Indian domestic season 2005-06

[Jungle Jumbo]

haha sure.

Erm, do I sense you are either a) oblivious to the fact that you can't see white objects on white backgrounds or b) a bad loser?

 

[adharcric]

Erm, do I sense you are either a) oblivious to the fact that you can't see white objects on white backgrounds or b) a bad loser?

c) I agree with what's been stated about white balls and colored uniforms and don't care to take on the discussion any further.

 

[Arjun]

I haven't been posting too much on the Ranji OD's since they're not given live coverage (even on the internet) and they're played in a style that's out of time. Here are a few highlights, though–

• Mumbai have used Manish Bangera and Vinayak Samant, both wicketkeepers, as a stupid-sub pair. So far the most sensible use of that rule
• Munaf Patel batted at four, hit one six, and got out for just ten. Better luck next time. His bowling hasn't been too bad, though.
• Another snippet involving Mumbai– Bhavin Thakkar was just getting set at 34 when the final five overs kicked in– then Mumbai skipper Nilesh Kulkarni had him stupid-subbed by Musavir Khote, a bowler who can hit big shots. Khote hardly got to bat and ended with 5 not out in six balls.
• Someone mentioned politics returning to the Delhi Ranji side– so has one embarassing defeat to Punjab.

Nimbus, we are waiting...

 

[Arjun]

Dumb....Delhi have now lost to Himachal, a minnow team from the North. Chasing a moderate total of 249, they were skittled out for 108.

 

[Arjun]

Already the teams for West and Central have been declared for the Deodhar Trophy. Heroes from the under-19 World Cup side Cheteshwar Pujara (opening batsman) and Ravi Jadeja (spinner?) have made the West side, but they've just got one spinner of any quality, and Yusuf Pathan's as effective as Justin Kemp with the ball. The selection of Munaf Patel (especially him) and Sid Trivedi is welcome. As for Central, Mohamemd Kaif leads the side, with Ranji hero Pravin Kumar making the team for the first time, but Sanjay Bangar misses out this time.

I'm not too sure the ROD series requires much attention, since there are not too many intersting performances here, just the same old flat-track blazers and a few slightly-better-than-average bowlers making a mark. This tournament needs a major revamp. Anyway, Mumbai DIDN'T make the knock-out phase!

 

[adharcric]

Already the teams for West and Central have been declared for the Deodhar Trophy. Heroes from the under-19 World Cup side Cheteshwar Pujara (opening batsman) and Ravi Jadeja (spinner?) have made the West side, but they've just got one spinner of any quality, and Yusuf Pathan's as effective as Justin Kemp with the ball. The selection of Munaf Patel (especially him) and Sid Trivedi is welcome. As for Central, Mohamemd Kaif leads the side, with Ranji hero Pravin Kumar making the team for the first time, but Sanjay Bangar misses out this time.

I'm not too sure the ROD series requires much attention, since there are not too many intersting performances here, just the same old flat-track blazers and a few slightly-better-than-average bowlers making a mark. This tournament needs a major revamp. Anyway, Mumbai DIDN'T make the knock-out phase!

Hopefully Pujara can make an impact and add to the long list of batting prospects. You've overused that Yusuf Pathan - Justin Kemp analogy, Kemp isn't even bowling much and he's not doing much these days in general so it's not helping your case .. and Yusuf Pathan hasn't merited any such praise with his performances thus far. In my opinion, Bangar has no future because the younger versions of him like Joginder Sharma, Pravin Kumar and Munaf Patel, who might also be pacier, will be far above him in the pecking order, even if he starts to perform, which he isn't doing right now.

 

[Arjun]

Hopefully Pujara can make an impact and add to the long list of batting prospects.

You now have Sehwag, Gambhir, Jaffer, Jadhav, and now youngsters Uthappa, Dhawan and Pujara. Hwoever, rather than treat them as stop-gap options in Tests, they should be played as full-time opening batsmen in both forms of the game, making the first XI, if you should get the best out of them.

You've overused that Yusuf Pathan - Justin Kemp analogy, Kemp isn't even bowling much and he's not doing much these days in general so it's not helping your case .. and Yusuf Pathan hasn't merited any such praise with his performances thus far.

• Both Yusuf and Kemp are giants.
• Both are big-hitting batsmen with more than a few strokes and a similar style.
• Both are stock bowlers of different styles.
• Kemp injured his shoulder, so he didn't bowl and his batting was no factor.
• Yusuf averaged over 40 with the bat with a strike rate over 77, while his bowling average of a little over 30 and nearly 3 a match were not too bad.
• Both are good choices at least in ODI's, given the role they play.

