India domestic season 2017/18

[PKBasu]

This year's format means there are some big mismatches, and the better teams need to maximise points from those games. Bengal duly won by an innings and 161 runs over Chhattisgarh (led by Md Kaif), with Dinda taking 10 wickets in the match and Shami getting 6 in the second innings. Ravindra Jadeja's allround brilliance (201, and 7/109 in the match) enabled Saurashtra to collect full (including bonus) points against J&K despite Pujara's second consecutive failure. Piyush Chawla got 8 wickets for Gujarat as they won narrowly over Kerala in a nervy chase of a low 4th innings score.

[sameerph]

Another ton by young Prithvi Shaw against a good attack from Tamil Nadu today-

With a century against a potent TN attack, Prithvi Shaw shows why he is so highly rated

When the national selectors and under-19 coach Rahul Dravid unanimously decided to not consider Prithvi Shaw for the Asian U-19 squad to let him concentrate on the Ranji Trophy season, it was a clear message for the 17-year-old that the decision-makers believe that the Mumbai opener was too good for the age group level and needs to challenge himself at the highest domestic completion.

I am beginning to get excited about this kid.

[prasen9]

There have been a lot of big scores apart from the Jadeja double century. Here are the top averages: Ganesh Satish 164, RR Sanjay 161, B. Aparajith 159, Anmolpreet Singh 153, P. Chopra 138.33, JG Bista 123 who average more than the young Shaw. I am not saying they are better and all these numbers will come down with more matches. But, I think with this group system, some of the first matches are big mismatches. The Ranjis should be revamped to have 8-10 major teams based on zones/sub-zones and they should play round-robin in two groups with semis and a final. Each team should be free to sign any player from anywhere. That way we will have a real FC league with solid quality. Now, domestic scores are a joke and the high quality matches in the last few rounds are only a handful.

[prasen9]

On the bowling side, the top performers have been (qual 9 wickets, by avg.): K Gowtham, Dinda, Jalaj Saxena, Ishant(!), IC Pandey. Gowtham is a 29 year old off-spinner who has played only 15 matches but performed well when he got a chance. Maybe they play him only on spinning wickets? Jalaj Saxena is playing for Kerala this season. Pandey is a tall medium pacer but he is also 28. Again this is off 2-3 matches, small sample size.

[PKBasu]

Another ton by young Prithvi Shaw against a good attack from Tamil Nadu today-

With a century against a potent TN attack, Prithvi Shaw shows why he is so highly rated

When the national selectors and under-19 coach Rahul Dravid unanimously decided to not consider Prithvi Shaw for the Asian U-19 squad to let him concentrate on the Ranji Trophy season, it was a clear message for the 17-year-old that the decision-makers believe that the Mumbai opener was too good for the age group level and needs to challenge himself at the highest domestic completion.

I am beginning to get excited about this kid.

The kid is undoubtedly an exciting talent. He is batting as part of a star-studded Mumbai batting line-up, and has outshone everyone else so far this season. He is the real thing -- and serious competition for the opening slot in the test squad before too long.

[PKBasu]

On a Bhubaneshwar pitch that everybody else (from both sides) struggled to bat on, Prithwi Shah made 105 and 46, while Rahane (batting at #3) made 49 and 0. In the second innings, Mumbai are 59/3 overnight, of which the youngster made 46 at a run a ball.

Pujara, who has had a long string of failures in first-class cricket (in England and India) since his last test innings (where he made a ton), ended that long slump with 204 for Saurashtra against Jharkhand. In other matches, Karnataka (Group A leaders) are 461/2 (Mayank Agarwal 219*) in reply to Maharashtra's first innings of 245 (6 wickets for Vinay Kumar, king of Ranji bowling). Himachal Pradesh (leaders of Group D) are 163/5 (Dinda 2/39, Shami 2/74, both having bowled 13 overs) in response to Bengal's 419 (Manoj Tiwary 123, Abhishek Raman 174); Bengal have have 10 points from 2 matches, while HP have 13 points from 3 matches so far. Hyderabad skipper Rayudu got 117 as his side piled up 474/9d against Railways (after he had failed in the thrilling loss to Karnataka at the start of the season).

