Indian domestic season 2006-07

[Arjun]

Back to that article, it says that Mahesh Rawat actually flew full-length to grab one catch. Someone has seen him in action and thinks he's good behind the stumps, but is he better than Ajay Ratra? Difficult to say.

Then that article mentions Joginder Sharma. He's been virtually a bowling machine for his team, being the frontline bowler. The coach says thast he can swing the ball both ways and get reverse swing with an old ball. While he doesn't talk about pace, he says that if there's energy in the body, he can bowl fast. Maybe that's what he was doing, which had the no-ball counter ticking in the Duleep Trophy. Not that it matters, as he's also a middle-order mainstay for his team.

What I find most impressive is his attitude, as spoken by the coach, then Joginder himself. He's a fitness freak and trains very hard, in all skills. It shows he's a team player and not shy of putting in that extra effort– in direct contrast to Munaf Patel, who's become a Test and ODI regular, but can't field, pays little attention to his batting and seems to be lazy overall. That said, Joginder needs to score more runs to support his team, currently on a dowslide, to make a place for himself in the ODI XI and more so the Test side.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Kabir out of the Rajasthan team - and their opponents rack up 255/1. Jadhav must be quite decent?

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Kabir out of the Rajasthan team - and their opponents rack up 255/1. Jadhav must be quite decent?

Prolific is the word. He'll probably be destined to fall into the same category as the likes of Praveen Mullick, Pankaj Dharmani, Amol Muzumdar, Sridharan Sriram: decent players in their own right and superstars in the domestic game, but either not attractive enough for a national team slot or given enough of an opportunity. Seriously, a genuine India A batting lineup (quality over potential) could have been awsome in the mid/late 90s, early 2000s.

 

[Arjun]

Prolific is the word. He'll probably be destined to fall into the same category as the likes of Praveen Mullick, Pankaj Dharmani, Amol Muzumdar, Sridharan Sriram: decent players in their own right and superstars in the domestic game, but either not attractive enough for a national team slot or given enough of an opportunity. Seriously, a genuine India A batting lineup (quality over potential) could have been awsome in the mid/late 90s, early 2000s.

To be honest, many of those prolific batsmen have often missed out, not because they're not good enough, but because there were too many. You'd have a hard time choosing your top seven options. While many would say there's a lack of talent in Indian domestic cricket, we haven't seen enough to suggest that. We have, however, seen a total lack of vision in the BCCI, as mentioned by Barry Richards, as the selectors, as well as other officials, have been very skeptical about trying out new things. Be it experiments in the sleection, or on the field with the playing XI, or added facilities that can help (such as a bowling consultant or fielding coach) or even making the Duleep Trophy longer and more prominent, they don't want to change.

As for an India reserve team of that era, here's how it would look:

• Jaffer
• Sriram
• Kale
• Mazumdar
• Sharath
• Dharmani (WK)
• JP Yadav (RM)
• Bahutule (LBG)
• Kulkarni (SLA)
• Bhandari (RMF)
• Rakesh Patel (RM)

That's not a very strong combination, for which I had to think about a little harder. Moreover, the domestic structure has evolved, so their utility in such a team would be different. You don't have competition in zones, but among stronger teams from all zones, which is why I left out Prabhanjan Mullick from Orissa. Pitches have changed and you now see many seamers turning up with better bowling figures. Pick an Indian reserve team from the last three years and it would be a better combination than this one.

You'd have Gambhir and Jadhav making it here, with one making the bench, and even Akash Chopra making a case for selection. The likes of Paul, Bose and Gagandeep came in recently. Likewise Mongia, Yashpal Singh and Badrinath. With Dinesh Karthik competing for the wicketkeeper's spot, Pankaj Dharmani now plays as a specialist batsman in some matches. Ramesh Powar came in later, and stormed the scene. Even JP Yadav, then primarily a frontline batsman, became his team's strike bowler. Most importantly, the fielding of current reserves is better than that of the past.

 

[Arjun]

FROM THE PRESS: Delhi v/s Baroda, covered by HT

• Last season's highest wicket-taker, spinner Nanda, was replaced by Yogesh Sachdeva by the captain, Mithun Manhas. Even the coach was surprised at this selection.
• Sachdeva did little of note, coming in when Baroda were 86/5, and was gifted a wicket by top-scorer Rahesh Solanki, playing a loose shot.
• Nehra bowled four overs, rushed to the dressing room, came back and bowled four more, and that was it. No wicket taken. He was unwell when he came back from Chindwada, where he weas a chief guest in an exhibition match. Being a senior player, he was allowed to do it, missing three days of practice.
• He bowled fewer overs than Rajat Bhatia, whose bowlign was not mentioned in the paper.
• The highlight, however was Ishant Sharma. He got several deliveries to rise, forcing slip catches and edges. None of the experienced Baroda lineup had an answer to this. He also bowled with fair pace. Exactly the kind the Indian batsmen are getting in South Africa. A sure-shot contender for India A.

