**Official** Indian Domestic Season 2013/14

[CricAddict]

Sehwag out cheaply again. Gambhir trying to hold an end up. Fans wish Gambhir was playing in South Africa- when he couldn't hold up against England at home. This leg of Ranji will be dull. Mumbai missing their top players, Vidarbha missing Umesh, Delhi missing Ishant, but it depends on whom you're following. Rajasthan/MP will be an important game. Jharkhand now as competitive as hosts Mumbai, but a win is still unlikely, and they may drop to the bottom.

aahhhhh..

 

[Arjun]

aahhhhh..

Nine wickets for not too many in the previous game he played.

 

[Arjun]

What more does Pankaj Singh have to do to play for India? Move to Saurashtra? Get a CSK contract? Get five wickets in an innings? Wait, he just did, for 30, and MP is bowled out for 115. Get ten wickets in the match?

Rishi Dhawan fan mail keeps pouring in, and in the light of the twin failure of Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar in the first ODI, calls for his India debut are getting louder. I thought, he can wait, but seeing how underpowered Bucky is and his struggles on something flat and bouncy, a good season should have him coming ahead.

Saurabh Tiwary close to a hundred, even as Jharkhand's batting fails again. Just how relevant is his innings? I'm not sure, since he hasn't changed the course of any match with his good form, as they're losing game after game, bar one. But batting isn't an issue- those in the Indian team now are better (fair, not Yuvraj Singh or Suresh Raina, but still) and the competition is tight. What we want are tearaway pacers and strike bowler all-rounders.

Samson out for zero. Yet some fans want him to 'play for India before his talent gets wasted'. Elsewhere, TN are trying to push for a result against problem-ridden Baroda, but will their spin-friendly pitch actually aid Baroda in surviving another relegation scare?

 

[nsniks]

Well played Tiwary

 

[Arjun]

Even as Pankaj's team is doing well on the back of his five-for, his rival in MP, IC Pandey, has taken four so far. Good to see some rivalry resulting in a wicket haul. Elsewhere, Varun Aaron scalps two early ones, and the few games he's played, have been very productive for him.

What is happening at Kannur? This is a minefield, worse than what Baroda had laid for their game against MP.

Wait, what? Weaklings of Group A, Jharkhand and Vidarbha, are on top of their respective games against heavyweights Mumbai and Punjab!

 

[Arjun]

Rishi Dhawan has a massive fan following- not surprisingly, Irfan Pathan did earlier. Seam bowling all-rounders, doing very well in Indian domestic events. Fans love them. It's a pity there are not too many. In the current scenario, Bhuvneshwar Kumar would be ideally better than Dhawan, since he's done well against top-tier (and later middle-tier) teams, and has maintained good records in ODs as well, and eventually became an ODI regular- but the brazen demolition in Jo'burg has shown him up to be small, slow and limited heavily- and the wrong choice for a strike bowler. I'm not sure he can even play for India after this series. The other option was Ashish Reddy, but both he and his team (Hyderabad) are in such dire straits, it makes no sense backing them. Abhishek Nayar is not an option- he barely bowls. Rajat Bhatia is an option, but he's no strike bowler, and India won't get green-tops all the time. Laxmi Ratan Shukla hits the deck hard and moves the ball well, but poor form in the recent season won't help. And the former fan favourite Irfan Pathan is struggling to stay fit.

In the spin all-rounder camp, we already have Ashwin, and the people running the team think they have one in Jadeja. This half is a lot more promising, but I'd be wary of giving Parvez Rassool an India cap due to lack of experience. Iqbal Abdulla is a neat OD bowler, but if he can't play for Mumbai, how can he play for India? Bipul Sharma is doing well for HP, ironically, Rishi Dhawan's team, but he's doing a lot less with the ball than needed, in terms of overs. Yusuf Pathan, unfit, out of form and out of favour, has had an upswing only recently, at his home ground, Moti Bagh- where his statistics are massively better than in the rest of India.

 

[Arjun]

Big fight in Bengal/Railways clash, over Murali Kartik running out Sandipan Das- Mankading. Sandipan given out, Bengal coach Ashok Malhotra gets into argument with Kartik "Is this how you play cricket?" You've got to love Kartik now.

 

[Daemon]

gun

Pretty stupid of the batsmen to start walking out early especially to someone like Kartik who has a history with this sort of thing. Knowing him he probably gave a warning or two as well.

 

[Arjun]

Cricinfo staff say he had warned Sandipan.

