Indian domestic cricket/ players

[prasen9]

Sangram Singh has scored two double centuries in the Plate division. Is this guy any good? Maybe they should see how he performs in the zonal teams.

[PKBasu]

Himachal Pradesh seem to produce these big scorers in the Plate division (I recall they had another fellow called Nayyar a few years ago, who actually made a triple century). Sangram Singh is nearly 31 years old, and has averaged just over 31 with the bat over 13 seasons. So a pretty mediocre record, although he is having an excellent season this year. The first double century probably should be discounted, as it was against the hapless Jammu & Kashmir side. The second (against Jharkhand this week) is probably worth a bit more...

[prasen9]

But if he is 31 and a career pedestrian, then we should ignore him.

[prasen9]

Emburey on Murali Karthik --- I agree with him unless the objective is to give Ojha some experience. On current capabilities, Karthik is slightly ahead of Ojha, not necessarily on talent and potential, I would say, primarily because of his experience.

[PKBasu]

Manoj Tiwary has regained form with two consecutive Ranji centuries for Bengal. And Ranadeb Bose continues his superb first-class career despite knowing he will never fulfil his dream of playing for India (although he came mighty close on the England tour last year..). He has 21 wickets this season off 4 matches, with an average of 10.57 per wicket! He and Dinda (24 wickets at 13.62 apiece) have proved an invaluable opening pair for Bengal in the Plate league this season.

[PKBasu]

I didn't realize there is a slight change to the Ranji Trophy format this year, with the top two teams in the Plate division gaining a spot each in the Ranji quarter-finals (for which the other 6 slots are reserved for the top 3 teams from each of the Super League groups). Good innovation, I think, with 3 rounds of knock-out action adding an extra bit of excitement to the Ranji season.

[PKBasu]

Some terrific cricket being played in the Ranji trophy. In the Karnataka vs UP match, the impressive opener Tanmay Srivastava made another century (154no) in an unbeaten 242 run stand with his skipper Kaif, who also made another century (104no), continuing his impressive season. So UP are 295 for 2 in response to Karnataka´s 511, which was helmed by a century from tailender Akhil.

Another very close match between Railways and Maharashtra, with the latter having their nose ahead throughout, despite a superb allround show from Sanjib Sanyal (whose defection to Rlys from Bengal may have weakened his old side more than they realised...): he got 4 for 26 to go with innings of 70 and 82. (Actually he has bowled very little for Rlys this year, so this was a bit of a surprise contribution). His team-mate Yere Goud (the Karnataka veteran who is another stalwart of our domestic cricket) made 75 and 89, but Shrikhande´s century for Maharashtra and Fallah´s bowling have ensured a first-innings lead for them and a chance for an outright win tomorrow (they still need 269 runs with 10 wickets in hand).

UP and Karnataka are struggling for the second and third spots in their group, with Railways just behind. Maharashtra are struggling to avoid relegation. It could get pretty interesting if Railways can pull off a win, otherwise TN, UP and Karnataka will make it to the QF from the group. In the other group, Mumbai and Gujarat are sure to finish first and second. Saurashtra in a tussle with Delhi for the third spot, but Delhi needs an outright victory but won´t get it without a superlative effort from their bowlers on the final day tomorrow. Shikhar Dhawan made a fine 93 for Delhi to enable his side to gain a first innings lead, but Pujara is at the crease and will look to bat through the final day to get his side into the QF.

[PKBasu]

Utterly outrageous that Cheteshwar Pujara (especially) and Ravindra Jadeja do not warrant even a Grade D contract from the BCCI. The continuing injustice to Pujara makes me hopping mad actually. Vengsarkar mentioned Ajinkya Rahane and Dhawal Kulkarni, and he is right (especially about Rahane; Kulkarni has had less than one first-class season, makes a lot of money through the IPL and can wait his turn I think). But Vengsarkar's continuing focus on just Mumbai players is a worrying reflection of his lack of a broad all-India vision -- worrying in a former national selection-committee chairman.

[puneets]

This Ranji season is setting up quite nicely. Lots of good matches in the last phase of the round robin. Ganguly will most likely turn up for Bengal (against Goa) in the Plate league semi-finals. If they win that match, Bengal will qualify for the Super league quarterfinals.

