacer Bisla (who now keeps wickets) and Sangram Singh and left-arm spinner Vishal Bhatia, but are not balanced. The same can be said of Jharkhand (MS Dhoni) and J&K (tearaway pacer Abid Nabi). Haryana are a very well-balanced side, with a competent opening pair (Bist and Sharma) and a strong middle-order (Shafiq, Sunny and Joginder), as also a well-balanced bowling attack (spinners Mishra, Gaurav and a pace attack led by Joginder). Their fielding is supposed to be good, so one can expect them to spring a few surprises in the forthcoming season. The same can be said of Uttar Pradesh, another young side, all of whom are superb fielders. They have a good batting lineup, as well as a competent bowlign attack, but lack an all-rounder- then again, who is Praveen Kumar? Supposedly a first-change seamer and pinch-hitter, he should make his FC debut for UP, but nothing is known of him.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Karnataka- Without their top players of the recent past, they don't look challengers for the title. Aiyappa was the winner of the inagural Scorpio Speedster event, with a top speed of 135k, and is very new to the side. Vinay Kumar is just medium-pace and not that special- West and North have got after him in the Duleep Trophy. Ganesh is a has-been, while Vijay Bharadwaj doesn't have the right shot-selection. The less said of those two star-sons, the better- their inclusion was dodgy and the issue cost J Arun-kumar the captaincy of the side, since he didn't want them in the tea. One can understand why- their figures are laughable, but the association wanted them in the playing XI, so they replaced Arun with Somasunder, who allowed them an extended run in the side, which, obviously didn't help. They can try out young all-rounder Gaurav Dhiman.

Hyderabad lack an all-rounder. Neither Daniel Manohar nor Shivlal Yadav junior are good enough to even be in the side, let alone play an all-round role. Tey depend far too much on VVS Laxman, while young Ambati Rayudu, once tipped as the next Tendulkar (for some strange reason) had a horror run this season. Anurag Singh, not so famous, had a decent run. Left-arm seamer Vishnuvardhan seems a good bat, and better than wicketkeeper Khaleel. NP Singh has had a good run this season, and is a lot more accurate than some bowlers who play for the national side.

Goa and Kerala have at least one all-rounder each, unlike the superior Hyderabad side. Kerala have Sunil Oasis, with figures an all-rounder would be proud of, as well as spinner Sreekumar Nair, once a Duleep contender, who can also score runs. Goa's Amit Dani was an ex-Mumbai player, who bats in the middle-order and bowls medium-pace stuff first-change. Andhra have performed well because of Venugopal, but need some strength in their bowling attack. Himachal depend a lot on ex-Haryana opener/medium-pacer Bisla (who now keeps wickets) and Sangram Singh and left-arm spinner Vishal Bhatia, but are not balanced. The same can be said of Jharkhand (MS Dhoni) and J&K (tearaway pacer Abid Nabi). Haryana are a very well-balanced side, with a competent opening pair (Bist and Sharma) and a strong middle-order (Shafiq, Sunny and Joginder), as also a well-balanced bowling attack (spinners Mishra, Gaurav and a pace attack led by Joginder). Their fielding is supposed to be good, so one can expect them to spring a few surprises in the forthcoming season. The same can be said of Uttar Pradesh, another young side, all of whom are superb fielders. They have a good batting lineup, as well as a competent bowlign attack, but lack an all-rounder- then again, who is Praveen Kumar? Supposedly a first-change seamer and pinch-hitter, he should make his FC debut for UP, but nothing is known of him.

one is Stuart Binny. who is the other star's son you are talking about?
Good analysis on these teams.

Baroda
Has Tushar Arothe retired. I always feel he should have played on one-dayers for India. Such a consistent performer. They have a strong top and middle order S Parab and Connor Williams at the top, Martin, Yusuf Pathan and Kiran Powar i feel Kiran Powar is a very good player. In the previous season, i think he played for Assam. Good that he had moved to Baroda. Rajesh Pawar and Yusuf Pathan with all round abilities. Rakesh Patel and Irfan Pathan constitue the pace attack. Looks very strong. Can they give Railways and Mumbai and run for their money this season?

 

[Arjun]

The other star son is spinner Udit Patel, a.k.a. Brijesh Patel junior. He's done nothing of note, given countless overs to bowl. That's the case with nearly all star-sons. Shivlal Yadav's son plays for Hyderabad and captains the side a few times, but has been merely a bit player in both skills. Shatrunjay Gaikwad (Anshuman's junior) has a first-class average of 9! It's always a problem for these youngsters, when they come into the scene bearing a very famous name. The only exception is Rohan Gavaskar, who's done well for Bengal, but was treated like second-rate stuff in the national side, and that didn't help him at all.

