*Official* Indian Domestic Season 2004/2005

[Arjun]

I guess he looks more promising then Karthik and Patel. Everyone now wants a Wicketkeeper who bats.

That's brought about some silly moves such as making batsmen keep wickets or making wicketkeepers open the innings. Very few wicketkeepers are good enough to bat in the top six. A lot of them cannot even hit the ball! If the selectors really know what's good for the team, they should also find bowlers who can bat and state/zone/club/school teams must prepare their bowlers to bat.

 

[amokk1]

I agree. I think everyone is trying to do what Adam Gilchrist did for Australia.

Patel has opened the batting, Dhoni has opened the batting, Kamran Akmal for Pakistan has opened the batting. It's almost like sending Irfan Pathan to open the batting since he can bat a BIT.

Whatever happended to real OPENERS ? Not, these fake wicketkeeping ones who seem to be so inspired by Adam Gilchrist that they are trying to be aggressive.

Patel can bat, but it's his wicket keeping that let him down and thus lead him to be dropped. Concentrate on wicket - keeping first, batting second. That's my advise to them.

 

[Dasa]

Just had a look at Dravids stats for the Challenger Trophy, they make for some impressive reading.
232 runs for once out in 242 balls.

 

[amokk1]

Dravid, is the best player I've ever seen play for India. Yet, he so is under rated.

 

[honestbharani]

I still think Dhoni should only be playing ODIs. I still tend to think that Kaarthik is our best keeper and should therefore be playing the tests, while Dhoni's overall package makes him the #1 contender for the keeper slot in ODIs.

 

[adharcric]

I still think Dhoni should only be playing ODIs. I still tend to think that Kaarthik is our best keeper and should therefore be playing the tests, while Dhoni's overall package makes him the #1 contender for the keeper slot in ODIs.

i agree

 

[amokk1]

I thought Patel was a good wicket keeper. He only had one poor series, which happended to be against Australia and everyone was all over him. Would the same have happended if India was playing against Zimbabwe?

A new wicketkeeper to emerge for India within 6 months and Karthik gets the boot, whose with me ?

 

[Arjun]

Just had a look at Dravids stats for the Challenger Trophy, they make for some impressive reading.
232 runs for once out in 242 balls.

"The Crawl" Dravid......very impressive for someone whom some still consider a one-day misfit! Better yet, all of this came when he was captain! Good stuff.

 

[Arjun]

Doordarshan's DD Sports showed a benefit match between Indian Airlines and Rest of India, which featured many India prospects, starting lineup players and a few extras. Did anyone in India catch it?

 

[Pratters]

Doordarshan's DD Sports showed a benefit match between Indian Airlines and Rest of India, which featured many India prospects, starting lineup players and a few extras. Did anyone in India catch it?

Ya very little of the match cos I was watching WWE Royal Rumble. But the presentation was hilarious.When you have to announce Yuvraj Singh's driver is waiting for him outside. Please go from the stadium apart from the other commotion, with the chief guest coming late, it has to be a classic.

 

[Arjun]

The Duleep Trophy starts tomorrow, but none of the Zonal squads are announced! Will they announce the teams ten minutes before the match? After all, in one Challenger match, an opener for India A switched to India B before the match!

 

[adharcric]

The Duleep Trophy matches are in progress right now and things are going rather strangely.

Some interesting things to note so far:
-Jadhav 17(75) in 1st innings, ouch!, hope he's selected for tests vs. pak . . .
-Parthiv 3*(21) at lunch, not like it matters but yeah, he's really slow . . .
-Nehra at lunch: 3 for 23, ER=1.92, looking good; good sign, we really need the seamers to perform better, Pathan/Zaheer/Nehra and then Bhandari/Balaji
-65 runs by Das&Das East Zone openers, then a quick collapse
-JP Yadav at lunch: 3 for 22, ER=1.83, any chance for a call-up sometime?
-Dhoni out for 5 .. Karthik will probably keep the test spot, lets see though ...

 

[Arjun]

-Jadhav 17(75) in 1st innings, ouch!, hope he's selected for tests vs. pak . . .

Only on a dodgy pitch.

-Parthiv 3*(21) at lunch, not like it matters but yeah, he's really slow . . .

Now 55 off 90, with 5 fours. Slow.....

Nehra at lunch: 3 for 23, ER=1.92, looking good

And finished good, too-6/57. He'll have to do more on the field, to keep the likes of RP Singh away.

65 runs by Das&Das East Zone openers, then a quick collapse

That batting side looks weak. With Jayachandra capable of bowling decently long spells, one bowler could have been replaced by a batsman.

