*Official* Indian Domestic Season 2004/2005

[Arjun]

You know the Ranji OD system is full of flaws, when they hold three OD's in the same city- and then it rains there, washing out all three matches! This is the SECOND time that it has happened.

 

[Deja moo]

I'd say its okay. India is a big country and we cant have 20+ teams travelling all over the country playing just one game at each venue. It doesnt make financial sense and even the players wouldnt appreciate all the excessive travelling.

 

[Arjun]

I'd say its okay. India is a big country and we cant have 20+ teams travelling all over the country playing just one game at each venue. It doesnt make financial sense and even the players wouldnt appreciate all the excessive travelling.

The problem is that there are three matches played in club grounds in the same city, which will all get washed out in case it rains in that city. Besides, the Ranji OD series is divided into five zones, so two venues for each zone should not be out of bounds for the BCCI or any of the local cricket boards. Matches sould be played in premier grounds nad ost importantly, they should happen.

 

[Arjun]

The Deodhar Trophy schedule and squads have been announced-

• The schedule- Matches held at different cities, hopefully in big grounds.
• The West Zone squad- Too many openers, too few bowlers, five players out of action due to injury/illness, but only 13 options?
• The South Zone squad- Very strong batting lineup, decent balance, but no Rahul Dravid? Vidyut is the key.
• The Central Zone squad- Balanced side, enough batting and bowling depth, but Sanjay Bangar needs to have a good series. But where's Krishnakumar?
• The East Zone squad- Manoj Singh? Nearly 30? Only 10 ODs? Good team, strong bowling, good balance, but missing Ganguly, Subhomoy Das, Mohanty and Lodhgar.
• The North Zone squad- Strong batting, strong bowling, adequate balance, the team most likely to win the Deodhar trophy.

 

[Arjun]

Action from the U-19 Test between England's U-19's and India's- The Indians have made a promising start, with Abid Nabi's 5 wickets being a highlight.

The Deodhar Trophy venues have been announced-

• Wankhede Stadium will be hosting the matches in Mumbai, a good choice- hopefully the wicket will have more bounce and some seam movement.
• Motera will host the matches in Ahmedabad- they better not prepare a belter for this series!
• The BCCI have brought the Moti Bagh Stadium in Baroda back after several years- who knows how it will be prepared.
• Pune's Nehru Stadium is back- no belters, please!
• Yet again, a ground from the past is back- the matches in Rajkot will be held in the Madhavrao Scindia cricket ground.

Good. You have matches played at ODI venues and not obscure club grounds.

Question- Is the West Zone squad complete? Maybe not.

 

[Arjun]

A little too much has been made of Niraj Patel, an opener from Gujarat- sure, he was a part of the Indian team that won the U-19 World Cup and he's been the top scorer this season, but does the Indian team really need another opener?

 

[Arjun]

Highlights from East v/s West in Wankhede- West were put in to bat by East captain Debang Gandhi- a decision that backfired as Satyajit Parab and Dheeraj Jadhav made massive centuries, with both fallign at 246. That was followed by quick scores from Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel and Ranjit Khirid, none of whom lasted long as Ranadeb Bose struck back to claim 5 wickets. Strange choice of playing XI indeed, since one batsman- Amol Mazumdar- missed out, while Vinayak Mane came in at Number 8. Paul and Bose bowled well, but the West batsmen went after Sanyal, Lahiri and Rohan Gavaskar and made part-time stay part-time, taking 17 runs off the only Debang Gandhi over.

 

[Arjun]

West v/s East- East won the toss and put West in to bat- a decision that backfired as Dheeraj Jadhav and Satyajit Parab made centuries and made an opening partnership of 258, broken in the 44th over. Wickets fell in a heap as Ranadeb Bose took five, even as Parthiv Patel and Ranjit Khirid made a few quick runs to take the total to 307. The batting side were kept at bay by Bose and Shib Shankar Paul, but tore into the rest of the attack.

The East Zone response was explosive, as Dhoni and first SS Das, then Debang Gandhi, made quickfire partnerships, but both Das and Gandhi were out way too early. They didn't recover, even as Dhoni, who ws recently picked in the Indian ODI side, was leading a lone challenge, and lost wickets at regular intervals. West won by over 70 runs.

Central v/s South- South batted first after winning the toss, scoring 269 runs. Venugopal Rao hit 10 fours on his way to 69 off 67, while Swapnil Asnodkar got 53 in 80. The rest of the batsmen got off to starts, but none of them convered their starts into big scores. VVS Laxman scored 41 in 41 balls, proving he's no slow scorer. Neither wicketkeeper in the match scored too many runs. The top bowler in the match was RP Singh with 5 for 58.

