Indian domestic season 2006-07

[V Reddy]

Good to see both the team from my state Hyderabad and Andhra doing well. Andhra should have the services of Venugopal Rao for most of the season i think. They need MSK Prasad to start contributing like he used to in those days when he played for India. They should hope that they get to play on these kind of tracks though otherwise their bowling would be massacred.

Interesting to see that Ojha has done well again. Though i haven't seen him play but people here rate him to be the next Hyderabadi to play for India. Another poor performance from Rayudu.

 

[V Reddy]

Meanwhile there's NOTHING live on Zee in the past month.

Hey Davis Cup Final Live this weekend .

Well its the same case in Hyderabad. I think hardly anyone is receiving the signal of Neo Sports here since the Challenger Trophy.

 

[Dravid]

Round two just started. Delhi won the toss and are batting. Gambhir not playing this game. Guessing he left for South Africa already.

 

[adharcric]

Gambhir, Ganguly and VRV are all missing today. Hopefully Joginder and Badrinath continue their fine displays.

 

[Arjun]

Looking at yesterday's papers, this is what actually happened in the Bengal/Mumbai match. The pitch had so little bounce, the spinner had to be brought on as early as the 13th over. The Bengal batsmen, however, didn't even try to force the pace, playing out too many dot balls, even patting half-volleys back to the bowlers. The opening bowler Hazare sprayed the new ball all around, but came back well when the sine was off. The spinners bowled a very negative line most of the time.

 

[Arjun]

FROM THE PRESS: THEY WERE THERE: This section will focus on the Mumbai/Bengal match, with inputs from reporters of Times of India, DNA and Mumbai Mirror, who have been watching this match.

• Kulkarni had six fielders around Manoj Tewari when he was about to reach his century.
• Tewari did a reverse-sweep to get to it.
• Abhishek Jhunjhunwala was out to a paddle-sweep off Kulkarni.
• An umpire turned down three confident leg-before appeals and one catch at bat-pad, and even awarded runs when the ball didn't hit the bat.
• Mumbai Mirror described the Bengal batsmen's effort to up the scoring rate as akin to an old lady crossing the street for adventure.
• Rohan Gavaskar got run-out in a mix-up, to save Manoj Tiwari who was on his way to a century.
• Gavaskar also cut a few deliveries by Powar to the fence.

Ultimately, it's a dreadful advertisement for the domestic game in India.

What the scores mean so far:

Mumbai v/s Bengal: With four bowlers, on a dead track, Mumbai were likely to have trouble bowling the Bengal side out twice. Mumbai have always had problems bowling teams out twice or even once when there are only four bowlers in their team. This time, they had Hazare, Verma, Kulkarni and Powar. The opening bowlers were not up to scratch and there was no backup seamer, so the spinners had to be brought on early. They were the only ones who did the job. The batsmen didn't contribute enough, as they bowled only 22 between them (five of them) and each seamer bowled 37 and each spinner, 47, all four on century duty. Each picked up at least one wicket. Bengal declared at 570/8.

Saurashtra v/s Baroda: Easy one for Baroda, at least for the lead, socring over 400. Connor Williams, a reserve opener for South Africa who said that he's not a hard hitter of the ball and will have trouble adjusting to the pace and bounce there, scored 198. That's 86 in singles out of 353 deliveries. Jacob Martin, another hero of yesterday, scored 64, with 44 runs in boundaries. That means just 20 singles were scored out of 120 deliveries. Not right for the national team by any standard. Right now, Irfan Safi Pathan and Rajsh Pawar have grabbed three wickets that have fallen, as Saurashtra are at 148/3. Ajit Bhoite, an off-spinning all-rounder, is now playing as a batsman who bowls a bit, while someone named Ketan Panchal, LHB/RFM, seems to be on all-round duty here. Yusuf Pathan is not in the same form as he was when he was in contention for a place in the national side. That bad habit of opening the batting with a wicketkeeper comes in here, as Jogiyani opened for Saurashtra, getting out cheaply.