COMMENT: Baroda, banking on yesterday's heroes, are now picking teams heavy on batting and with three spinners. With selections and strategies going backwards, their performances have gone downward.

 

[Arjun]

FROM THE PRESS: Delhi v/s UP, Day 2:

• Baroda is going backwards, and how. Their spinners were bowling a negative line all along after lunch. PRedictably, they only got one wicket in both sessions after snaring Chopra (out early in the day) and Dhawan (who tried to loft spinner Rajesh Pawar over tall fielder Yousuf Pathan).
• Out there, college student Mayank Tehlan and the veteran (and ODI prospect) Mithun Manhas built a really long partnership, with Manhas scoring 70. Tehlan ended on 108 then (as of now, he's finished 200).
• The ball was keeping low most of the time, so playing shots wasn't easy. He had to wait for the right deliveries when the Baroda spinners bowled that negative line.
• At the other end, Manhas tried to keep the scoring rate going by picking singles regularly and some "calculated hitting" (as quoted in HT).

Mumbai v/s Punjab, Day 2:

• Overcast sky, slight hint of wind, responsive pitch, all conducive to fast bowling, yet we saw Powar and Kulkarni bowl most of the time.Not surprisingly, the seamers were brought back and Hazare bowled 33 of the team's overs.
• The seamers bowled in the wrong places and skipper Dharmani made the most of it, scoring his 19th FC century.
• Dharmani looked positive from the start and was prolific square to the wicket.
• Not a word was mentioned about Ishan Malhatra's rapid 36 and Swapnil Hazare's five-wicket haul, including Dharmani.
• The match was repeatedly interrupted by bad light and a little rain.

 

[Dravid]

200 for that one dude. I don't remember his name but he seems to have put on a really good performance.

 

[Arjun]

200 for that one dude. I don't remember his name but he seems to have put on a really good performance.

Mayank Tehlan is a flamboyant batsman who often throws his wicket away a little too soon. He was even left out for a string of matches for Delhi, including their first two, but he's come back very well here. The HT report says he batted very sensibly, not falling for the trap set by the Baroda bowlers (who were bowling utter rubbish, very unlike India prospects) and choosing to wait them out. I don't know what happened in today's match, but as of now, Delhi were all out for 493 with Rajat Bhatia making a century.

 

[Arjun]

WE HAVE A RESULT!: Maharashtra have just crushed Rajasthan by an innings and over 200 runs.

WATCH: Karnataka v/s Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka need 12 runs, UP need to take the last three wciekts, now into the tail.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

WE HAVE A RESULT!: Maharashtra have just crushed Rajasthan by an innings and over 200 runs.

WATCH: Karnataka v/s Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka need 12 runs, UP need to take the last three wciekts, now into the tail.

pathetic display by Tamilnadu so far this season. cant believe them playing so poorly against Haryana. and poor selection seems to have played its role it seems. where is Hemang Badani and some other promising players like C HemanthKumar, JR Madanagopal, Sree Vasudavedas all seem missing from the line up. Anyway the bowling is too week but i would still prefer R Ramkumar who played for Board presidents XI last season. But TN once known for its batting might, is really hitting nadir this season. S Sriram has opted for Maharashtra. And S Vidyut has been dropped after just 2 games.
Only brights spots being M Vijay and S Badrinath , as he always been, this season.

 

[Arjun]

FROM THE PRESS: Delhi v/s Baroda, Day 3

• Mayank Tehlan displayed the same grit and composure to convert his century into a double.
• At the other end, Rajat Bhatia scored quickly by pinching gaps and hit two sixes off Rajesh Pawar. Bhatia eventually completed a century.
• The Baroda bowlers bowled still more negative rubbish. After being hit for two sixes, Pawar changed his line and drifted way down legside. Even the umpire was unimpressed, and declared it a wide.
• Tehlan eventually fell prey to this negative nonsense, trying to boost the run rate.

In the Mumbai v/s Punjab match, the pepers mention that Mazumdar, then not out on 86, refused to get onto the front foot on the seaming wicket and played square off the wicket, mostly on the back foot. Rohit Sharma played two handsome drives before he was out. Amanpreet Singh was tall, strong and got movement off the puitch both ways. Not a word was mentioned about Mota or Malhatra, though Malhatra got a thin nick.

 

[Dravid]

Isn't it true that the Irfan Pathan that is playing for Baroda right now is brother of Irfan Pathan who is playing for India irght now? Or is it the other Pathan playing for Baroda.

