**Official** Indian Domestic Season 2013/14

[Arjun]

I feel Mishra is still the leading spinner. His performance in the Asia Cup was a lot better than the other two, but his bowling is likely to go for plenty of runs, which scares Dhoni a lot. Kartik seems to have aged, while Harbhajan isn't really delivering- or even trying. Ojha, I've often felt, is a flat bowler in the Giles mould, so he too will struggle when the pitch doesn't turn, and his form over the whole season was patchy. There's this bloke playing for Mumbai, Iqbal Abdulla, with a very impressive strike rate in ODs, now getting better in FCs, but his form in this OD tournament has been poor- though the VH Trophy is a difficult one to trust. He's one of the better spinners in the country right now, but his team doesn't seem to like him much- since he's missed several over the last two seasons after one dropped catch.

Mumbai's other young spinner, Vishal Dabholkar, had done well this season, but he's only two seasons old- and his first season, on flats, was dire. There's Rakesh Dhurv from Gujarat who has had two good seasons, but not been exceptional. There's Jalaj Saxena from MP, but his great form is only in this year's Ranji, and there's Amit Yadav from Goa, who's got very good figures, but Goa is a bottom-tier team. Karnataka, though, are Ranji Champions, and their spinner Gopal has done well- but this is his debut season. Baroda's Yusuf Pathan and Gagandeep Singh have scalped plenty of wickets, but I suspect most have come in the cracked dustbowl known as the Moti Bagh Stadium, their home ground. I don't rate Chawla or Nadeem as good enough for India.

Most spinners doing well in the Indian scene are either a season or two old, or are having their one good season. Looking at the charts for this season's Ranji Trophy, only three of the top ten bowlers in the wickets tally are spinners- and none in the top five.

 

[Daemon]

What happened to harmeet singh?

 

[Shri]

Harbhajan said in an article in TOI that he is still India's best spinner.

 

[Daemon]

Congress first list: Cricketer Mohd Kaif, Nandan Nilekani, Ravi Kishen among 194 candidates for Lok Sabha polls | The Indian Express

lul

 

[G.I.Joe]

Quite a downfall from potential Indian captain to IPL reject and politician.

Says more about politics than him, to think about it.

 

[Arjun]

Harmeet Singh was warming the benches all along for Mumbai, so he had chosen to shift to Vidarbha. Then the Rajasthan Royals Spot Fixing Case became public, and he too figured, as a bit player, so Vidarbha refused to play him. After he was cleared of all charges, he went back to Mumbai, but isn't getting a game. Rather unfortunate.

Harbhajan said in an article in TOI that he is still India's best spinner.

Harbhajan can say what he wants in the Times Of India- he may have paid them to run that article. That's how Times Of India works. That's not how to get back to the national team, though.

Quite a downfall from potential Indian captain to IPL reject and politician.

Says more about politics than him, to think about it.

And he's in a party that's likely to get thrown out of the state where he's contesting. Sad, indeed. Not surprisingly, many fans are not happy.

 

[Arjun]

In the Hazare Trophy, Jharkhand players are going strong. Rahul Shukla has scalped nine in three games at a healthy average. I'm not sure if he's still bowling as fast as he was in the IPL, but his career average and strike rate, having started recently, are quite good in ODs. Still, too far from an India berth- not so much for Ishank Jaggi and Saurabh Tiwary. Both are coming close to 50 ODs, and average close to 50 (Ishank's is over 50), and Ishank is in the top ten run-scorers list.

Now, Vidarbha have scored 283/6, and had Services in a spot of bother, at 32/3- with Umesh Yadav squeezing them. Once Yadav was taken off, the Services blokes consolidated at 93/3, with their heavyweights, Yashpal and Rajat getting starts. This match is more about Umesh Yadav getting plenty of wickets than anything else.

 

[Daemon]

Harmeet Singh was warming the benches all along for Mumbai, so he had chosen to shift to Vidarbha. Then the Rajasthan Royals Spot Fixing Case became public, and he too figured, as a bit player, so Vidarbha refused to play him. After he was cleared of all charges, he went back to Mumbai, but isn't getting a game. Rather unfortunate.

That's dire. Never watched him play but Ian Chappell thought he had the goods and his performances seem to back it up.