Tamil Nadu v/s Andhra: Looks a mismatch. The scorecard shows it is. And how, when Vijay, opening in his second match, scores 173. As many as eight bowlers were used, with a spinner bowling 50 overs and Venugopal Rao, a bit of a bowler, getting 26 overs. TN were at 474/9. Andhra are at 60/4, with MSK Prasad out for 16, another wicketkeeper opening and getting out cheaply, and national prospect Venugopal out for zero. His brother, Gnaneswara, was also out for 16. Mismatch. Definitely.

Haryana v/s Karnataka: Against a stronger opposition, Haryana, with five bowlers, struggled to bowl KAR out for 371, with Joginder being the lead bowler at 4/101. Joginder was out for just 26, as Haryana are at 253/8, thanks to a century partnership between 'wicketkeeper' Rawat and stock seamer Rana. Unfortuantely for HAR, both were out in quick succession. They've lost the lead, but they have to bowl KAR out cheaply to get four points. Given Mahesh Rawat's batting form, they can promote him to opener and get Ajay Ratra back as a wicketkeeper. Come to think of it, they have to.

 

[Arjun]

Punjab v/s Gujarat: Mismatch #2. Gujarat were skittled out for 208, with someone named Love Ablash opening the bowling and taking five wickets. Ishan Malhatra, one player to watch, took two wickets coming in first-change, but bowled five no-balls. Punjab are at 405/5, with Gaurav Gupta at 81 and Reetinder Sodhi just in. Strangely, Gaurav Gupta is playing as wicketkeeper here. With a bowler less, Sodhi has to bowl a lot more, and he contributed seven overs with no wicket and four no-balls.

Hyderabad v/s Rajasthan: Snoozable. No national prospects or outstanding performers here. Anirudh Singh got 84 and Rayudu, 65, but the rest contributed 30's and 20's, collectively propping up Hyderabad to 385. Rajasthan are at 162/4, with wicketkeeper Yagnik opening and getting out for zero. When will this unhealthy trend stop? The more beneficial trend, however, hasn't come so good this time with England imports Kabir Ali and Vikram Solanki not getting any runs or wickets so far. Veteran Gagan Khoda scored 81 and is still there, with another player from the past, Rahul Kanwat, just in.

SELECTIONS: Gambhir missing from the team was understandable, although a century here or even an hour at the crease would have given him enough practice and 'lubrication' to be ready at the crease in South Africa. VRV Singh, on the other hand, didn't deserve a place in the squad to South Africa and should have played that match against Gujarat to prove himself. That was dumb. Ganguly? Well, can't say much, though he should have got a decent knock as well.

 

[adharcric]

SELECTIONS: Gambhir missing from the team was understandable, although a century here or even an hour at the crease would have given him enough practice and 'lubrication' to be ready at the crease in South Africa. VRV Singh, on the other hand, didn't deserve a place in the squad to South Africa and should have played that match against Gujarat to prove himself. That was dumb. Ganguly? Well, can't say much, though he should have got a decent knock as well.

All three are better off getting used to the conditions in South Africa - of course, that assumes they've already left and aren't just taking it easy after getting selected.

Arjun - you really need to cover the Delhi-UP match ... easily the most important match right now.

 

[Arjun]

All three are better off getting used to the conditions in South Africa - of course, that assumes they've already left and aren't just taking it easy after getting selected.

They have to be in action. Getting used to the conditions doesn't just mean getting off the airport, spending a lot of time in their hotels or facilities. They need to be in action.

Arjun - you really need to cover the Delhi-UP match ... easily the most important match right now.

The Delhi edition of Hindustan Times is covering the Delhi/UP match as well as the Punjab/Gujarat match. I'll pick extracts from both.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Wow, some real fireworks at Mysore. Uthappa (106 from 96) and Rowland (85 from 88) have put on an unbeaten 205 at tea for Karnataka - in 30 overs.

