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*Official* Indian Domestic Season 2004/2005
- Thread starter NikhilN
- Start date
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
If they didn't need runs from lower down the order, this needless chopping and changing of wicketkeepers wouldn't have happened, nor would sub-par keepers be picked and persisted with due to some half-baked batting ability, nor would "40-a-wicket" Agarkar get so many chances for the same reason. If the first-choice bowlers start getting runs (and all-rounders finish among the top wicket-takers with good averages, which is happening with two bowlers), the selectors can select the best wicketkeeper in the country. Two wicketkeepers who could walk into a current Indian side on keeping alone have missed out because of this policy.
And we're talking Indian domestic cricket here, not the national team.
And we're talking Indian domestic cricket here, not the national team.
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
Times of India does not seem to agree with Ganguly's statements that East is not a weak side. However, the current East Zone side is a lot stronger than last year's. They have the explosive batsman Dhoni, who is also a wicketkeeper. They have a very good new-ball combination, with Bose and the in-form Paul. They have a decent first-change seamer in Sanyal, who can also hit quick runs at number 7. The batting is strong, though it is predominantly from Bengal. The only problem is that the best players are from Bengal, while those from other states are extras who are not so effective. Deepak Mangaraj is a decent medium-pacer in FC, but not more, and the absence of Debashish Mohanty is disappointing. Fielding is doubtful, though.
Times made a valid statement about the composition of the teams last year and this time. Now, you have the premier players from each zone in every team, including East. East Zone made the final ahead of South, who were missing Balaji, Kumble, Laxman and Dravid, while England's A-team seemed to be a lot less than one. The East side was not particularly strong then as it is now, but the opposition is a slightly weaker but in-form Central Zone side.
Times made a valid statement about the composition of the teams last year and this time. Now, you have the premier players from each zone in every team, including East. East Zone made the final ahead of South, who were missing Balaji, Kumble, Laxman and Dravid, while England's A-team seemed to be a lot less than one. The East side was not particularly strong then as it is now, but the opposition is a slightly weaker but in-form Central Zone side.
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
I can't tell much, given the small size of OD grounds in Indian domestic matches- a true indicator is the performances in places like Eden Gardens, Mumbai, Mohali and Delhi. By far, taking into account who's capable of being useful playing mostly big hits, this list can be madeshoot_me said:
- Nishit Shetty
- Ramesh Powar
- Yusuf Pathan
- Irfan Pathan
- Satyajit Parab
- Ranjit Khirid
- Vidyut
- Dinesh Karthik? Maybe not
- Balaji (not too many big-hitters down South)
- Jai Prakash Yadav
- Sanjay Bangar (rarely uses his big shots)
- MS Dhoni (obvious)
- LR Shukla (on recent form)
- Sanjib Sanyal
- Joginder Sharma
- Sunny Singh
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
The match between BCBXI and Central is sleepy, mostly because of DS Bundela's S-L-O-W innings of 83* in 238 balls. Syed Abbas Ali got a century (a lot quicker, S/R 59) and he formed a mammoth partnersip of over 200 runs to rescue Central after two early wickets lost at the 20's. With the big-hitting JP Yadav in the centre, the scoring rate may go up. Central are at 238/3.
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
In the more high-profile encounter in Indore, South are at 327/9. Opener Robin Uthappa got the team off to a flyer, getting 80 off 95, with 15 fours. However, they lost wickets regularly and the only other major contributions were from veteran Sharath with 60 and wicketkeeper Karthik with a slow 46. Balaji contributed 20 with 4 fours. The match is a comeback for veteran Karnataka spinner Sunil Joshi.
Sanz
Hall of Fame Member
Look who is talking now. I guess you are the same guy who was singing praise of Dinesh Karthik as if he were the next Adam Gilchrist and you are doing the same with Dhoni.Arjun said:
To be very frank, Mahendra Singh Dhoni Sucks both as a WK and a batsman. I watched Dhoni against Bangladesh and I will take Parthiv Patel over him any day and before you accuse me of any bias, Mr. Dhoni plays for my state and lives just 70 miles from my place.