In my opinion, Bangar has no future because the younger versions of him like Joginder Sharma, Pravin Kumar and Munaf Patel, who might also be pacier, will be far above him in the pecking order, even if he starts to perform, which he isn't doing right now.

Bangar had a terrible season with the bat, yet again, but did decently with the ball. As a stock seam bowler, he's done decently when used in long spells, and he's a hard hitter at seven/eight– you don't need him to open the innings any more.

Joginder lacks the power, though he's a lot like Kaif and Balaji together, and his performance in the silly ROD series this season wasn't worthy of a national call-up. Munaf Patel's batting isn't known too well, and his pace is doubtful, just as Pravin Kumar's. Pravin should be rushed in sooner than later, at least after the Deodhar series, especially in ODI's, but he's a nonentity so far– yet the best option so far.

 

[Arjun]

The Deodhar Trophy is on, and Yusuf Pathan, playing for West Zone, took five Central Zone wickets for 52 as they were bowled out for 180. Comeback man Salvi did decently, but not quite the same bowler who burst onto the scene then. Yusuf didn't score too many with the bat, though, and it was a forgettable match for Ranji Trophy surprise package Pravin Kumar, wo was out for just six runs and took no wickets, despite opening the bowling. JP Yadav also took no wickets, and scored a single run. Young spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Piyush Chawla had a good game, taking two wickets each and scoring 26 and 13 runs respectively. Central's Tejinder Pal Singh (a.k.a. Vicky) top-scored for either side with 79.

South Zone won the low-scoring match against West Zone, and again, the chasing side was set a target of 180...well, 183. None of the East Zone teams got big scores, while Raghu from South Zone top-scored with 60. South Zone opening bowler Vinay Kumar got 4 wickets, while Laxmi Ratan Shukla took one wicket and scored 43 not-so-rapid runs.

 

[Arjun]

Cricinfo is not covering the Deodhar Trophy, so we'll have to read the scores at the end of the day, or the next morning. Lazy. Or maybe they think it's more important to cover domestic matches in South Africa and Pakistan despite how many Indians hit the site.

 

[adharcric]

Sometimes I wonder, do other cricketing fans even pay attention to their domestic cricket happenings? At least on this forum, it seems like there is far more talk of Indian domestic prospects than anything else. Anways, the match results should come out in Indian newspapers right? I wouldn't know ...

 

[andyc]

Sometimes I wonder, do other cricketing fans even pay attention to their domestic cricket happenings? At least on this forum, it seems like there is far more talk of Indian domestic prospects than anything else. Anways, the match results should come out in Indian newspapers right? I wouldn't know ...

I know I always look over the Aussie domestic scorecards, mainly just to see a few how a few players went though.

 

[TIF]

Sometimes I wonder, do other cricketing fans even pay attention to their domestic cricket happenings? At least on this forum, it seems like there is far more talk of Indian domestic prospects than anything else. Anways, the match results should come out in Indian newspapers right? I wouldn't know ...

You cant argue about me and Arjun as both me and Arjun as well as some other Indians out here do tend to follow Indian domestic cricket as well. The main reason for following domestic cricket is to know about the up and coming players in Indian cricket. VVS Laxman is one such player who was discovered wholly on Domestic cricket and he played for India "A" only once in 1995 before making his international debut in 1996. There are many more on that list with Pravin Kumar likely to be the latest addition to that list. Some others like Wasim Jaffer, Balaji and Sree Santh were also discovered in Domestic cricket.

Its time the Deodhar Trophy ODs get more coverage and are shown live on TV with Day/Night matches taking place. The coloured clothing, however does exist in Deodhar Trophy with white balls being used. However, Day/Night matches and TV coverage should be there. With TV coverage, the dual purpose of Domestic cricket will be solved as the Domestic players will be given out/not out after the intervention of the TV umpire and also it will help in getting more fans to watch the domestic game and it will have a much wider fan base than what it has now.

 

[Arjun]

Sometimes I wonder, do other cricketing fans even pay attention to their domestic cricket happenings? At least on this forum, it seems like there is far more talk of Indian domestic prospects than anything else. Anways, the match results should come out in Indian newspapers right? I wouldn't know ...

