Indian Domestic Season 2015-16

[Arjun]

Two Ranji Trophy matches are streaming live on the BCCI website. Baroda vs Mumbai and Vidarbha vs Assam. Mumbai are on top with 408 runs and a wicket left to go. Century for Shreyas Iyer, 68 for Suryakumar Yadav. One Baroda seamer has got good bounce from the home wicket, but the spinners are uninspiring as usual.

For Vidarbha, Umesh Yadav grabbed four quick wickets before Assam mounted a comeback, until spinner Wakhare got four more.

Saurashtra, who have been crushing weaklings in Group C earlier, now face some genuine competition from Hyderabad, once a top tier team. Already losing the lead in a very low-scoring encounter, they're already six down, with a slender lead of 22. Mehdi Hassan (not the singer) is ripping through them. Now lead up to 91, three to go.

Rishi Dhawan got five wickets, his first decent outing this season with the ball, against Goa.

There's been a lot of heckling at Jaipur, with crowds teasing Samad Fallah to increase his pace. This bloke is known to bowl very long spells in FC games- not many wickets, but loads of overs.

After announcing his retirement, Sehwag scores a rapid hundred, and Jayant Yadav, primarily a spinner, scores a fifty.

 

[Arjun]

This round, in terms of results, was disappointing. Besides Saurashtra defeating Hyderabad after getting dented heavily (unlike the clinical crushing of Jharkhand and Tripura), Gujarat crushing Railways, Uttar Pradesh punching back hard to defeat Andhra, and Vidarbha spinning Assam out of a hard-fought match, there's been no result beyond that. Karnataka, though, had a scare against Haryana, as first-innings centurion Jayant Yadav gobbled up six wickets. Jay is no fresh newcomer, unlike the blokes pushed for national selection. He's played 35 Ranji matches, and last season was great for him. If we can have Axar Patel playing for India due to bits and pieces contributions in IPL, why not play Jay, who's contributed substantially in the four-day game?

There's also Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 84 and a century against Baroda. He too is a lot less fresh, and has a formidable FC record, over three seasons, maybe more. Still far from a Test prospect, his batting suits ODIs and T20Is better, and a national call-up is worth it. Also Manoj Tiwary, who's had an impressive season so far, and is one of the most experienced blokes playing right now.

Let's not look at the bowling charts for India prospects. Too many of the top 10, no, 20, have come in Group C, where batting has been horrendous. Someone like Akshay Wakhare or Vishal Dabholkar, who chipped plenty of wickets on flatter decks against competitive batting, will be more useful than those eating up Group C teams.

Talking of Group C, Himachal, who pinched a lead, couldn't win the game. Progressing to the next level just got harder for Rishi Dhawan's team.

Right now, we've got either those who have played so much FC cricket that they may be considered too old, or blokes who have played so little that they're actually too young. None in between.

 

[Arjun]

MP's stalwart Jalaj Saxena took 8 wickets in both innings to crush Railways into relegation, besides a few handy contributions with the bat. He's just missed 400 runs in 5 games, but with a healthy average of 55 and 29 wickets at a healthy strike rate, he's been MP's most valuable player. The last three seasons (maybe four) have been good for him, and all of this has been in the Elite league/Group A and B. He'd make a smart alternative to Jadeja, especially as a frontline batsman (he opens for MP), except that there may be one off-spinner too many. Talking of MP, Ishwar Pandey's poor form isn't good news.

Talking of pace bowlers struggling for form, Rishi Dhawan hasn't chipped as many this time around. Often an India prospect as a seam-up all-rounder, he may lose that chance to one of Stuart Binny, Rush Kalaria Shrikant Mundhe or Shrikant Wagh- all of whom have had good records in the higher groups.

The higher groups have had plenty of results, besides MP crushing Railways by nine wickets. Karnataka squeezed a comprehensive win against Odisha in a match curtailed by rain, with Robin Uthappa getting 148 with contributions from all around. This is the Uthappa we know and love. Gopal and Stuart got wickets in each innings, to rout Odisha.

Another all-rounder followed by fans (at least on Cricinfo) was Irfan Pathan- took 6 rapid Gujarat wickets, but none of the other Baroda bowlers got anything as Gujarat amassed 505. He also scored a 50, but that couldn't save Baroda from a follow-on, nor could he score enough in the next innings to save them from an innings defeat. Rush Kalaria, not quite spoken off as an India prospect, scored a fifty and though didn't run through them, maintained his impressive Ranji form. Axar Patel, though, was the star with bat and ball for Gujarat, with a rapid 81 and 7 wickets.