JP Yadav at lunch: 3 for 22, ER=1.83, any chance for a call-up sometime?

More so now that he took 5, and even more so if he scores a lot with the bat. The selectors can then look for a wicketkeeper who can keep rather than bits-and-pieces keepers.

 

[Pratters]

Some observations after day of of the Duleep Trophy :-

It is totally unexplainable why Dhoni gets to bat as an opener or 3 in Ranji matches when he wouldnt bat bigher than 7 in the test team. It would be better to give the other players an opportunity higher up the order.

Harvinder Singh still has a remote chance to play for India considering he was born in 1977 and still has years in him.

A low score by S.Raina on whom I have high hopes. Not a contender for a test squad for the near future but he can play in the one day side with some more good performances to back his Zonal ODI performances.

Why am I not surprised Ganguly is unfit for the first Duleep trophy match after looking extremely fat in recent times his picture has appeared on newspaper or he ahs shown up on tv. A few matches in the challenger series were enough to put him out for a game. Tchh tchh.

 

[Arjun]

Some observations after day of of the Duleep Trophy :-

It is totally unexplainable why Dhoni gets to bat as an opener or 3 in Ranji matches when he wouldnt bat bigher than 7 in the test team. It would be better to give the other players an opportunity higher up the order.

Harvinder Singh still has a remote chance to play for India considering he was born in 1977 and still has years in him.

A low score by S.Raina on whom I have high hopes. Not a contender for a test squad for the near future but he can play in the one day side with some more good performances to back his Zonal ODI performances.

Why am I not surprised Ganguly is unfit for the first Duleep trophy match after looking extremely fat in recent times his picture has appeared on newspaper or he ahs shown up on tv. A few matches in the challenger series were enough to put him out for a game. Tchh tchh.

Dhoni at three- It's a mistake many a side makes in domestic cricket. They try to make every wicketkeeper capable of batting, often ending in disastrous results. A a result, genuine batsmen and even bowlers capable of batting lose out on a spot to some no-hoper. Except Dhoni, who's had enough chances to practicse his batting, NONE of the wicketkeepers in India are capable of making an impact as batsmen- even some bowlers in India can bat better than them!

Little Man Harvinder's return- It should not happen. He does not have the body! Which is why it is not surprising that his performances in Tests and ODI's are far from satisfactory.

Raina's role in the national side- He should still be in the Test side as a reserve player. He can prove useful as a substitute fielder. He's definitely right for ODI's.

Ganguly's injury- Not surprising. A less effective, mirror-image Shoaib Actor.

 

[Arjun]

Two players of interest from Bengal- Shib Shankar Paul, from the pictures, seems a very tall man (taller than Harbhajan in one picture) and he was a good fielder in the Nairobi series (which was shown on television) and has good control over the ball. IF he can improve his fielding, he can make an Indian side. Opening partner Ranadeb Bose initially missed out on a Challenger spot since his fielding was apparently not good enough for OD's, but bowled well. CricInfo lists him as RFM. Sanjib Sanyal, their team's first-change bowler, may not be an India prospect with the ball, but his batting, for a bowler, is very good.

 

[SJS]

Where is great, young, future India hope, top class all rounder, blah-blah-blah-Bahutule ???

Have West Zone dropped him ??

If so, good riddance to bad rubbish

 

[SJS]

Three great merits of SS Paul :-

1. He is taller than Harbhajan !
2. He is much fatter than Harbhajan !!
3. He is faster than even Kumble !!!

Way to go India...

 

[Arjun]

Where is great, young, future India hope, top class all rounder, blah-blah-blah-Bahutule ???

Have West Zone dropped him ??

If so, good riddance to bad rubbish

Must be unwell. They would think twice before dropping a proven success such as him. He has been the best spinner for Mumbai/West in the last few years and is definitely better than those playing in the West side for the Duleep Trophy, and has scored lots of runs. They wouldn't have selected Rajesh Pawar ahead of him unless they have a genuine reason.

 

[Arjun]

Three great merits of SS Paul :-

1. He is taller than Harbhajan !
2. He is much fatter than Harbhajan !!
3. He is faster than even Kumble !!!

Way to go India...

In a team where Ajit Agarkar is a lead bowler, that's a start. Being fatter than bone-thin Bhajji is nothing much. A whole lot of Indian 'pace' bowlers are faster than Kumble. Just in case one forgets, he can bowl for long spells, he has good control over the ball and his fielding is good- ahem, Zaheer, ahem, Nehra, ahem, Munaf...