 

[Arjun]

Services pulled off yet another upset- this time, Vidarbha. The soft spot in Vidarbha's bowling attack cost them the match, as once Umesh Yadav (11 overs, 3 for 55) was taken off, Rajat (112) and Yashpal (81) got big scores that won the match. Too much depended on Umesh Yadav. He finishes the tournament with 11 wickets in four games.

Meanwhile, Baroda, in their chase of Railways' 230/9, are one down for 26.

 

[Arjun]

The institutional teams made it to the main quarters. Services winning against Vidarbha was a surprise, but not a very good one, since we've yet to find a Services player good enough for India. Vidarbha had Umesh Yadav, who finishes the tournament with neat figures, who can be an India player over a long term, if he gets his line and length better. Services have none- it's a stretch, calling Yashpal Singh and Rajat Paliwal as international standard. Both are in the top ten run-scorers list. Both have very impressive OD figures. But neither seem to add much to their places in the side.

Railways make it ahead of Baroda. Having posted 230/9, they chipped several Baroda wickets, and crushed them for 138. That's a great fall. Fan comments say Irfan was bowling in the 120's, which wasn't encouraging. Yet, he's the only all-rounder with good figures in this tournament- Rishi Dhawan, Rasool, Jalaj and Abdulla have been poor, and won't make the squad on figures from this tournament. Anureet, apparently, got a lot of swing, but needs a little control. Likely he needs lots of pace if he has to succeed at the top.

It's official. There is a third Amit Mishra, also a seamer currently active. We know it's not the senior Amit Mishra, but it's not the young UP seamer Amit Mishra either!

 

[karan316]

Irfan is just back from an injury, was out for a pretty long time, don't think he'll try to bowl at his full strength so early, he'll need some time.

The IPL will be really important for both Yusuf and Irfan if they want to make a comeback. Yusuf has done really well so far in the Vijay Hazare trophy, 2 quick fifties, a century and 4 wickets in 5 games, he also did well in the Ranji trophy except for the last game where he was facing fitness issues. Irfan needs to show some form in the IPL.

 

[karan316]

Talking about Indian domestic cricket, nothing excites me more than Jasprit Bumrah's rise. Has done well even on the flattest decks. He has this ability to produce a wicket taking delivery out of nowhere every now and then. Early days for him, but definitely has the potential to be a good test bowler.

 

[Arjun]

Irfan is just back from an injury, was out for a pretty long time, don't think he'll try to bowl at his full strength so early, he'll need some time.

The IPL will be really important for both Yusuf and Irfan if they want to make a comeback. Yusuf has done really well so far in the Vijay Hazare trophy, 2 quick fifties, a century and 4 wickets in 5 games, he also did well in the Ranji trophy except for the last game where he was facing fitness issues. Irfan needs to show some form in the IPL.

I wonder how much longer it will take for Irfan and Yusuf, both of whom now have fitness issues. The quality of batting here isn't that great anyway and the pitches are significantly bowler-friendly. Won't be so easy in the IPL, where both may end up batting low down the order, and may not even get to bowl their full quota of overs- against tough opposition on flat decks. They will need to tighten up when the IPL begins.

Talking about Indian domestic cricket, nothing excites me more than Jasprit Bumrah's rise. Has done well even on the flattest decks. He has this ability to produce a wicket taking delivery out of nowhere every now and then. Early days for him, but definitely has the potential to be a good test bowler.

Early days indeed. Somehow, Mumbai Indians, who picked him, dropped him after just one bad match! He needs to play two more seasons of domestic cricket and figure in every IPL before he's in line for an India call-up. Plenty of India's seam-up bowlers are greentop bullies. Maybe Yo Mahesh is one of them too, given his bowling figures in ODs, which are seriously impressive- but he's only 120k.

 

[Arjun]

Hang on, what's going on in Kolkata? ESPN/STAR channels here have been priced out, so I can't watch. Already TN, chasing Bengal's measly total of 167, are at 77/8, with Shami taking three, Dinda two, Veer Pratap two and LRS one. Kolkata seems to have laid a minefield here for this game- unlike the previous one which was a high-scorer, where Karnataka edged out Gujarat, with contributions from seniors Robin Uthappa and Vinay Kumar, and rookies Karun Nair and (relatively) Mithun.