Central Zone responded with quick partnerships, though they lost a wicket too many. Mohammed Kaif (captain) and opener Amit PAgnis got starts, only to get out quickly. Suresh Raina scored a quickfire 94 off 95 balls, but that did not help as wickets kept on falling, till they fell 8 short of the target. South zone's medium-pacer NSC Aiyappa got 2/35 in his 10 overs, while they went after Sriram- his 8 overs got 2 wickets for 61 runs.

 

[Arjun]

North Zone- The selection of Manvinder Bisla is strange, given they already have a wicketkeeper. Maybe Bisla is a better batsman than Ratra, but that's unlikely in OD's, given Bisla's List-A average of 14. Sangram Singh is a surprise selection, but why is Reetinder Sodhi left out?

 

[Deja moo]

I just wanted to say that I appreciate the match reports and analyses you provide in this thread Arjun. Being little informed about Domestic players, I'm not in a strong position to contribute. I hope you dont take the lack of response to be a lack of interest.

BTW, the Times reported Ranadeb Bose as a Gillespie clone. Was that about his looks or his bowling ?

 

[Arjun]

I just wanted to say that I appreciate the match reports and analyses you provide in this thread Arjun. Being little informed about Domestic players, I'm not in a strong position to contribute.

A lot of what I post is taken from scorecards and a few match reports, as well as comments from two journalists (both used to post on this forum, particularly this thread) who work for another cricket site. Moreover, you'll get to watch a few matches, particularly the Challegers and closing stages on DD Sport. Question- why are the cable channels not coming forward?

BTW, the Times reported Ranadeb Bose as a Gillespie clone. Was that about his looks or his bowling ?

His most recent snap only looks a little like Gillespie. It may be his height, or his pace (CricInfo says he's right-ram fast-medium, but they think MP's Shantanu Pitre is a fast bowler!), which may be a lot faster than what batsmen usually face.

 

[honestbharani]

I remember Salvi, he was a McGrath clone, except in pace and accuracy.

 

[Arjun]

I remember Salvi, he was a McGrath clone, except in pace and accuracy.

Salvi was quite accurate (not for as long as McGrath) and bowled at over 130's and occasionally even over 140's. He could use seam movement and bounce very well. He had a phenomenal 2002 Ranji season, getting him first into the Champions Trophy probables, then the World Cup probables, then the A-team. His performances away from India have been good (16 in West Indies, 29 in England and less than 25 in OD's in Lanka), while on the same tours, Balaji underperformed. But injuries came way too often and subsequently, he lost his place to Balaji.

 

[Arjun]

The CricInfo scorecards are awfully slow- the score was frozen for more than 10 minutes since I last checked. Is there any feedback link? EDIT- I've just sent them some feedback through the link. Hopefully they'll do something about it. Grrrrr.....

Yohannan's chances of a national recall are gone. Already going for over 5 after 9 overs, his last over went for 19, being hit all around by Ajit Agarkar. That Agarkar and Parthiv had over 100 runs between them, when the South Zone bowlers had West on the mat- 180/5- they let them off the hook.

Why Dinesh Mongia was given 7 overs, one cannot tell. Sehwag is obviously the better bowler and more likely to play in the Indian tea, so he shold have taken those 8 overs. Good to see Nehra, Bhandari and Sharma in form. Nehra's 10 overs went for just 10 runs, without a wicket and Bhandari ripped through the East Zone top order leaving them in a precarious position at 22/4. East are all out for just 146, with Sanjib Sanyal unbeaten on 64, at a strike rate of 92.

 

[marc71178]

All hail AA!

 

[Arjun]

Looks like they chage the scores every half hour. Lazy scorers.

North will win- easy one at this stage. Theyre chasing 147 and are at 63/1, with Yuvraj and Gambhir at the crease. They should send in Harbhajan or Joginder and finish the match quickly.

South have started attacking straightaway, getting after Agarkar and Trivedi. Karthik is unbeaten on 28. A big score from the wicketkeeper promoted to open may see him back in the ODI side.

 

[Arjun]

Posted on a CricInfo live scorecard of a Deodhar match
Page refreshes every 180 seconds

Make that ten times as much.

 

[Arjun]

Looks like my feedback has some impact- they're regularly refreshing the South Zone scorecard. South have lost six wickets for just 72- that's six too many.

Looks like star-son politics is getting the better of this team. The son of a former national player/selector retains his place in the South Zone side despite doing nothing of note, with bat or ball.

 

[chris.hinton]

It the Zonal Cup a League or Knockout this yeat

 

[Arjun]

Zonal cup as in competition within a zone or between zones?

The Ranji OD's are leagues in each zone, with the top 5 or 6 teams maing a knockout stage. The Deodhar Trophy is a league, though it should have a final.