 

[Arjun]

FROM THE PRESS: Delhi v/s UP

• Chopra, often castigated for drowsy, negative batting now played the seamers with ease.
• He and youngster Virat Kohli batted well for a partnership of 84, with excellent running between wickets by the pair. There was amazing understanding, with no calls needed. Compare and contrast this with some slip-shod running between the wickets in the Indian ODI squad, especially ODI specialist Dinesh Mongia.
• Ironically, that partnership was broken when a direct throw by RP Srivastava had Kohli short of the crease, run-out.
• Pravin Kumar took four wickets in the innings, only in bowled/LBW.
• Srivastava got lateral movement in the air early in the innings, while Pravin bowled well with an older ball. While Srivastava may be past it and Pravin has yet to fix the no-ball problem, there's a solution here for the national team, at least in who bowls when.
• Both seamers Nehra and Ishant had ordinary first spells. They came back well after lunch.
• Nehra got a half-hearted pull off RP Srivastava that had him out.
• Then a thin edge off Ravikant Shukla had him out. Ishant, at the opther end, got Rizwan Shamshad out cheaply, as the pacers were running hot.
• Youngster Tanmay Srivastava played a very patient and thoughtful innings on a pitch with little bounce.
• His experienced partner, however, played his shots freely and was out quickly, trapped in front by spinner Nanda.
• With the intention of blunting the attack to clinch the first-innings lead, Pravin Kumar targetted spinner Sanghvi.
• Sanghvi, who had done nothing of note as the report suggested, was not prepared for another Pravin Kumar attack. Delhi's team is full of relics and antiques, of which many don't stand a chance of national selection.
• Yet another Afridi-like innings was played as Praveen went on an all-out attack, ending the day on 54 with three sixes. Not yet ready for the national team, even ODI's, but another solution to add a bowling option and batting firepower.

ADD-ON: This match is played on Kotla, where the groundsmen have asked for another dead track. They're just looking for two points once again. Delhi captain Mithun Manhas wanted a tinge of green, but, as the press say, due to time constraints and the condition of the soil, the groundsmen did otherwise.

 

[Arjun]

In the Plate league, Railways are in a dreadful state. They struggled to bowl Assam out for 362, with JP Yadav getting one wicket for 77 in 43 overs and scoring 68, and Bangar keeping up his form taking three wickets (he's been bowling a lot since Railways were demoted) and scoring a few chunks. They were skittled out for 179, and are two down for 40.

 

[Arjun]

Not too long ago, I said I hoped Haryana would win this year's Ranji Trophy, so that Joginder Sharma could make a place for himself in the national team. However, the national team's wretched fortunes are being reflected in the performance of the Haryana side as well. After Karnataka declared at the end of Day Two at 253, Haryana are at 34/5. Not a good sign, if you're a Haryana supporter.

 

[Arjun]

Lots of draws have happened. Mumbai v/s Bengal was one, and it was shocking to see them just bat out whole sessions, without even reaching out for a first-innings lead. Clearly, this is not the same Mumbai team that was feared back then, scoring 400 for the loss of one wicket. Another draw was seen in the Hyderabad/Rajasthan match, and yet another in Punjab v/s Gujarat, and surprisingly, Andhra held TN for a draw, when the latter were on top. The results show that the scene is going back to the era of draws...

In the TN/Andhra match, opening batsman S Vidyut has had a lot of bowling to do. He's taken two wickets for 52, bowling 26 overs for his team. We'd like to see a batsman do that for India. It's surprising, he's never been a contender for the national team, even when he was a more regular bowler, because he's an ideal ODI all-rounder, and can take the load off Irfan in batting. He's also very good on the field, and a much better all-rounder than Dinesh Mongia.

 

[Dravid]

I'm impressed by Chopras form. He's been getting runs in the last couple of matches. Another opener comes in consideration for the national team.

 

[adharcric]

Good to see Ambati Rayudu make a ton. That kid was highly touted just a few years ago. Hopefully this is a break-out year for him in domestic cricket. Tanmay Srivastava, Vijaykumar Yomahesh and Ishant Sharma also had good starts to their seasons.

