Indian domestic season 2005-06

[Pratters]

The Duleep Trophy is starting tomorrow.

The schedule:

Date Between Venue

20-23 Oct South Zone v West Zone Vadodara
20-23 Oct East Zone v North Zone Rajkot
27-30 Oct Central Zone v South Zone Surat
27-30 Oct North Zone v Zimbabwe A Wankhede Mumabi
04-07 Nov Central Zone v West Zone Aurangadbad
04-07 Nov East Zone v Zimbabwe A CCI Mumbai
12-16 Nov Final Ahmedabad

 

[Arjun]

Already one blow struck in the Duleep Trophy. Munaf Patel, back from a really long layoff, got VVS Laxman out for just 1. South are 59/3, having lost opener Swapnil Asnodkar for no score (Khan claimed it) and Robin Uthappa run-out.

North are in a spot of bother, at 73/4. Ranadeb Bose, who recently played in the Challenger series, got 2 wickets.

 

[honestbharani]

Balaji strikes back with 2 quick wickets after South are bowled out for 218... Not sure how the pitch was, but Sriram, Badani and Kaarthick should be kicking themselves for wasting good starts. Interesting to see that all TN guys got to double figures.

 

[Sanz]

Surprise , Ganguly takes 2 wickets as well

 

[honestbharani]

and looking good... he has made 19 off 28 balls with 4 fours.

 

[Arjun]

North are in dire straits, and the selectors may regret not playing Joginder Sharma. Lack of battign depth was exploited by the East Zone side– hold on there, why isn't Sanjib Sanyal playing? Still, that's a good performance by Paul and Bose, to take seven wickets for not too many.

Oh, nobody can convince Powar that he doesn't stand a chance of Test selection. He's again emerged the top bowler for his team, taking 4 for 78, with his former Mumbai teammate Sairaj taking 3 for 65. By the way, what are your comments on Swapnil Asnodkar? I'm surprised he was chosen ahead of Barrington Rowland, who's been a lot more consistent, against better attacks in Ranji.

 

[marc71178]

Surprise , Ganguly takes 2 wickets as well

Isn't he supposed to be injured?

 

[Pratters]

Isn't he supposed to be injured?

Supposed being the key word there.

 

[Salamuddin]

and looking good... he has made 19 off 28 balls with 4 fours.

HB, do you work for WIPRO ? BTw, whereabouts in Chennai do you live ?

I'm from Pandalam in Kerala myself but I used to live in JafferKhanPet in Chennai.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Vasanth Saravanan - East Zone

Vasanth Saravanan really played well for his 30. He is someone who hails from a not so well known town, Namakkal, after graduating through the under -13,15,19 levels, he played for TN with little success, and he could never find a permanent slot for him in the star studded TN batting lineup. He moved to Assam a couple of seasons before and proved to be one of their mainstays with Kiran Powar. Now he is finding himself part of the East Zone team and i am sure he will come through the ranks.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

North are in dire straits, and the selectors may regret not playing Joginder Sharma. Lack of battign depth was exploited by the East Zone side– hold on there, why isn't Sanjib Sanyal playing? Still, that's a good performance by Paul and Bose, to take seven wickets for not too many.

Oh, nobody can convince Powar that he doesn't stand a chance of Test selection. He's again emerged the top bowler for his team, taking 4 for 78, with his former Mumbai teammate Sairaj taking 3 for 65. By the way, what are your comments on Swapnil Asnodkar? I'm surprised he was chosen ahead of Barrington Rowland, who's been a lot more consistent, against better attacks in Ranji.

Three selections , the selections got it completely wrong:
1. Swapnil Asnodkar
2. Anirudh Singh
3. Shahabuddin

Does Asnodkar deserve place ahead of Vidyut, who is in top form and who also had a very good domestic season last time. They gave this Swapnil Asnodkar from Goa so many opportunities last season, and he never came up with convincing displayes.

Another baffling selection is Anirudh Singh of Hyderabad ahead of Sharath or even C HemantKumar of TN.

Anyone believe Shahbuddin a better prospect than Jesuraj. Hope all who have seen Jesuraj bowling will definitely disagree. Jesuraj is a very good bowler with an unbelievable knack of picking up wickets in heap. I am sure he will definitely play for India one day.