In a low-scoring encounter at Lahli, Haryana, Assam completed an away win. No innings had over 200 runs scored- and Assam, batting last, needed a lot less- and somehow managed it. Krishna Das, fresh and new, has been chipping plenty of wickets at frequent intervals, and has been his team's star performer.

In an even lower-scoring encounter at Delhi, the home team crushed visiting Maharashtra within two days. New bloke Navdeep Saini took six in the first dig, then Manan Sharma took four in the second.

Bengal vs Vidarbha, though, lasted longer. Bengal had Ashok Dinda and Veer Pratap Singh. Vidarbha had Shrikant Wagh. Each side had a prolific spinner- table-leading Wakhare against veteran Pragyan Ojha. Ultimately, Bengal won a hard-fought match, with Pragyan Ojha taking 11 wickets against Wakhare's nine- but the first-innings lead made a difference- while the presence of stalwarts in Vidarbha's batting didn't. Wasim Jaffer scored 10000 Ranji runs, but couldn't save his team from losing.

That's six results out of twelve. Eventful round, indeed. In one drawn match, Shreyas Iyer and Rohit Sharma scored centuries for Mumbai, with contributions from SA Yadav- but negative cricket allowed UP to somehow escape with a draw. Saurashtra couldn't take enough Goa wickets in Goa to win their fifth game. The other drawn games were not very eventful.

 

[Pratters]

Terrific win for Bengal. I have made it a point to go for the domestic game if it's on a Sunday and I have enjoyed it thoroughly. Will recommend it to people who are lucky enough to live in cities which are hosting Ranji and other domestic tournaments through the season. While watching the game in the ground, there are so many aspects about the game you notice while idling around in the ground, even if you have watched it for years.

Here's what I posted on a local cricket group after the Sunday game:

Loved the day's play. Bengal is playing with so much fight and commitment. Have not seen many domestic teams play like this. Today, as Sayan was bowling, all the players were encouraging him. And the lad bowled his heart out. Kept giving it his all in every delivery. Was great to see him charging in. Sudeep Chatterjee is such a terrific player. I saw his entire inning broadcast a few weeks ago where he scored one of the three hundreds for the season. He is so adept at the off side game. He also plays his shots without slogging it. Also does not play unnecessary shots. Will go far, this guy.

Ojha was superb as well. We tried every one including Ojha to get that second wicket today. One could feel that one wicket and they could all fall one after the other. The resistance of an hour and half was challenging though. The two quick wickets were great. Dinda is bowling with added vigour this season. After talks about him being irresponsible, he has really upped his game. I reckon he is bowling half a yard faster than last season but more than that, he is spearheading the attack really well. When Dinda bowls, you sense a wicket can fall any over. That's what you want from your main strike bowler. Bahutule has had a good start as well. Team meetings, talking with players at length and the players have only good words to speak about him.

Selectors are watching the games, the CAB president is discussing cricket with the players. What more can we want. So happy with the Bengal team right now. Now, two photos I clicked today. Was such an enjoyable day at the cricket. Please have more matches at this ground. It's how cricket was meant to be played. In an idyllic setting which we can romanticise and love

 

[Pratters]

Any one has the schedule of the Vijay Hazare trophy along with the venues where the matches will be hosted? Can find the schedule but without any venue details..

 

[Arjun]

It's been long since I posted here, and the Vijay Hazare Trophy has ended, with a few matches shown on TV. Gujarat won the trophy, with contributions from Axar Patel, RP Singh, and in the final, Parthiv Patel (first OD century) and Jazz Bumrah. That they defeated Delhi by 139 runs, though, was a surprise.

Consistent batting performances were not quite there among the finalists- we still saw Punjab, out in quarters, represented in the top five by Mandeep and Yuvraj, but only Rujul Bhatt and Unmukt Chand in the top ten from the finalists. One team that surprised many, for a while, was HP, until the more experienced Delhi defeated them.

Jazz Bumrah rose to the top with his final five-for, and has 21 wickets in all. Axar Patel is second, with 19 scalps, and has also scored plenty of runs- he's been outstanding here with bat and ball. The others in the top ten include the more experienced Sid Kaul and several newcomers, but we're also seeing Piyush Chawla in that top ten. Umesh Yadav got just four matches, but took nine wickets at an average under 10. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also had a good series, with ten wickets in five games at an average of 15. Ashwin had quite a workout, with 14 clicks in eight games- while Dinda maintained almost identical figures, but at an average of 23. Pankaj Singh got nine in six, while Mishra got twelve in six. Good series for all bowlers in and around the Indian team.

