Indian domestic season 2006-07

[Arjun]

You must have mistaken me with someone else. I never used the username Dravid on any other forums.

That was for Predator, who wanted my email.

 

[Arjun]

One player to watch is Joginder Sharma. He's young, versatile and has hada good series with the bat, apart from being a regular stock bowler for his team. He hasn't picked up too many wickets, but he's bowled many overs, as many as the other four bowlers in the team and supported them well. For his team, he opens the bowling and has picked up many wickets at a healthy average. For some strange reason, he's picked up VRV Singh's bad habit of overstepping, but he may be trying for extra pace this time, since the selectors have dropped him fo a very long time in their search for faster bowlers. The next ODI series after the SA tour will be the World Cup, where he may not get a match, but after that, he should be a regular fixture in the ODI squad, and can support strikers Irfan and Zaheer well.

 

[Arjun]

Ishant Sharma, the young Delhi giant, is also one to watch. At 6'4", he's one of the tallest seamers in the country, and you don't get too many. The best Indian seamer, in ODI's, is a dwarf, so Ishant has a chance. He's not outright quick, but at his height, it is quite effective. The only worry is his thin body, but it may also be a good thing, as too uck bulk will lead to recurring injury, so his fitness is crucial. In places like Australia and South Africa, the extra bounce he gets will help a lot.

 

[superkingdave]

So, Solanki and Kabir Ali to play for Rajasthan eh? I hope they know what they are letting themselves in for! Actually i think Solanki might go alright but Kabir will be Cannon Fodder

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

So, Solanki and Kabir Ali to play for Rajasthan eh? I hope they know what they are letting themselves in for! Actually i think Solanki might go alright but Kabir will be Cannon Fodder

Yeah, Kabir will get slaughtered on the Indian tracks. What's with the influx in overseas players this year? Are Gough and Lawson still playing for Maharashta?

 

[Arjun]

Yeah, Kabir will get slaughtered on the Indian tracks. What's with the influx in overseas players this year? Are Gough and Lawson still playing for Maharashta?

Frankly, bowling averages are better here in India, even for seamers, than in England's Division II. I wouldn't be surprised if he springs up a surprise here.

As for Gough, Lawson, Hayden and MacGill, at least one of them will play, but there's no news on that.

There is news from the Mumbai camp. After the exclusion of Vinod Kambli, we find Amol Mazumdar appointed captain of the Mumbai team, so that Kulkarni can concentrate on his bowling. This is just appropriate, since the Mumbai bowling unit is reasonably strong, but the batting looks shaky without Tendulkar, Kambli and Jaffer, and the young recruits haven't done much of note.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Cricinfo have put up the first part of their Ranji preview.
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/268847.html

Tamil Nadu should go pretty well, particularly if Badani and Badrinath get some support and the likes of Jesuraj, Yomahesh and Ramkumar come together as a bowling unit. Haryana will probably be carried by Joginder Sharma again and have too little in the batting department to rack up large enough totals. Rajasthan are likely to struggle without Jadeja, despite the arrivals of Kabir and Solanki.

 

[Arjun]

Tamil Nadu– Strong batting lineup, very good between the wickets and on the field, but lack power, in batting and bowling. Balaji's return will add some experience to the bowling, while Badrinath, Badani, Sharath and Sriram are expected to pile on the runs. One player who can make a difference is Vidyut, the free-scoring opening batsman who's a more-than-useful spinner.

Haryana– The selection of opener Mahesh Rawat as wicketkeeper may have got them loads of runs, but his wicketkeeping is not up to scratch. It's still a mistake to leave out the experienced and dependable Ajay Ratra. Joginder and Rana, as all-rounders, add versatility to this young yet competent team, which can surprise the best on their day. Youngsters Sumit Sharma and Sunny Singh can score big runs for them, but if they play a bowler less, they will have trouble bowling teams out.

Rajasthan– Don't expect anything special from them. Maybe foreign recruits Kabir Ali and Vikram Solanki can make up for the absence of national prospects in this recently-promoted team.