 

[Arjun]

Wrap of all the scores, and what they mean:

Delhi v/s UP:

• This was supposed to be the spotlight of the second round of Ranji, but the Delhi curators prepared such a dead pitch that the contest was just for first-innings and brownie points.
• Akash Chopra scored over 200 runs in the match, with a 150 in the first innings. His form may get him back into the Test team, especially because he blends well with the already-settled Sehwag and is also an option in ODI's, given his superior fielding and running between wickets.
• ODI prospect Mithun Manhas had a disappointing match.
• But for Chopra, the innings folded up quickly for just 299, as the UP bowlers shared the wickets between them.
• Pravin Kumar took five wickets in the match, scored a rapid 50 and could have had a near-perfect match but for playing out too many dots at the start of the third day and bowling nearly 20 no-balls.
• Nehra bowled well on this dead track to get five wickets, so his fitness is vastly improved. His fielding is difficult to comment on, since we couldn't watch the match and the press didn't cover it.
• Youngster Ishant Sharma was a little less successful, going for over 30 a wicket here.
• Leggie Piyush Chawla also had a reasonably good all-round match, without the power play of Pravin Kumar or the extra wicekts, and thankfully no overstepping.

Mumbai v/s Bengal:

• Terrible match. Bengal was playing for two points and Mumbai, for no point at all.
• Bhavin Thakkar got a century. He batted with an open stance which enabled him to play more shots, but was dropped early on by...guess...Deep Dasgupta.
• Mumbai bowlers bowled a very negative line which served no purpose at all. This is unlike the champion Mumbai side of old.
• Their batting was equally drowsy, with Powar scoring 20 in 120 balls.
• That awful sign of spinners bowling over 40 overs reappeared, with Lahiri bowling 47, as much as Powar and Kulkarni.
• All in all, a big step backward for the domestic scene

Punjab v/s Gujarat: Luv Ablash got five wickets for not too many, to skittle out Gujarat quickly. He's a small man, so not much to write about. There were big scores by opener Ricky, then Goel, then makeshift keeper Gupta. The match, somehow, ended a draw. The only noteworthy performance was that of Ishan Malhatra, who took a few wickets for not too many then smashed some runs from Number Eight.

TN v/s Andhra: Precisely what we don't want the Indian team to do (and they did three times over) was done by TN here. How they let Andhra off the hook, only those who've seen will know. TN posted a massive score, then rolled over Andhra, had them following on, and Venugopal scored a century. The performance of Vidyut, a frontline batsman who also supported the bowling attack, was the one bright spot here.

Karnataka v/s Haryana: Terrible match for Haryana, who suffered their second defeat in a row. Except for Joginder, who took seven wickets and scored two over 20, none of the others were up to the task. There were big scores from Uthappa, Rowland, off-spinner Raghu and wicketkeeper (?) Thilak Naidu for Karnataka. It was sad to see the young Haryana side fall like ninepins to an antique spinner, though the younger Raghu hada good outing.

Baroda v/s Saurashtra: Big scores for Williams, Martin, Jogiyani and Pujara. Especially Williams; he scored 198. It was a good match for spinner Rajesh Pawar, but one-time all-rounder prospect Yusuf Pathan had another disappointing match.

Rajasthan v/s Hyderabad: Kabir Ali's 49 was the only highlight there, among the foreign recruits, but in a match without any national prospects, there was nothing to observe. There was a 60 followed by a 100 by Rayudu at a good strike rate while yesterday's hero Gagan Khoda crossed three figures, but it doesn't count for much for a national team place. Ravi Teja missed a century opening in his second match.

 

[Arjun]

A very interesting wrap of the second round of Ranji is here. Read about the shocking incident about the missing officials who delayed the start (and calling off) of the fourth day of the Delhi/UP match. Finally, one hero from a bygone era calls it quits. One run in 62 deliveries? Strange.

 

[adharcric]

That was hilarious. What a joke of an umpire. Just had to take a dump during the match.

 

[Arjun]

From 9th December, the next round starts. Key matches are Mumbai v/s Punjab, Delhi v/s Baroda, TN v/s Haryana and U.P. v/s Karnataka. We may get to see Maharashtra's new recruits in action against Saurashtra.

Here's an article with comments from Ashwani Kumar, coach of the Haryana team. He's got an idea to think about– should money in the Plate series be reduced? The article also gives some inputs on the performance of Joginder Sharma and Mahesh Rawat.