About Baroda, Tushar Arothe retired before the start of the 04-05 season. We've seen Parab's freakish style of opening the batting, but Connor is exactly the opposite- very conventional and docile- he can't hit the ball! Jacob Martin blocks a lot and stays at the crease for a very long time. Kiran Powar can attack when needed, but can steady the innings well. However, the potentially more effective part of the batting lineup will be the Pathan brothers.

Irfan has a very conventional style, but hits the ball very hard, uses his feet well, adjusts his shot for each delivery, and is very good against spinners. The same can be said of Yusuf, but he is relatively unorthodox and relies on hand-eye co-ordination, while he extracts bounce as a leggie, like Anil Kumble. Rajesh Pawar isn't so effective with the bat, but given a chance, he can pack quite a punch, and is a very effective strike bowler. The bowling attack, led by Zaheer, Irfan and Rajesh Pawar, supported by Rakesh Patel and Yusuf Pathan, can spring a few surprises. With this lineup, they have eight batsmen and five bowlers, so they're well balanced. Their weakness is the inconsistent, brittle middle-order and their fielding- hopefully they'll improve on those fronts.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

The other star son is spinner Udit Patel, a.k.a. Brijesh Patel junior. He's done nothing of note, given countless overs to bowl. That's the case with nearly all star-sons. Shivlal Yadav's son plays for Hyderabad and captains the side a few times, but has been merely a bit player in both skills. Shatrunjay Gaikwad (Anshuman's junior) has a first-class average of 9! It's always a problem for these youngsters, when they come into the scene bearing a very famous name. The only exception is Rohan Gavaskar, who's done well for Bengal, but was treated like second-rate stuff in the national side, and that didn't help him at all.

About Baroda, Tushar Arothe retired before the start of the 04-05 season. We've seen Parab's freakish style of opening the batting, but Connor is exactly the opposite- very conventional and docile- he can't hit the ball! Jacob Martin blocks a lot and stays at the crease for a very long time. Kiran Powar can attack when needed, but can steady the innings well. However, the potentially more effective part of the batting lineup will be the Pathan brothers.

Irfan has a very conventional style, but hits the ball very hard, uses his feet well, adjusts his shot for each delivery, and is very good against spinners. The same can be said of Yusuf, but he is relatively unorthodox and relies on hand-eye co-ordination, while he extracts bounce as a leggie, like Anil Kumble. Rajesh Pawar isn't so effective with the bat, but given a chance, he can pack quite a punch, and is a very effective strike bowler. The bowling attack, led by Zaheer, Irfan and Rajesh Pawar, supported by Rakesh Patel and Yusuf Pathan, can spring a few surprises. With this lineup, they have eight batsmen and five bowlers, so they're well balanced. Their weakness is the inconsistent, brittle middle-order and their fielding- hopefully they'll improve on those fronts.

Barod looks to be a strong team for me and they are my favourite team this season.
and about MP, they have not got any interesting prospects. Devendra Bundela's all-round ability has vanished and he has become more of a proper bat these days.
and they have also got a good talented wicket keeper batsman. Sanjay Pandey who once played in the Challenger series for India A has to find his form soon.Khurasia seems to be a spent force.

As for Maharashtra, we have to watch out for Dhruv Mohan.

 

[Arjun]

Barod looks to be a strong team for me and they are my favourite team this season.
and about MP, they have not got any interesting prospects. Devendra Bundela's all-round ability has vanished and he has become more of a proper bat these days.
and they have also got a good talented wicket keeper batsman. Sanjay Pandey who once played in the Challenger series for India A has to find his form soon.Khurasia seems to be a spent force.

As for Maharashtra, we have to watch out for Dhruv Mohan.

Madhya Pradesh......snore.......nothing special about them. They have Naman Ojha as a wicketkeeper and he's a decent batsman, but nothing out of the ordinary. Devendra Bundela, a former Challenger extra, doesn't bowl much these days, and that doesn't help MP much. Sanjay Pandey is a small man and will obviously struggle against top teams- nothing but flat medium pace. Luckily, Khurasiya doesn't figure in the starting lineup regularly, but there's this new bowler named Shantanu Pitre- strangely listed as "Right Arm Fast" on CricInfo. No doubt CricInfo listings are dodgy, but the fast bowler the Indian team needs may be in some remote part of the country, capable of bowling very fast, but not refined.