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
I prefer to see a natural get selected and from what I have seen, I think Dinesh Kaarthick seems more natural behind the stumps than either Dhoni or Patel.
Has anyone noticed how little he has dived in the 5 tests he has kept in? That is because he generally has great footwork as a keeper. He gets his body behind most deliveries and he doesn't dive around too much as he picks the ball early, esp. from the seamers, and generally is there to take the ball. His batting can be A LOT better, but I think he will improve. Chopping and changing the side just for the heck of it is just not on. If you have to drop Kaarthick, it has to be because he kept badly and until then, he should not be dropped. That is my humble opinion on the wicketkeeper issue. Dhoni is a great prospect for ODIs because his style of batting is more suited to ODIs and with only one spinner in the side, he won't be tested too much.
Has anyone noticed how little he has dived in the 5 tests he has kept in? That is because he generally has great footwork as a keeper. He gets his body behind most deliveries and he doesn't dive around too much as he picks the ball early, esp. from the seamers, and generally is there to take the ball. His batting can be A LOT better, but I think he will improve. Chopping and changing the side just for the heck of it is just not on. If you have to drop Kaarthick, it has to be because he kept badly and until then, he should not be dropped. That is my humble opinion on the wicketkeeper issue. Dhoni is a great prospect for ODIs because his style of batting is more suited to ODIs and with only one spinner in the side, he won't be tested too much.
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
My name is not Amit S! On form then, he was worth a try, but I was always skeptical about these wicketkeeper-batsmen.
He averaegs over 50 in OD's, and on some occasions, took a Pakistan-A attack to the cleaners. He's an attacker who throws caution to the wind, and the Indian team needs more such. They can win a match for their team on their day. As for his keeping, he could hold on to a lot of Kumble's springers, which is not bad, though he's not the best keeper in India.
Which was not much with the bat, and he did litle wrong with the gloves
And that's not much.
But in the match against Hyderabad, he missed a few loose deliveries which went for fours.
He should just free his arms and hit the ball- there are enough Rahul Dravid types in the batting.
Agreed, but you need your best keeper behind the stumps to support your bowlers. He should be evaluated on his keeping and not his batting, which is how many a promising keeper lost his place in the side.
He'll still have to deal with the bits-and-pieces spinners, if they're still playing.
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Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
If anyone has picked up today's copy of the Times of India, read the part about the Duleep matches. You'll find how indifferent the BCCI (Bad Control of Cricket in India) is towards the non-international players in India
- Te venue for the BCBXI/Central clash had been shifted at the last moment.
- Nobody was in the stands to watch. NOBODY. Instead, they came to watch the Central players play football!
- Except for two selectors on the way to Dharmashala, NOBODY FROM THE BOARD was present. Compare this to the number of BCCI officials present to receive the Pakistani side.
- You can't even find a doctor at the ground! Sanjay Bangar was hit by a snorter and he had to run around for medical help!
- In the recent past, Akash Chopra had to travel 70 miles to play a domestic match at the JMI grounds in Delhi.
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
North Zone, with Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj, have taken the South bowlers to the cleaners- the current run-rate is 5.33! Sehwag got 79 rapid runs at more than a run a ball, then Gambhir completed 52 in 81, then Yuvraj caned the bowlers, scoring 110 in 128- a strong reminder to those questioning his inclusion ahead of Mohammed Kaif, with 18 fours and a six. All the bowlers had economy rates over 4, particularly Shrinivas (over 7!), while comeback hero Sunil Joshi had a horrific comeback, with 138 runs for 3 wickets, at an economy near 5. There was no respite for the South bowlers, as tailenders Mishra and Bhandari scored over 60 runs at over 5 an over!
In this Northern onslaught, Balaji picked up 5 wickets, though his ER suffered just as much as the rest.
In this Northern onslaught, Balaji picked up 5 wickets, though his ER suffered just as much as the rest.
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
NO-BALL COUNTER: In North v/s South, there's another deluge of no-balls- 50 in two days. This is terrible, with Test player Nehra sending down 12! Shrinivas sent down 17, to speed up the counter. In the other match, Central have just bowled one- at least JP Yadav watches his step.