Bengal– One to watch for obvious reasons, but this is an ageing team. Rohan Gavaskar is not quite so prolific, LR Shukla has stopped bowling and the rest are not quite the force they once were. However, this is still a strong side given the stats. Ganguly's bowling will add some balance to this team, if he wishes to bowl as often as his strikers Paul and Bose. The strike pair, in contrasting styles, have been leading wicket-takers for this team, although spinners Lahiri and Lodhgar can't be counted out. Sanyal's absence is surprising.

Karnataka– Academy players are slowly making their way into this team, which can only be a positive development. Old stalwarts Sunil Joshi, Barrington Rowland and B Akhil are still around, though one may expect youngsters Chipli, Uthappa, Vinay Kumar and Gaurav Dhiman to make an impact. Railways have already had one casualty after relegation to Plate– middle-order mainstay Yere Goud has come back after a long time to Karnataka.

Andhra– Yet another also-ran team here. Apart from Venugopal Rao, there are no national prospects, so there's nothing special to expect here.

Baroda– Not quite the force that used to compete with Champions Mumbai fiercely, their strike bowler Zaheer Khan has shifted to Mumbai. Irfan is not likely to get a match, away on India duty. Young wicketkeeper Pinal Shah will be one to watch, and so will be Yusuf Pathan, but this is another ageing side full of yesterday's heroes, not the same now.

Mumbai– Zaheer couldn't make it to Mumbai when he tried, but after playign for Baroda for a few years, he's shifted here. The injury-hit pace attack, often missing the services of Ajit Agarkar, gave him an opportunity to step in. This will strengthen the attack greatly, with Agarkar, Powar, Kulkarni and a rookie seamer making up the unit. Youngster Waingankar will be one to watch, and hopefully will make an impact like his predecessor Salvi, out injured once more.

Uttar Pradesh– The surprise winners of the last Ranji Trophy, they may miss Raina and especially their captain Kaif for many matches, but theirs is also a reasonably strong side, with many youngsters. The veterans, Zaidi, Srivastava, Pandey and Shamshad will add some experience to this team, who won the tournament last year with unconventional methods all along. Winning the tournament once more will be a tough challenge.

 

[Arjun]

ADD-ON: Tamil Nadu have a really strange selection. They've brought back Ashish Kapoor from HP, over 35 years old, having played for as many as six FC teams. They've also brought back Sathish and Prasanna from the North East. This team is going backwards, and let's just hope that doesn't happen with the Indian national team.

Moreover, Mumbai have dropped promising youngster Vinit Indulkar, saying he's not in form. We don't know what to expect from the supposedly-in-form players picked ahead of him, such as BJ Thakkar and Hiken Shah.

 

[Dravid]

Will put in my reviews for some team, after I'm back in Delhi...which will be after the Ranji Trophy started.......

Looking foward on seeing how Mazumdar does as the captain for Mumbai. He's been given a tough job

 

[Arjun]

Of all the teams announced on Cricinfo, Mumbai looks the strongest. Look at this proposed XI.

• Mane
• Kukreja
• Shetty
• Rohit Sharma
• Mazumdar (C)
• Wilkin Mota (RM)
• Powar (OB)
• Samant (WK)
• Kulkarni (SLA)
• Zaheer (LFM)
• Waingankar (RMF)
• RESERVES: Hazare (RFM), Thakkar, Verma (RM), Shah

Zaheer won't play the first match but they're still a strong side, though the strongest has to be UP.

 

[adharcric]

Without Kaif and Raina, I doubt ... though I must admit that Kumar-Chawla-RPS is still a damn good trio to have as backup.

 

[Arjun]

Without Kaif and Raina, I doubt ... though I must admit that Kumar-Chawla-RPS is still a damn good trio to have as backup.

Likewise, the Mumbai team is weak without Tendulkar and Jaffer. This UP lineup looks strong, with a few reserves ready for the XI.

• Shivkant Shukla
• RP Srivastava
• Jyoti Yadav (C)
• Ravikant shukla
• Rizwan Shamshad
• GK Pandey (SLA)
• Piyush Chawla (LBG)
• Pravin Kumar (RM)
• Amir Khan (WK)
• SJ Srivastava (LMF)
• RP Singh (LMF)
• RESERVES: AW Zaidi (RFM), Praveen Gupta (SLA), Ali Hamid, Tanmay Srivastava

Count the number of Shuklas and Srivastavas in the team, and you'd think UP is the New Zealand of the Indian domestic scene. With Kaif and Raina back, we'd see the young spinner Praveen Gupta in for Pandey.

