*Official* Indian Domestic Season 2004/2005

[Arjun]

Since when has an India A slot become a place in the INDIAN side !!

And you are right it wasnt supposed to be funny. Its tragic actually that people should read newspapers and then claim that any Tom **** and Haridas is international material.

Sad

Do you still belive in the tonga as the ultimate means of transport? Even when you have a Honda CBR to pick? EDIT: And who said anything about Yusuf Pathan playing for India tomorrow?

 

[SJS]

Do you still belive in the tonga as the ultimate means of transport? Even when you have a Honda CBR to pick?

Are you making a point or is this something you read in the papers this morning ??

EDIT: And who said anything about Yusuf Pathan playing for India tomorrow?

Well he wont play the day after tomorrow also

 

[SJS]

The team needs to take more wickets. They also need balance. Not to mention better fielding/running between wickets.

Aha ! What a brilliant revelation ?? Who could have thought of this ?

 

[SJS]

Frankly, the last thing the team needs is another batsmen. How many tournaments have the Indians won even when the batsmen were in-form?

.

Oh really !!

I thought we needed a batsman at number seven and pleaded for the case of having BOTH Yuvraj and Kaif in the team (before the poor Ganguly was shown the door and was firmly in too) because we HAD to make do with four bowlers and use Sachin's and Sehwag bowling more regularly than we were doing ??

We have changed tracks, have we ??

 

[Pratters]

Did any one watch the Gursharan Singh benefit match? Most Indian stars played and Tendukar hit an attacking 90. Would be great if some one can provide me the scores.

 

[SJS]

Did any one watch the Gursharan Singh benefit match? Most Indian stars played and Tendukar hit an attacking 90. Would be great if some one can provide me the scores.

When was it ?

 

[Pratters]

When was it ?

Today. I just saw on Sportsline in Star sports. Apparently it was also live on DD Sports.

 

[SJS]

Tendulkar gave them their due. After a few knockdowns to get the timing right -- they did not use the proper cricket ball-- the master cut loose. A 54-ball 90 laced with 15 fours and three sixes on all sides of the ground before he holed out to Sourav Ganguly in the deep satisfied the appetite.

VVS Laxman (43) and Yuvraj Singh (27) saw the team reach 211 in 28.5 overs before Rahul Dravid (58, 43b) anchored Sourav Ganguly XI to a comfortable four-wicket win.

This is what happened. No score card but there are some more details on rediff DOT com

 

[Arjun]

Punjab Cricket Association have their own website, but it seems to be highly stadium-centric, without saying much about the association, or developments in the cricket scene there. Do any other state units have their own websites? Maybe they should, or CricInfo should make some, with news, updates and player profiles, and even interactive sections.

 

[shoot_me]

Punjab Cricket Association have their own website, but it seems to be highly stadium-centric, without saying much about the association, or developments in the cricket scene there. Do any other state units have their own websites? Maybe they should, or CricInfo should make some, with news, updates and player profiles, and even interactive sections.

I remember visiting Karnataka and TN's websites some time back. I think Kerala had one too--KCA is pretty sophisticated, they had launched an official website just for the India Pakistan ODI that took place in Kochi.

 

[Arjun]

I remember visiting Karnataka and TN's websites some time back. I think Kerala had one too--KCA is pretty sophisticated, they had launched an official website just for the India Pakistan ODI that took place in Kochi.

That site was only made for the Kocki ODI. There are no links to the Kerala unit's site, if it exists.

 

[Arjun]

Preferred North Zone selection:

• Sehwag
• Gambhir
• Manhas
• Yuvraj
• Dharmani (+)
• Mongia(FC)/Jadeja(OD)
• Joginder Sharma
• Harbhajan
• Nehra
• Bhandari (especially OD)
• VR Singh

With Gagandeep, Mishra, Dhawan and Sodhi as reserves.