 

[adharcric]

Isn't it true that the Irfan Pathan that is playing for Baroda right now is brother of Irfan Pathan who is playing for India irght now? Or is it the other Pathan playing for Baroda.

Yes.

 

[nightprowler10]

Isn't it true that the Irfan Pathan that is playing for Baroda right now is brother of Irfan Pathan who is playing for India irght now? Or is it the other Pathan playing for Baroda.

Why would two brothers have identical names?

 

[adharcric]

Why would two brothers have identical names?

Irfan Khan Pathan and Irfan Safi Pathan IIRC.

 

[nightprowler10]

Irfan Khan Pathan and Irfan Saif Pathan IIRC.

I think this is the guy you are thinking of - Yusuf Khan Pathan

 

[adharcric]

I think this is the guy you are thinking of - Yusuf Khan Pathan

Umm, I don't know why I always thought Irfan K Pathan and Irfan S Pathan were brothers. I swear, Cricinfo only recently fixed the player profiles. Bastards!

 

[Arjun]

A few stray points: Yusuf Pathan is a legspinner and a batsman similar to Justin Kemp, with age on his side, all of which got him into the frame for national selection. He didn't get into the A-team in the time he was in contention, with no A-team event going on. These days, however, his form with the bat has declined and he's been bowling very negatively, and with the likes of JP Yadav and Powar coming back strongly, he was out of contention.

Irfan Safi Pathan, according to experts, was a promising left-arm seamer, but had to be left out because of lack of pace. Not too famous, there was one article where TOI interviewed him, but I've forgotten what it was about. Safi complained that he got little attention, while the younger Irfan got all the attention. The unusual thing about both is that they're both left-arm seamers, both bat left-handed, both are from Baroda and they're both Irfan Pathans!

From Times Of India: No coverage of the final day of Ranji in Times Of India

From DNA: Chetan Chauhan is upset with Nehra not informing him that he's unwell. He picked up a stomach bug in Chindwa in MP, where he shouldn't have gone, taking a three-day rest and then missed practice. The report says that Nehra's comeback may not happen too soon because of this. Anyway, he's the best change seamer and very effective in the final overs, but struggles with the new ball. His fielding is another bone of contention.

 

[Arjun]

FROM THE PRESS: Delhi v/s Baroda, final day

Rajat Bhatia continued to drop a catch in every match. This drop was costly, as Connor Williams was on 41 then. He was dropped once more on 53 by Shikhar Dhawan, and went on to make a match-saving century.

Yogesh Sachdeva got smashed all around by Connor, that after five overs, he was put in a distant fielding position, and skipper Manhas had to fill in. This continues a negative trend of part-timers bowling well beyond their quota, but was inevitable as Sachdeva was going for too many runs. In fact, HT has often been critical of Sachdeva's selection, since he's the son of a DDCA official. Even Mithun Manhas, the captain, has been kept out of selection meets because he favoured him.

Coach Chetan Chauhan said he wished the selectors were watching the match. Only one of them was present, while another, the famous Atul Wassan, was doing TV commentary. Chauhan flatly said that he didn't have the best 15 players to choose from in this match. He said that Delhi have done better than in the last season, that they've measured their strengths and weaknesses and will put up a better show with a better set of players.

Clearly, he wants a change in selection. There's one relic too many here that's keeping them from converting leads into victories. Here, the youngsters (Tehlan, Ishant, Nanda, Kohli) have performed better than some long-running extras here. One obvious weakness in this team is the lack of an all-rounder, and Rajat Bhatia just bowled four overs and disappeared. The selectors need to dig deeper here.

 

[Dravid]

A few stray points: Yusuf Pathan is a legspinner and a batsman similar to Justin Kemp, with age on his side, all of which got him into the frame for national selection. He didn't get into the A-team in the time he was in contention, with no A-team event going on. These days, however, his form with the bat has declined and he's been bowling very negatively, and with the likes of JP Yadav and Powar coming back strongly, he was out of contention.

Irfan Safi Pathan, according to experts, was a promising left-arm seamer, but had to be left out because of lack of pace. Not too famous, there was one article where TOI interviewed him, but I've forgotten what it was about. Safi complained that he got little attention, while the younger Irfan got all the attention. The unusual thing about both is that they're both left-arm seamers, both bat left-handed, both are from Baroda and they're both Irfan Pathans!

From Times Of India: No coverage of the final day of Ranji in Times Of India

From DNA: Chetan Chauhan is upset with Nehra not informing him that he's unwell. He picked up a stomach bug in Chindwa in MP, where he shouldn't have gone, taking a three-day rest and then missed practice. The report says that Nehra's comeback may not happen too soon because of this. Anyway, he's the best change seamer and very effective in the final overs, but struggles with the new ball. His fielding is another bone of contention.

It's not like the other Irfan has pace now either, so now one more thing is common about them