 

[Arjun]

Not only has Vidyut had a good season with the bat, he's a very good left-arm spinner, while you wouldn't bank on Swapnil Asnodkar's offies for more than two overs a match. Anirudh Singh isn't rally something special- one more questionable selection. As for Shahabudin, he was picked because he could also score runs, but Gaurav Dhiman of Karnataka, Sunil Oasis and Sreekumar Nair of Kerala can surely do better even then. A few say that Vinay Kumar is actually quite fast- he'll be one to watch.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Not only has Vidyut had a good season with the bat, he's a very good left-arm spinner, while you wouldn't bank on Swapnil Asnodkar's offies for more than two overs a match. Anirudh Singh isn't rally something special- one more questionable selection. As for Shahabudin, he was picked because he could also score runs, but Gaurav Dhiman of Karnataka, Sunil Oasis and Sreekumar Nair of Kerala can surely do better even then. A few say that Vinay Kumar is actually quite fast- he'll be one to watch.

And also what happened to Kiran Powar, why is he not part of the East Zone team.
He should have been played ahead of Rohan Gavaskar.

 

[Arjun]

North are in deep trouble. Ganguly has scored a rapid century at a very healthy strike rate, smashing the spinners (especially Sarandeep) and even having a go at VR Singh, who had bowled a few hostile spells in the match. One must question the logic in giving VR Singh an old, battered ball when his style of bowling would look a lot more effective when the ball was fresh and new. He's also a freakish hitter in the tail end and top-scored with 46 off 35 deliveries. Good pick for the Indian ODI side in the near future, and a sure-shot prospect for the 2007 World Cup.

Looks like even Munaf Patel has been unsettling the South batsmen, as he bowled a lot faster than expected of India's sultans of swing. A pity he hasn't got that much-elusive five-wicket haul. West have a few problems, at 78 for 4, with Jaffer scoring 39. Balaji takes three.

 

[Arjun]

And also what happened to Kiran Powar, why is he not part of the East Zone team.
He should have been played ahead of Rohan Gavaskar.

Kiran Powar shifted to Baroda, and could have at least made the reserves of West Zone, ahead of one more back-door entrant– he plays for Saurashtra and is related to former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Kiran Powar shifted to Baroda, and could have at least made the reserves of West Zone, ahead of one more back-door entrant– he plays for Saurashtra and is related to former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah.

That is news to me. I see this as a good move, as he will get more visibility.
May be he should have taken Vasanth Saravanan with him to Baroda.

 

[Arjun]

That is news to me. I see this as a good move, as he will get more visibility.
May be he should have taken Vasanth Saravanan with him to Baroda.

I doubt if a batsman would get more visibility playing for West than for East. That's why we have so many extras playing for teams like Assam, Tripura, J&K and Services and becoming frontliners there. Moreover, the selectors will have to look beyond all these friends and relatives of prominent BCCI officials if they want to build a good side.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

I doubt if a batsman would get more visibility playing for West than for East. That's why we have so many extras playing for teams like Assam, Tripura, J&K and Services and becoming frontliners there. Moreover, the selectors will have to look beyond all these friends and relatives of prominent BCCI officials if they want to build a good side.

I agree with you. Atleast i dont see the names of Stuart Binny,Udit Patel in the Duleep Trophy squads.

Why not Rajesh Pawar in the West Zone squad. So many selections in the Duleep Trophy squads are baffling. Also i dont know on what basis they choose the stand-byes.

 

[Arjun]

You mentioned Stuart Binny and Udit Patel– apparently, the then Karnataka captain, J Arun-Kumar, was against having them in the playing XI, because of which he lost captaincy and Sujith Somasunder got it. Good point about Rajesh Pawar- not too long ago, he was a favourite among selectors, and a sure-shot contender for an ODI spinner, and now he's gone.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

I agree with you. Atleast i dont see the names of Stuart Binny,Udit Patel in the Duleep Trophy squads.

Why not Rajesh Pawar in the West Zone squad. So many selections in the Duleep Trophy squads are baffling. Also i dont know on what basis they choose the stand-byes.

How do you rate the strengh of the Zimbabwe president's side.
Will they be able to make a mark with Marrilier and Blignaut on their side.

Especially Marrilier knows a thing or two about Indian attacks.