[indiansportsfan]

Pujara already has a Grade D contract. And further he comes up short more often in difficult conditions, like in previous match against Delhi. Now he needs to ensure Saurashtra atleast makes it to QF, otherwise he doesnt deserve any recognition. Also R. Jadeja is only 6th in the rungetter list. So I think Kulkarni and Rahane are much more deserving than the other people mentioned. And this is also exemplified by Mumbai's dominance in Ranji this year. But now that West Zone doesnt have a strong voice in selection meetings, I dont think these guys are going to have much chance for the fringe spots.

[prasen9]

Ravindra Jadeja has had only a few good matches. I do not think he deserves an India contract. Rahane and Kulkarni are both great talents and have performed whenever given a chance, though Rahane failed in the one or two A team chances he got if I recall correctly. Whether they deserve India contracts, I do not know, but, I would like to see both given several A-team chances. Wrt Rahane versus Pujara, again, Pujara's numbers are padded with flat-bed innings. I think both are very good, but, if I had to choose one I would perhaps choose Rahane because Pujara needs to step up for the A-team games and the big games. In fact, I like the opening prospects Abhinav Mukund, Ajinkya Rahane, and M Vijay and hope some of them step up in the international arena.

[PKBasu]

A couple of superb bowling performances by left-arm spinners assured outright wins for Karnataka and Saurashtra today. For the former, it was the veteran Sunil Joshi who took a fabulous 7/29 (and 11/91 in the match) to take Karnataka to a comprehensive victory over Maharashtra that assured the former of a quarter-final spot. For Saurashtra, it was again the young Ravindra Jadeja who picked up 7/31 (and match figures of 10/88) to largely ensure his side would make the quarterfinal -- although Delhi has a theoretical chance of catching up with Saurashtra if they complete a big innings-victory over Rajasthan tomorrow. Delhi are 505/5 in reply to Rajasthan's 295 all out, with one day to go (Aakash Chopra making 210, Shikhar Dhawan 118 and Virat Kohli 83 for Delhi). Gujarat (already assured of a QF spot) took a stranglehold over Orissa, with Parthiv Patel making 206 out of Gujarat's total of 382 in reply to Orissa's 162 (without SS Das, who injured himself in the previous match).
In the Plate semifinals (the winners of which are promoted to next year's Super League, and also make this year's Ranji Superleague quarter-final), Himachal Pradesh appear to be headed for victory with a big first innings lead. The Bengal-Goa game in Delhi was interrupted by rain (only 25 overs being bowled today), but Goa are struggling on 166/7 after Ranadeb Bose took 6/50 (including both Swapnil Asnodkar and Ajay Ratra cheaply) after his side had made 337 with the bat (SC Ganguly 69, Saha 54, S Sarkar 60, D Chakrabarty 89).

[puneets]

Aakash Chopra's blog, talking about the central contracts issue:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/beyondtheblue ... nracts.php

[PKBasu]

There is absolutely no doubt that Aakash Chopra deserved atleast a Grade C contract, and it is unfair (given his superb performances in first-class and one-day List A cricket) that he was overlooked even for a Grade D contract. There are a few unseemly responses to his blog, talking about the slowness of Chopra's scoring, etc. They obviously haven't followed the manner in which Chopra has altered his game in recent years to address that very weakness. He should've been picked when Gambhir was unavailable, but of course Chopra isn't even mentioning that. On the matter of these contracts, performance should be the main criteria -- and Chopra has earned one. Sad that strict assessment of performance is not really the basis on which these contracts are handed out.

[PKBasu]

So the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals are set. They will be:

- Mumbai vs Himachal Pradesh at Motera (Ahmedabad)
- Saurashtra vs Karnataka at Brabourne Stadium (Mumbai)
- Gujarat vs Uttar Pradesh at Motibagh Stadium (Baroda)
- Tamil Nadu vs Bengal at Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bangalore)

Notice the remarkable dominance of West Zone venues -- continuing the pattern we have seen with the ODIs, test matches (until terrorism intervened) and even the NKP Salve Challenger trophy. The largest ground in the country, Calcutta's Eden Gardens, continues to be punished. The English Cricket Board wanted to play a test or ODI there but of course were rebuffed. Sharad Pawar and team are megalomaniacs.