 

[nsniks]

He had done this before in county cricket and was jeered by fans

Somerset v Surrey, Taunton, 3rd day Report : Murali Kartik run-out of Alex Barrow sparks anger | Cricket News | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Prince EWS]

Big fight in Bengal/Railways clash, over Murali Kartik running out Sandipan Das- Mankading. Sandipan given out, Bengal coach Ashok Malhotra gets into argument with Kartik "Is this how you play cricket?" You've got to love Kartik now.

Should still be in the Test side. Don't even care* if he hasn't taken any wickets since 2010; I want him in there.

* NB: This may or may not be because I don't actually care if India do well or not.

 

[Arjun]

Varun Aaron is in good form, and reporters on the ground say he's got a lot of pace and bounce, keeping a strong Mumbai batting lineup in check. Hopefully he'll play the whole season, and when he's fully fit, Jharkhand will play him for the whole season and not imagine they've got good spinners on spin-friendly wickets, a strategy that backfired at home against Gujarat.

 

[Arjun]

Should still be in the Test side. Don't even care* if he hasn't taken any wickets any 2010; I want him in there.

* NB: This may or may not be because I don't actually care if India do well or not.

Kartik actually did rather well in FCs in 2010, particularly in England, where he picked up loads. Unfortunately, in the last two years, he's missed a lot of games and his form hasn't been so good, so it's disappointing. Some things can't be helped- 2012/13 were not good for him.

 

[Prince EWS]

Kartik actually did rather well in FCs in 2010, particularly in England, where he picked up loads. Unfortunately, in the last two years, he's missed a lot of games and his form hasn't been so good, so it's disappointing. Some things can't be helped- 2012/13 were not good for him.

Yeah, I meant "any wickets since 2010". My sentence doesn't make any sense at all with that typo in it.

 

[nsniks]

Varun Aaron is in good form, and reporters on the ground say he's got a lot of pace and bounce, keeping a strong Mumbai batting lineup in check. Hopefully he'll play the whole season, and when he's fully fit, Jharkhand will play him for the whole season and not imagine they've got good spinners on spin-friendly wickets, a strategy that backfired at home against Gujarat.

Seeing our bowlers performance it would not surprised me if he is selected for NZ tour

 

[Daemon]

This Mumbai batting lineup is so weak atm.

 

[Arjun]

Yeah, I meant "any wickets since 2010". My sentence doesn't make any sense at all with that typo in it.

I think you mean, any wickets since 2012. That's when it went downhill.

This Mumbai batting lineup is so weak atm.

Rather, they're not in good form collectively this season. Jaffer, Yadav and Tare did well, but the poor form of Hiken, Nayar and newcomer Sid Lad has pegged them back.

Seeing our bowlers performance it would not surprised me if he is selected for NZ tour

Ironically, the same bowlers getting smashed in South Africa's high-bounce pitches would thrive in New Zealand.

 

[Arjun]

Ranji XI so far

• Khadiwale
• Fazal
• Rahul Lokesh
• SS Tiwary
• Kedar Jadhav
• Naman Ojha (WK)
• Rishi Dhawan (RMF)
• Jalaj Saxena (OB)
• Pankaj Singh (RMF)
• Vishal Dabholkar (SLA)
• Sandeep Sharma (RM)
• Reserve: Robin Bist

Harshal Patel misses out because his team's not performed as well as some others. Ishwar Pandey misses out because he's several wickets short. Varun Aaron, running hot, misses out because he's missed some games, and thus, some wickets. Takawale misses out because Tripura have done nothing of note, except snatch some points. Rahul edges ahead of Bist on account of Karnataka's superior performance.

In an update, Abhishek Nayar was out for one run in 54 balls!

Do NOT look up the scorecard of Hyderabad/Tripura if you really want the Indian team and Indian DC to prosper.

 

[karan316]

Varun Aaron is in good form, and reporters on the ground say he's got a lot of pace and bounce, keeping a strong Mumbai batting lineup in check. Hopefully he'll play the whole season, and when he's fully fit, Jharkhand will play him for the whole season and not imagine they've got good spinners on spin-friendly wickets, a strategy that backfired at home against Gujarat.

Hope he manages his workload well and doesn't play all the games. Don't want to see another bowler loose his pace and confidence on these unresponsive wickets with the conditions not suitable for pace bowling at all.

 

[nsniks]

Nehra with a 5fer although cricinfo is reporting that pitch could not be differentiated from the rest of the outfield. Delhi playing with 5 pacers, has it happened before that an Indian domestic team fielded 5 pacers??