[PKBasu]

Kerala were helped this year by the bowling performances of Jalaj Saxena, who transferred from Madhya Pradesh and snared 38 wickets this season. Jalaj is a good off-spinning allrounder who has played for India A, and had a big season this year. Interestingly, MP are also in the QF, where they meet Delhi. The other Quarter-finals feature holders Gujarat taking on Bengal, Kerala vs Vidarbha (seemingly between two of the historically weaker sides, although Vidarbha have been spectacular this season), and the big behemoths Mumbai vs Karnataka.

Mayank Agarwal of Karnataka has made more than 1000 runs already this season, so he has actually outperformed Mumbai's tyro opening batsman Prithwi Shah. The wickets this year were more helpful to spinners than in recent seasons, so Agarwal's spectacular season may just reflect the fact that the medium pacers did not get as much purchase this season as they usually get in domestic cricket (especially on the first day or two of first class matches).

[prasen9]

Six matches are done per team.

Top batsmen (qual: 480 runs, by average): Mayank Agarwal, Anmolpreet Singh, FY Fazal, RR Sanjay, GH Vihari, SD Lad, and PK Panchal. I think each of these scored more and averaged better than the young PP Shaw. I really like Vihari. I hope he is given more A-team tries so that he can mature enough to be the next in line for the test team.

Top bowlers (qual: 21 wickets, by average): Jalaj Saxena (most wickets & best average among qualified bowlers), CT Gaja, PP Chawla, AB Dinda, Wakhare. Gaja seems to be a promising 23 year old medium pacer. Wakhare bowls off break and is 32. Great to see Chawla back.

[Prem]

Kerala were helped this year by the bowling performances of Jalaj Saxena, who transferred from Madhya Pradesh and snared 38 wickets this season.

Jalaj is with Kerala for past 2 seasons now. He has been terrific since moving to Kerala and deserves a chance atleast in India A...
Kerala team is run professionally with Dav Whatmore as their coach!!!

[prasen9]

Dav Whatmore is an excellent coach and brings professionalism to teams he coaches.

[indiansportsfan]

Gaja was largely instrumental in Gujarat's Ranji final win last year, and Dinda was also pretty good last season. I had advocated for India A spots for both of these guys in this forum; but it did not quite happen. Dinda did get 1 match for India A, but it was played on a flat track, and he was subsequently sidelined. I would hope for both of them to get a get good run for India A this time.
Coming to spinners, we already have a very healthy pipeline right now. But Jalaj should be given India A chances to possible replace Axar in LOIs.

[prasen9]

I don't know if there are India-A matches right away. Let us see what these people do in the knock-out stage which should be of higher quality. Then, maybe we can decide.

[prasen9]

Doesn't look like Mumbai will win the Ranji Trophy this year. Although I never count them out until the last ball!

[PKBasu]

18 year old Prithwi Shaw failed in both innings, and Mumbai are in danger of an innings defeat by Karnataka, for whom the evergreen Ranji star Vinay Kumar took 6 wickets in the first innings.
Bengal took a big first innings lead of 130 runs over defending champions Gujarat, and are 177/1 in the second innings (with two days to go in the match). 22 year-old Abhimanyu Easwaran (who top-scored with 83 and 49 in both List A matches he played for India A against New Zealand A this year) has made 129 and 93* in the two innings, clearly adding his hat in the ring of contenders for opening slots in ODIs and tests.
Delhi have the upper hand in the QF against Madhya Pradesh, with the latter on 47/2 after conceding a first innings lead of 67, despite yet another 5 wicket haul from leg spinner Mihir Hirwani (son of Narendra Hirwani). Left arm spinner Manan Sharma (4/46) was Delhi's key bowler in the first innings.
Vidarbha are on top against Kerala, after taking a 70 run first innings lead. Jalaj Saxena (3/43 and 1/17, plus a top score of 40 as opening batsman in Kerala's first innings) hasn't been able to do enough as Vidarbha piled on 77/1 in the second innings of a low-scoring match.

[PKBasu]

So the Ranji semifinals will be Vidarbha vs Karnataka and Bengal vs Delhi. The first one pits two of the strongest teams this year against each other, while Delhi and Bengal pulled off mild upsets. Mumbai suffered only their fifth innings defeat in 84 years — to Karnataka —in the QF.