Indian domestic cricket/ players

[gbelday]

Suresh, Hyderabad not only failed to make the QF, they finished dead last in the Elite division with just 1 point (1 less than Nagaland's 2) and have been demoted to the Plate division (of just 6 teams) next year.

That’s so sad. Hyderabad produced some amazing players over the years. ML Jaisimha (our neighbors), VVS, Shivlal Yadav, Narasimha Rao (wicked googly), Azhar, Arshad Ayub, Kanwaljit Singh, Noel David (my school), Rayudu, Vijay Mohan Raj and of course Mithali Raj etc. I used to go watch the team practice at the Secunderabad Gymkhana right after my school ended.

There was a time when Pataudi, ML Jaisimha, Abid Ali and Abbas Ali Baig played for the Hyderabad Ranji team.

Been reading about how corrupt HCA has become. Azhar can’t seem to escape controversies.

https://telanganatoday.com/hyderabad-en ... -zero-wins

[PKBasu]

Vihari too made his reputation with Hyderabad, albeit in the Plate division (already signifying Hyderabad's fall from grace). But now Vihari plays for (and captains) Andhra. Similarly, Rayudu's career was ruined by HCA (Shivlal Yadav being the culprit before Azhar). Sad indeed!

I remember the era of Jaisimha, Pataudi, Abid Ali, Abbas Ali Baig, then MV Narasimha Rao (who made his test debut at Eden Gardens with a delectable late cut, but couldn't quite replace Chandra after 2 tests), Shivlal, Arshad Ayub, Kanwaljit Singh (who never got his India cap sadly), Venkatapathi Raju, Azhar himself, VVS Laxman (all the Hyderabadis had a special affinity for the Eden Gardens, where Azhar made his debut and VVS made his famous 281; I also saw VVS make a century there against Pakistan).

[PKBasu]

Saurashtra's hero in the QF turned out to be Parth Bhut, a like-for-like substitute for Ravindra Jadeja. Batting at #9, Bhut made 111* and 52, and also took 3/114 and 5/89 to bowl his side to victory. It was his first 5-for in first class cricket. He wasn't expected to fill in quite this well for Sir Jadeja, but clearly rose to the occasion!

[Atithee]

^^^ Well, bhut means ghost. Maybe he’s Sir Jadeja’s ghost.

[PKBasu]

I think it's pronounced like "but" rather than "boot" (with bh instead of b in each case), so not quite. No joy for Bhut on Day 1 of the Ranji SF. He was introduced late as the sixth bowler and has figures of 0/21 in 4 overs.

Ranji SF Day 1 (almost over, about 10 overs to go today in each match) has featured a century by Mayank Agarwal, playing a captain's innings for Karnataka against Saurashtra, rescuing his side from 115/5 in the company of 'keeper Sharath. Karnataka are 209/5 now.

Bengal are on top in the other semifinal, on 292/2 in the 82nd over against holders MP. Bengal's 2 best batsmen of the season have both made centuries -- 38 year old Anustup Majumdar (120*) and 23 year old Sudip Kumar Gharami (who has displaced Bengal's previously prolific #3 Sudip Chatterjee over the past two seasons). This is Gharami's 3rd century of the Ranji season, and he has also hit five half-centuries (he also made 2 centuries in 5 List A matches, averaging 74 at a strike rate of nearly a run a ball, 99.46). Majumdar once made it to India A (and RoI for Irani twice, IIRC) but is just a classic, doughty domestic player whose performances make it impossible to drop him on grounds of age. This is also his 3rd Ranji century of this season, and he has 2 half-centuries too. Update: both centurions fell to the second new ball and Bengal ended 307/4, so I'd say that 5-day match is evenly poised now.

[prasen9]

Bhut is not Bhavisyat. It/he is bhut!

[PKBasu]

Bengal were bowled out for 438, as Shahbaz Ahmed fell cheaply for a change, and Tiwary fell short of making 50. But Madhya Pradesh are in a bit of trouble at 56/2. Ishan Porel doesn't seem to have his captain's support -- he finally got 2 overs at the end of the day (something of a punishment for a new ball bowler who averages less than 26 runs apiece in first-class cricket) and picked up a wicket. The match is evenly poised.

Mayank Agarwal was the last man out -- just failing to carry his bat when he was run out for 249 out of his side's total of 407. Saurashtra are 76/2 in response -- perhaps with a slight edge at the end of the second day. Sheldon Jackson (27*) is the key for Saurashtra.

[prasen9]

I'd rather be Karnataka.

[PKBasu]

Saurashtra well on top going into the final day. Sheldon Jackson did the job, scoring 160, and the first innings lead was extended to 120 by a double century from skipper Vasavada. Karnataka are 123/4 in the second innings, with no reasonable possibility of winning from this position. They need to score rapidly, declare and try bowling Saurashtra out in the remaining part of the day.

Bengal have a stranglehold on the other SF. After taking a 268-run first innings lead, Bengal made 279/9 in the second innings. Holders MP will have 548 or more runs to chase on the final day.

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Rest of India squad for Irani Trophy 2023:

Mayank Agarwal, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Harvik Desai, Mukesh Kumar, Atit Sheth, Chetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini, Upendra Yadav (wk), Mayank Markande, Saurabh Kumar, Akash Deep, Baba Indrajith, Pulkit Narang, Yash Dhull

[Rajkumar Sharma]

Good to see Chetan Sharma's recent outburst. Irani cup selection is showing plenty of lobbistic selection. Y Jaiswal, how he get selected despite not among the top run getters ? How U Yadav finds a place despite keepers like Mantri, Prabhsimran giving top performance in domestic, same goes with Saini. Sarfaraz Khan's career might be in contention for destruction

[Mukherjee Babu]

I think Ranji Trophy performances is no more important in selection.Days are gone when Ranji performers were selected for Duleep Trophy & Irani Trophy followed by India A team selection from Duleep & Irani Trophy performers. Its all about IPL limelight what selectors wants for selection

[rajitghosh]

Sarfaraz has a finger injury.

[Atithee]

^^^ convenient timing

[Rajkumar Sharma]

What happened to Dhruv Shorey's, Anustup's selection ? 55+ FC average, 95+ average in 2023 season for Shorey