**Official** Indian Domestic Season 2013/14

[Arjun]

There's no running and hiding for Sehwag. Hiding in the middle order, he's been shown up again when he's out of his comfort zone. Ian Chappell's right about him hiding in the middle-order, where his own weaknesses will eventually be exploited by fielding sides. Now it's Vinay Kumar's turn.

 

[Arjun]

India Blue win, after a few scares from Milind, Bhatia, Bhisht and Nehra. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got back some of his early-overs bite, and wasn't tested much here. Vinay Kumar also nicked a few in this final. However, we'd prefer folks like Umesh and Suyal picking up buckets of wickets, because they're the more effective and more useful bowlers at a bigger stage.

 

[Arjun]

In other news, the Indian team for the ODI/T20I series against the visiting Aussies has been announced. It's good (in a way) to have Umesh Yadav dropped. I'd prefer he blitz through batting lineups in Ranji before he gets back in the national team. If he's been sidelined for ODI specialists, he's been sidelined for weak bowlers who happen to be ODI specialists. Unadkat's a decent OD bowler, but on flat decks, he too goes for Umesh Yadav economy rates. Shami's economy touches Umesh Yadav levels, but picks up less than a wicket a game. Vinay Kumar, though a veteran, seems to stay at Umesh Yadav economy levels most of the time, with not so many wickets- and we see batsmen stepping down the track and hoisting him like a flat spinner. So much for ODI specialists.

What more does Pankaj Singh have to do? He's left out again!

 

[Arjun]

Robin Uthappa is injured and will miss the Duleep Trophy. South Zone, still, raked up 213/3, with big fifties by Manish Pandey and Baba Aparajith. Though Pandey is struggling in T20s and some ODs, he's thriving in FC cricket. We may have one more Test specialist. Baba Aparajith is a lot less of a specialist since he can roll down several overs, but he's batted well and looks the part in scoring a hundred. In a comical end to opener-at-one-down Lokesh Rahul's innings of six, he was out leg-before to Yusuf Pathan, who's bowled the most overs by a West bowler. Turning track it may be at Chepauk, with three spinners in either side.

 

[Arjun]

Baba and Pandey scored doubles. South scored over 600. Not much (actually, none at all) strength in this West Zone bowling.

 

[Daemon]

Batting either apparently..

Gotta lol at Mukund getting 2 wickets off his filthy leggies.

 

[Prince EWS]

Love the Duleep Trophy but the format seems to get worse and worse every season. A four game tournament? Really?

 

[Prince EWS]

Batting either apparently..

Gotta lol at Mukund getting 2 wickets off his filthy leggies.

I think he was on a hat-trick; that's great

 

[Manee]

Love the Duleep Trophy but the format seems to get worse and worse every season. A four game tournament? Really?

Doesn't seem enough really but then there is a fair amount of cricket played in the Ranji Trophy. I really hate that there are attacks which can be considered weak in the competition. It should be the case that all the teams are very strong. I guess India A game and Champions League has something to do with it but I think the point that a lot of mediocrity seems to thrive in domestic cricket must also be considered. From what I've heard, there was someone who was pretty prolific in the Ranji Trophy Plate League as an opening bowler, bowling at 115kph the other day.

The Challenger Trophy is certainly something which needs to be overhauled. I think it should be a three match series between India Blue and the OD champions (e.g. Delhi). It is all about feeding into the international team, surely we do not have more than 11 people on the cusp of the ODI team and so we do not need an India A and India B team in the series.

 

[Daemon]

Doesn't seem enough really but then there is a fair amount of cricket played in the Ranji Trophy.

Ideally it should be the other way around. It'll never happen though, probably because of the number of states/major cities with their own individual associations.

 

[Arjun]

The Duleep Trophy should be played as a five-team group, with the top team clinching the Trophy, to avoid drawn finals and first-innings leads deciding the winner. It should be played in the off-season, when the best players are available, no international/reserves/futures cricket on.

The Ranji Trophy needs to be shortened, and instead of this unequal hierarchical tier system, we should have three or four evenly-balanced groups and the top six make a super group stage, to keep the competition more active and reduce draw-pinching. Overseas players in off-season should be allocated to each team, which will keep the quality high when Indian players are away.

The Challenger Trophy should not be a means to select the national side. You can get nothing out of the tournament in this form. You can, instead, treat it as a workout for the current ODI team. ODI selections should be based on other tournaments.

 

[Daemon]

Mohanty has mind boggling figures for someone who hovers around the 115-125kph mark.

 

[Daemon]

Ok not really, bowling massive outswingers atm.

 

[Arjun]

East Zone is a lot more bowler-friendly, which helps Mohanty's figures, but he seems to be getting some serious swing even in the flatter, hotter South Zone. If he can increase his pace to the 130s, and still keep that swing, he's a serious contender for a Test spot. Can't say that about Dinda, who's got neither enough pace nor any sort of accuracy or consistency.

 

[Daemon]

****, that looked nasty. Took a huge chunk of the dirt out.

 

[Arjun]

Are you watching the game on STAR Sports HD? I'm not getting the channel, and the regular channels are showing re-runs of Champions' Trophy, some Indo-Pak game and some BPL football.

 

[Daemon]

Willow Cricket. Can't give you a link here but you should be able to find it with some googling.

 

[Manee]

Mohanty has mind boggling figures for someone who hovers around the 115-125kph mark.

Ok not really, bowling massive outswingers atm.

That is exactly the thoughts I went through today. Clearly has the ability to swing it in too.

 

[Daemon]

Chand gets his hundred, Yadav gets a wicket early on. Good day so far.

 

[Arjun]

Hopefully Umesh gets a big ten in this match, and at least two more. That will help his cause as an India strike bowler, not just in Tests, but also in ODIs, where we're seeing weak bowlers picked as ODI specialists.

Mandeep is inching towards another fifty. One more bloke who's doing very well in FC cricket but struggling in limited-overs formats, much like Manish Pandey.