Fans are delighted at the prospect of pitches as lively as this one in Kolkata being used for the domestic matches, but if it makes Dinda as competitive as Steyn and Johnson, I'm not so optimistic.

Rajat Paliwal is on top of the batting charts. Not sure if these charts are really worth following. Then again, Robin Uthappa is trailing him by merely 11 runs, and he's good enough for India. In the bowling charts, Yo Mahesh and Rahil Shah have gone further up, but neither can go further because TN is now out of the tournament. Vinay Kumar and Anureet Singh, on the other hand, can move ahead further. Surely now, we can have Uthappa opening for India, and Yo Mahesh, bowling first-change in ODIs?

 

[Arjun]

RIGHT NOW: Take a look at BCCI's completely messed up scorecard for Punjab v/s Railways. Will post the description once they fix it. EDIT: They fixed it. We were seeing Punjab's score as 32/2, with two Railways batsmen dismissed, and all eleven Punjab players yet to bat!

Mahesh Rawat scored a century at more than a run a ball, with support from Jonathan, and little elsewhere. Punjab's Sid Kaul has had a decent game, if unspectacular. He got lower-order contributor Karn Sharma out pulling a short ball, skied to Mandeep at long-on. Now Sandeep Sharma got his second for the game, Rawat bowled. By the way, Harbhajan is also playing, also wicketless. Likely he paid TOI to run the story where he says he's still India's best spinner.

Jharkhand, bowled out by Services for a paltry 214, may well end Services' dream run on the back of impressive bowling by Rahul Shukla. He's got three already, with Services at 60/4. EDIT: He's taken five wickets, to win the game for Services. Varun Aaron, though, is still wicketless.

 

[karan316]

I wonder how much longer it will take for Irfan and Yusuf, both of whom now have fitness issues. The quality of batting here isn't that great anyway and the pitches are significantly bowler-friendly. Won't be so easy in the IPL, where both may end up batting low down the order, and may not even get to bowl their full quota of overs- against tough opposition on flat decks. They will need to tighten up when the IPL begins.

Irfan has had recurring fitness issues recently, but then it also has more to do with the workload he's had. But he's still our best bowling all rounder if we are looking at the next 50 over WC. And I guess Yusuf is not the one who has regular fitness problems, his fitness level is pretty good. Was injured recently, but overall he has been in good shape. So don't see to many issues with him in the long run.

And for Yusuf or any other middle order/lower order batsmen playing for Knight Riders, its really tough to find form in the IPL since the the Eden Gardens is not a small ground and there is always turn on offer on the slow Kolkata pitch. The ground is more suited to players who take calculated risk(like Tiwary or Gambhir) and once the powerplay is over, it is never easy to come in and score quick runs. So won't be too surprised if KKR continue with their batting issues. The batsmen are usually low on confidence and find themselves under pressure to score runs after the difficulties they face at their home ground.

 

[Arjun]

Sid Kaul wipes the tail of the Railways team finishes with five wickets, mostly taken off short deliveries. Neat. Should be a regular fixture in an IPL team.

Irfan has had recurring fitness issues recently, but then it also has more to do with the workload he's had. But he's still our best bowling all rounder if we are looking at the next 50 over WC. And I guess Yusuf is not the one who has regular fitness problems, his fitness level is pretty good. Was injured recently, but overall he has been in good shape. So don't see to many issues with him in the long run.

And for Yusuf or any other middle order/lower order batsmen playing for Knight Riders, its really tough to find form in the IPL since the the Eden Gardens is not a small ground and there is always turn on offer on the slow Kolkata pitch. The ground is more suited to players who take calculated risk(like Tiwary or Gambhir) and once the powerplay is over, it is never easy to come in and score quick runs. So won't be too surprised if KKR continue with their batting issues. The batsmen are usually low on confidence and find themselves under pressure to score runs after the difficulties they face at their home ground.

Irfan came back as a specialist batsman, and when that didn't work out, started bowling again. He'll need to be bowling at his best 130-135k pace to be effective across the board. Far and away the best, no doubt, but he needs to be in prime form to be useful for the side.