 

[Arjun]

Maharashtra were a surprise package last year, though they were almost in danger of relegation at one stage. They have a strong batting lineup, particularly opening, with Dheeraj Jadhav. Their bowling is rather weak, though medium-pacer Iqbal Siddiqui has got a Test cap. Another bowler to watch out for is Anupam Sanclecha and first-change seamer Ranjit Khirid (who can also score more than a few runs), but they need a new spinner. Flip back a few pages and you'll find an article about former Australian player Darren Holder coaching this side- interesting.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Maharashtra were a surprise package last year, though they were almost in danger of relegation at one stage. They have a strong batting lineup, particularly opening, with Dheeraj Jadhav. Their bowling is rather weak, though medium-pacer Iqbal Siddiqui has got a Test cap. Another bowler to watch out for is Anupam Sanclecha and first-change seamer Ranjit Khirid (who can also score more than a few runs), but they need a new spinner. Flip back a few pages and you'll find an article about former Australian player Darren Holder coaching this side- interesting.

i too read about that. following the footsteps of Punjab.

which is your favourite team this season for the Ranji Title.
Any prediction about the highest wicket taker and highest run-getter.

I expect Jesuraj to have a good season and he should come out as the leading wicket taker, as he came into the TN team late in the season. His bowling average is less than 16.

And about the tri-series in Srilanka, i expect Jayasurya to thrash the Indian bowlers.He looks to be in good form for Somerset, not to mention about the liking he has for the Indian bowlers.

 

[Arjun]

i too read about that. following the footsteps of Punjab.

which is your favourite team this season for the Ranji Title.
Any prediction about the highest wicket taker and highest run-getter.

I expect Jesuraj to have a good season and he should come out as the leading wicket taker, as he came into the TN team late in the season. His bowling average is less than 16.

And about the tri-series in Srilanka, i expect Jayasurya to thrash the Indian bowlers.He looks to be in good form for Somerset, not to mention about the liking he has for the Indian bowlers.

Hopefully Haryana will win this season's Trophy, with runs by Sunny, Shafiq, Joginder and the openers and wickets taken by Joginder, Mishra and the support bowlers. A clash between Railways and Haryana will be one to watch.

 

[Arjun]

Comments on Maharashtra looking to ign on Jadeja and Bahutule? Bahutule's got decent averages but did nothing outstanding, while if Delhi lose Jadeja, they're likely to lose a lot given how brittle their middle-order is.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Comments on Maharashtra looking to ign on Jadeja and Bahutule? Bahutule's got decent averages but did nothing outstanding, while if Delhi lose Jadeja, they're likely to lose a lot given how brittle their middle-order is.

Bahutule will be a good addition to Maharashtra. Iqbal Siddiqui is the only standout so far.

Jadeja's loss will be severely felt by Delhi. I hope Bhatia will have a productive season this time.

 

[Arjun]

For a short while, the BCCI wanted to field a team of NCA trainees as a sixth team in the Duleep Trophy, since they thought the standard of foreign teams coming for the series was very low. They've shelved the Trainee XI plan as well, since they thought the trainees may not be well-equipped to face the top players of the five zones. All the hot air about Maharashtra's prospective transfers seems to have faded away.

 

[Arjun]

Your comments on the conditioning camp for the Indian pace bowlers?

 

[honestbharani]

I think it went well, judging by the reactions of the fast bowlers who were there. I think bowling at Dravid is the best practice they could have had, as he is easily amongst the top batters of the game right now and it could indicate how they are likely to bowl under similar conditions to other top quality batters.

 

[Arjun]

From posts elsewhere, as well as articles in papers, Greg has been making the pacers work very hard on fitness. Can't say much about Munaf Patel, except he's 'delighted', while Gagandeep is 'making progress', but Joginder seems to be getting the better of Rahul Dravid yet again. The same bowler had got Sachin, Dravid and Yuvraj in a tight spot when he played for India A against the seniors in last year's practice match, so he's got potential as a bowler, with good outswing. His batting is very similar to that of Mohammed Kaif, but needs to convert starts into big scores. Harvinder Singh is a surprise choice, and given his small size, won't get too many wickets playing for India. Surprise exclusions were Lalit Patel of Gujarat (supposed to be very fast) and NP singh of Hyderabad (can move the ball well), both of whom had a good Ranji season.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

From posts elsewhere, as well as articles in papers, Greg has been making the pacers work very hard on fitness. Can't say much about Munaf Patel, except he's 'delighted', while Gagandeep is 'making progress', but Joginder seems to be getting the better of Rahul Dravid yet again. The same bowler had got Sachin, Dravid and Yuvraj in a tight spot when he played for India A against the seniors in last year's practice match, so he's got potential as a bowler, with good outswing. His batting is very similar to that of Mohammed Kaif, but needs to convert starts into big scores. Harvinder Singh is a surprise choice, and given his small size, won't get too many wickets playing for India. Surprise exclusions were Lalit Patel of Gujarat (supposed to be very fast) and NP singh of Hyderabad (can move the ball well), both of whom had a good Ranji season.

NP has been doing a good job for almost 6-7 years for hyderabad. I think he should be given a chance. It is good news Joginder is doing well.