Grrr......I can't even mention the name of the stadium in my own city! Hopefully matches will be played in Brabourne....at least we can mention it. The old 'Heyday.
SJS said:
Haha. Thanks. Though I am not a Punjab supporter. I was born and brought up and played all my cricket in Delhi so my cricketing loyalties are with Delhi. Punjab yes because it is North. But it doesnt matter really.
Punjab will play Railways who have Sanjay Bangar and Murali Kaarthik from the known names. They have a batsman called Amit Pagnis who is supposed to be very good but I havent seen him.
Railways might beat Punjab. They are a very competitive side though without any glamorous names !
IF they have Sanjay Bangar, it's not much. Bowls at just about medium-pace (and doesn't take it seriously, either, though he's a better bowler than a batsman), bats out too many dot-balls (no real technique) and excess baggage on the field. Interestingly, he averaged 36 with the bat and 26 with the ball, in 3 Duleep matches.
Murali Karthik? Maybe. He doesn't need numerology to improve his performance, but just relies on his own bowling. He bowls too quickly, which is why he can go for more than a few runs, and can be one-paced. His batting is decent (he was initially a batsman) but hasn't done much outside Ranji. He's slow on the field, more or less a problem with the whole side.
The key player is JP Yadav. He's been
railroading battign sides reglarly. He averages under 20 in Ranji, under 10 in Duleep and has reinvented himself as a player- from a batting all-rounder to a strike bowler who can score runs. He's very aggressive with the bat, bowls steady medium-pace (really slow, keeper-stand-up pace but it works) and can take high catches. He can definitely turn a match on its head in favour of Railways. Much better than Sanjay Bangar.
Pagnis is a run-of-the-mill opener who once played for Mumbai and India-A. He is quite steady and can play the anchor role quite well, particularly when JP Yadav is batting- then he needs to.
Punjab are a very competitive side themselves and have a lot of power in their side. They have the dangerous Yuvraj Singh in their ranks, along with the steady Dinesh Mongia and Pankaj Dharmani. Opener Ravneet Ricky has been performing consistently, but Sodhi has been miscast as an opener and has struggled throughout the series, averageing 22, which shoots up to over 60 if you count a massive 251 not out. That said, he's also done well with the ball. Seamer Gagandeep Singh bowls the in-cutters and out-cutters to good effect and has nearly 7 wickets a match this season.