 

[Pratters]

Preferred North Zone selection:

• Sehwag
• Gambhir
• Manhas
• Yuvraj
• Dharmani (+)
• Mongia(FC)/Jadeja(OD)
• Joginder Sharma
• Harbhajan
• Nehra
• Bhandari (especially OD)
• VR Singh

With Gagandeep, Mishra, Dhawan and Sodhi as reserves.

You want Gagandeep to play for India and not north zone XI?

 

[Arjun]

You want Gagandeep to play for India and not north zone XI?

Even for India, he may just stay on the bench or be called on as a substitute- my first choice would be JP Yadav, Nehra and VR Singh. Really tough ask, given how congested the pace scene is in the north, and the emergence of two express bowlers upsets plans.

But that North Zone bench looks strong, doesn't it?

 

[Pratters]

Even for India, he may just stay on the bench or be called on as a substitute- my first choice would be JP Yadav, Nehra and VR Singh. Really tough ask, given how congested the pace scene is in the north, and the emergence of two express bowlers upsets plans.

But that North Zone bench looks strong, doesn't it?

The thing is Amith Bhandari isnt a good bowler according to me. He would do okay for Delhi in the omestic Ranji matches but facing other Best XIs in the zonal matches, I am not quite sure he is good enough to sustain that record in the longer version.

Would be interesting to see if he fared well against some good Ranji Zonal teams in the 4 day matches. I do not know the statistic for that.

 

[Arjun]

The thing is Amith Bhandari isnt a good bowler according to me. He would do okay for Delhi in the omestic Ranji matches but facing other Best XIs in the zonal matches, I am not quite sure he is good enough to sustain that record in the longer version.

Would be interesting to see if he fared well against some good Ranji Zonal teams in the 4 day matches. I do not know the statistic for that.

He's usually fared well playing for the A-team, even abroad, and got two 5-wicket hauls in England, while Balaji and Pathan were sub-par; look who's been playing for India. Bhandari is the thinking man's seam bowler and he uses a lot of variations in his bowling and can use helpful conditions well, making him a good choice away from India. He's always been the top seam/swing bowler in every Indian A-team for which he has played- he's often outperformed illustrious teammates such as Balaji, Pathan and Munaf Patel.

 

[Pratters]

But I havent seen much talent in Bhandari which is they key thing. Which is one of the reasons he has never been persisted by the Indian selectors whenever he has made the squad.

 

[Arjun]

But I havent seen much talent in Bhandari which is they key thing. Which is one of the reasons he has never been persisted by the Indian selectors whenever he has made the squad.

Bhandari is neither outright quick nor capable of generating excessive swing, but puts the ball in the right place and knows how to utilise swinging/seaming conditions to good effect- the bowlers playing for India bowl too short, too wide or too diagonal. He's not very flashy or glamorous, but sneaky, and to good effect. He lost out on his place in the Indian side because of that 2/75 on a flat pitch in Dhaka, but he has improved since then. May be good for ODI's.

That said, VR Singh seems a good find for Punjab. If CricInfo reporters are to be believed (they watch the matches at the grounds), he can bowl fast. Hopefully he doesn't end up like Munaf Patel- struggling on the field, breaking down very often, walking off for small niggles. Should make the Indian side in the next Test and ODI series.

 

[Arjun]

RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH!!!! This is terrible! Ten Sports is showing domestic matches played in Pakistan (with Sanjay Manjrekar doing commentary) as well as they would an ODI, showing them in India, and here, none of the premier FC/List-A series in India are televised, even with substandard DD coverage! So sloppy, so typical of BCCI.

 

[Arjun]

Preferred South Zone selection:

• AR Uthappa
• S Vidyut
• VVS Laxman
• S Sriram
• Dravid
• Venugopal Rao
• KKD Karthik
• Balaji
• Kumble
• Jesuraj
• Raghavendra Rao

With Vinay Kumar, Ramkumar, Gaurav Dhiman and Barrington Rowland as reserves. Hopefully Abid Nabi can play for Hyderabad specifically for the Zonal selection.