Australian fans here keenly follow developments in the domestic scene, even during the off-season. You may not have been reading the forum when we once saw FIVE off-season threads related to Australian domestic selections– that's what prompted me to ask why other Indian supporters don't follow the domestic scene as much. England's domestic matches get a lot of attention from the many English supporters here, and fans from New Zealand (though not too many this time) also post a lot on what's happening in their domestic scene. Here, for India, it's just me and three others who post, and unlike in those other scenes, we can't even watch the matches and rely on newspaper articles or worse, scorecards. Evens in local cricket in West Indies get even less attention, and we don't hear a word on what's happening in South Africa, Pakistan or Sri Lanka.

 

[Arjun]

The morning papers didn't consider the Deodhar Trophy worth covering, while extra stories on the forthcoming Test match grabbed the pages. Anyway, Ganguly opened for East Zone and scored 81 in 146 deliveries, as East Zone scored 223 for 5 in 50 overs. Maybe that's why these matches are not worth covering. It was a disappointing match for bowlers, as there were not too many wickets that fell, as batsmen were a little too defensive. West won that match scoring 224 in 47.3 overs, with Dheeraj Jadhav and Jacob Martin scoring over 50. Not that it matters, since none of these three are international prospects. Of those we'd expect in the Indian side, Munaf Patel got one for 47 and didn't bat, while Ramesh Powar got one wicket for 39 and scored 4, and Yusuf Pathan got none and scored 22 off 23 balls with three to the fence. Any prospects in East? Maybe not.

In that other match between North and Central, it was another bad match for the bowlers, with Dinesh Mongia being the top bowler there with 3 for 37. Not that it's of much use at the top level. Reetinder Sodhi scored 85 in 108 balls, with three sixes, but only bowled in bits and pieces. Joginder Sharma smashed 39 in 20 with two sixes, but only bowled three overs. JP Yadav was the only all-rounder yesterday with decent figures, getting one wicket for 23 and scoring 23 runs, with just one hit to the fence. Pravin Kumar smashed 28 in 25 balls, with three sixes, but his nine overs as a change seamer went for 61 runs and no wicket. Oh well, these selectors never get sick of that little opening bowler from Railways, but that didn't help matters much, as North Zone won by 14 runs.

 

[SJS]

The morning papers didn't consider the Deodhar Trophy worth covering, while extra stories on the forthcoming Test match grabbed the pages. Anyway, Ganguly opened for East Zone and scored 81 in 146 deliveries, as East Zone scored 223 for 5 in 50 overs.

If Ganguly hadn't sealed the fate of his team with his snail-like innings (Manoj Tewari 55 in 67 and Shukla 42* in 21 couldnt undo all the damage) and had instead scored a hundred at a run a ball, his mouth piece, the TOI, would have gone ballistic. However, now they chose to pretend that the Deodhar Trophy doesnt exist. A search on their site yields not a pip !!

BTW, Hindustan Times has covered the games (page 8 of the Bombay edition).

 

[Autobahn]

Cricinfo is not covering the Deodhar Trophy, so we'll have to read the scores at the end of the day, or the next morning. Lazy. Or maybe they think it's more important to cover domestic matches in South Africa and Pakistan despite how many Indians hit the site.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/239059.html

 

[Arjun]

It's been another disappointing day for all-rounders in yesterday's Deodhar matches, as Vidyut, after scoring 148 in 127 balls, didn't bowl a single over, while Yadav got two wickets for 52, but only scored six runs and Pravin Kumar had another dreadful match. Not surprisingly, Central Zone lost by 80 runs chasing a massive South Zone total of 327. Munaf Patel took 2 wickets for 31, but didn't get to bat, nor did Powar and Yusuf Pathan, both of whom got a wicket each.

South Zone won their match against Central with centuries by Vidyut and Venugopal Rao which took them to 327. They then took Central wickets at regular intervals, sharing them, even as Ravikant Shukla scored 97 off 94. West won their match against North with big scores by Jacob Martin and youngster Rohit Sharma. Luckily, Dinesh Mongia was taken to the cleaners by these two, while Joginder Sharma and Sodhi got the only wickets that fell. Not that this matters.....

 

[viktor]

Is this the same Rohit Sharma Jack McNamara referred to in his int'vw?

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Yeh, he got 140-odd today for West Zone

Shows what a bit of insider-info can do, we were all raving about Pujara but ignored Rohit

 

[Jono]

Wow @ Ganguly's crappy one-day knock and then being smashed for 6 off the last ball when 5 runs were needed for victory.

Just not going his way at the minute one could say