 

[adharcric]

Likewise, the Mumbai team is weak without Tendulkar and Jaffer. This UP lineup looks strong, with a few reserves ready for the XI.

• Shivkant Shukla
• RP Srivastava
• Jyoti Yadav (C)
• Ravikant shukla
• Rizwan Shamshad
• GK Pandey (SLA)
• Piyush Chawla (LBG)
• Pravin Kumar (RM)
• Amir Khan (WK)
• SJ Srivastava (LMF)
• RP Singh (LMF)
• RESERVES: AW Zaidi (RFM), Praveen Gupta (SLA), Ali Hamid, Tanmay Srivastava

Count the number of Shuklas and Srivastavas in the team, and you'd think UP is the New Zealand of the Indian domestic scene. With Kaif and Raina back, we'd see the young spinner Praveen Gupta in for Pandey.

I hope Tanmay Srivastava becomes a fixture in the lineup soon and the veterans (Yadav, Shamshad, Pandey) slowly move away. UP has more current and future national prospects at the moment than any other state side.

Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Rudra Pratap Singh, Piyush Chawla, Pravin Kumar, Ravikant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava

 

[adharcric]

Has Delhi included Ishant Sharma in the squad? Cricinfo reported that Bhandari was back despite being injured and out-of-form, which is really disappointing. If Sharma isn't there, it will be an absolute disgrace.

 

[Arjun]

Has Delhi included Ishant Sharma in the squad? Cricinfo reported that Bhandari was back despite being injured and out-of-form, which is really disappointing. If Sharma isn't there, it will be an absolute disgrace.

Nehra, Bhandari AND Ishant are in the team. That's not too bad, but the lack of all-rounders will hurt the team in the series, as it progresses.

 

[adharcric]

Nehra, Bhandari AND Ishant are in the team. That's not too bad, but the lack of all-rounders will hurt the team in the series, as it progresses.

Are there any quality all-rounders in Delhi? What about under-19 all-rounder Sumit Sharma - will he represent Punjab in the future?

 

[Arjun]

Are there any quality all-rounders in Delhi? What about under-19 all-rounder Sumit Sharma - will he represent Punjab in the future?

Sumit Sharma is a batsman for Haryana, who's played U-19 cricket. The all-rounder is Suhail Sharma, an off-spinner. There's also legspinner Abhishek Sharma, who's not a regular. Also, offie Sharandeep Singh can also score a few runs, but was dropped two seasons ago because of declining form.

 

[adharcric]

Sumit Sharma is a batsman for Haryana, who's played U-19 cricket. The all-rounder is Suhail Sharma, an off-spinner. There's also legspinner Abhishek Sharma, who's not a regular. Also, offie Sharandeep Singh can also score a few runs, but was dropped two seasons ago because of declining form.

There are two Sumit Sharmas. One is 27 years old and in the Haryana side - he's nothing special. The other is 19 and did very well with bat and ball for the under-19 side lately.

 

[Arjun]

For the good of the Indian team, let's just hope Haryana wins the Ranji Trophy. Maybe that will get Joginder Sharma a permanent place in the Indian ODI side and within scraping distance of a Test cap, because he's worth it. He's definitely the one player to watch, and it's make or break for him, as there's a wide open place in both the Test and the ODI teams, which Colonel wants to keep closed. That said, even UP have more than a few prospects- stock seamer RP Singh, leggie and support batsman Piyush Chawla and seamer/striker Pravin Kumar.

Anyway, Delhi selections have truly gone backwards. We thought politics and conservatism had been ditched in last season's ROD series, but they came back too soon, as Delhi crashed out. It's back again, as we see Nehra and Bhandari back, as well as a whole lot of extras who contributed next to nothing despite being picked regularly.

EDIT: Tomorrow, it begins again. I ask the cable operator for NEO, and they ask if there's live action, then I tell them Ranji is on, then they say they'll look into it. Will happen thrice for the next four days. Expecting another NEO conspiracy.