Yusuf can't survive as a batsman alone- he's much too limited. However, KKR may end up playing him as a specialist batsman at six/seven, which won't do him any good. Likely they'll have batting issues, also with Kallis, and his poor strike rate. They're still a fruit salad team, though not as much as RCB. Yusuf, though, will need to take plenty of wickets to be a serious contender for the ODI/T20I side again. He's not incapable of it, but needs to do it more often. I'm not sure how useful he'll be in the field- good slip catcher, average outfielder, although most of India's great outfielders of today can't hold on to their catches.

 

[karan316]

Irfan came back as a specialist batsman, and when that didn't work out, started bowling again. He'll need to be bowling at his best 130-135k pace to be effective across the board. Far and away the best, no doubt, but he needs to be in prime form to be useful for the side.

Irfan didn't come back as a specialist batsman, he wasn't fit enough to bowl, but was declared fit to bat, so he started playing just for some match practice. And I don't think he should be bowling at 130-135k pace, I mean when he had made a comeback previously, he wasn't too quick but swung it well and bowled in the right areas, and he was getting wickets at the start more often than not. And not to forget that he was the man of the match in the last ODI he played and had taken a 5 wicket haul. With his improved batting, I think he just needs to support other bowlers and pick an odd wicket here and there, can certainly replace Jadeja who doesn't fit at number 7.

Yusuf can't survive as a batsman alone- he's much too limited. However, KKR may end up playing him as a specialist batsman at six/seven, which won't do him any good. Likely they'll have batting issues, also with Kallis, and his poor strike rate. They're still a fruit salad team, though not as much as RCB. Yusuf, though, will need to take plenty of wickets to be a serious contender for the ODI/T20I side again. He's not incapable of it, but needs to do it more often. I'm not sure how useful he'll be in the field- good slip catcher, average outfielder, although most of India's great outfielders of today can't hold on to their catches.

I agree on that, he needs to do well as a bowler, his batting style is one dimensional, too aggressive, can't be consistent with that kind of batting unless you get enough experience. He has added more to his bowling, variates the pace well, but still needs a bit more to make the cut or he'll have to do exceptionally well with the bat.

 

[Arjun]

While both Irfan and Yusuf are the best all-rounders in the country, neither have had much active cricket on their side. They've done well in the few chances they have had, but they'll need to prove themselves over a longer period. Looking at both figures, they're good, but not very impressive. Yusuf is in the top ten run-scorers, with a massive strike rate, but while his bowling has a decent economy rate, he hasn't picked up enough wickets. Irfan started off well, but got scratchy later on, and finished with a bowling average over 32. What should go in their favour is that the ones preferred over them (Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar, and possibly Ashwin) are not doing well, and except Ashwin, are not even good enough.

You said Jadeja's not suited for number 7- I add, he's not even suited for the role of a strike bowler, where he somehow picks up one wicket a game. His bowling is very much the same breed as that of Yuvraj or Yusuf. Bhuvneshwar, after a dream debut, is going through an extended nightmare, where wickets are very hard to come by. He isn't even scoring runs. Ashwin is the one decent alternative, when he isn't dropping catches or misfielding- but wickets have been few and far between. Ideally, you will want one more bowler with some batting ability, alongside him.

Alternatively, you can look at some other options. Rishi Dhawan is young, and shaping up well, and has two great Ranji seasons behind him. Let's ignore the Hazare Trophy figures- if non-prospects are sitting on top of the charts, the tournament stats have no value. Laxmiratan Shukla is still hte best batsman who can bowl seam-up in India, and has missed India caps due to age bias. I'll add yet another pitch for Mumbai's Iqbal Abdulla, very productive spinner who can also bat a bit. I'm not so sure about Jalaj Saxena, who has had only one good season with the ball, and we cansafely filter out Nayar, Bhatia, Gopal, Ashish Reddy, Stuart Binny, Narwal and the rest.

One joker in the pack is Vinay Kumar, who is not only leading the bowling charts with 23 wickets in six games, but also scoring more than a few runs, very quickly. But are you game for him as an all-rounder, or a bowler at seven/eight? What you want are two bowlers, each of whom can average at least 20 with the bat, and get you nearly two wickets a game.

 

[Arjun]

Robin Uthappa leads the charge, smashing 133, as Karnataka amass 317/4 so far in 49 overs. Contributions from the entire top four- that's what we want in the Indian side- no need for a specialist batsman at six or seven.