The Deodhar Trophy, better earlier as a round-robin event, has been reduced to an inconclusive knockout. Gujarat will be the third team in the silly Challenger Trophy, which was criticised often because it prioritises individual performances over team results- although they'll play as a proper team here.

 

[Pratters]

Watched 2-3 Vijay Hazare games on tv though missed the final.

Some observations -

- Fielding standards have improved. Some direct hit run outs which were unimaginable till even a few years back.
- Delhi's Saini impressed me with his bowling.
- Chennai v Delhi was a close game and wonderful to watch. Went down the wire.

 

[Arjun]

- Fielding standards have improved. Some direct hit run outs which were unimaginable till even a few years back.
- Delhi's Saini impressed me with his bowling.
- Chennai v Delhi was a close game and wonderful to watch. Went down the wire.

It was Chennai (TN) vs Gujarat and Delhi vs HP in the semis. Neither of TN and Delhi were even in the same group. The TN/Guj game, though, did go down to the wire, unlike the final.

What more can you tell us about Navdeep Saini- how much seam and swing, what pace? Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma was often in a different game altogether, keeping very tight figures and chipping away frequently.

We haven't seen much of Barinder Sran. What does he add to the team, besides youth? I just hope they don't do another Ishant Sharma, by keeping him in the team from a young age, for several years, even when he's not ready for it.

 

[Pratters]

Saini is a tall lad who was bowling well in tandem with Ishant. Was clocking 130-140. He was pitching consistently on good and short of good length. I saw him in the quarter and semi and he looked promising in both those games.

 

[Pratters]

Shukla retires. Was a huge fan. Sad to see him go.

 

[Arjun]

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is at the bottom of the whole domestic season hierarchy, so we'll have to wait till the group phase ends for some clear results. Has-beens RP Singh and Irfan Pathan are having a great time, chipping away many wickets. A surprise success is Hardik Pandya, famous for one-off, bits-and-pieces exploits in IPL- now on top of the runs chart, with a healthy strike rate. That's good for T20Is, and he's getting the experience he needs.

 

[Arjun]

Hardik Pandya, Pawan Negi and Nitish Rana are getting plenty of very quick runs in the SMA Trophy, over many games. Hopefully IPL franchises will give them enough time in the middle, like they would a Glenn Maxwell or Corey Anderson. Going by so many comments about how India lack a strong, explosive middle-order batsman, we may even see one of them get all the T20I matches to follow.

Irfan Pathan getting quick runs and plenty of wickets in this event- leading the charts. Also high up in the charts are Dhawal Kulkarni and Jazz Bumrah.

 

[honestbharani]

I thought Deepak Hooda was supposed to be our Maxwell.

 

[Arjun]

For all practical purposes, the top order of a SMA T20 XI will have Unmukt Chand, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana and Jitesh Sharma. Not sure about Ekalavya Dwivedi, who's still young, or Deepak Hooda, who's had a very quiet season. This season wasn't good for Mayank Agarwal, possibly the batsman in the scene with the single best strike rate also capable of scoring big.

 

[Arjun]

The Deodhar Trophy has been reduced to a Challenger Trophy in all but name. Disappointing.

Not many individual performances that are noteworthy, except for Chand's two fifties and an explosive 91* by Kedar Jadhav against Hazare Trophy champions Gujarat. Young Nathu Singh getting plenty of wickets, keeping his good form in his first OD season going. Maybe the next season will have him taking plenty of FC wickets. So far, only Kedar Jadhav can get into the national side, off these games, and an otherwise very impressive season in ODs.

 

[Pratters]

Ranji Quarters from today. Excited about the Bengal game and glad it's being broadcast live. Go Bengal!

 

[Arjun]

Mumbai eventually win the Ranji Trophy. A bit outdated, but there's been a lot less action here. Unsurprisingly, it's happened on the back of great performances by Shreyas Iyer, Surya Yadav and a few contributions by other batsmen. Their bowling, though, has been below average.

Yet, in today's Irani Trophy game, the top Mumbai batsmen have performed well against the top bowlers from Rest Of India, now found out on a pitch with nothing in favour of spin or seam. Krishna Das ruled Ranji with a very tight strike rate, being among the top wicket-takers in the season. Now, at his pace, he's taken a solitary wicket for 100 runs. Leading bowler from finalists Saurashtra, Jaydev Unadkat, has not taken a wicket and been taken for plenty, mostly by centurion Bista and Shreyas Iyer.

Can't say what to make of Yadav and Iyer getting plenty- Yadav's been around for very long, while Iyer has finished three seasons. These are the best domestic bowlers they're facing- but these bowlers are greentop/dustbowl heroes out of their depth on flats. Maybe Mishra, Umesh Yadav and Pankaj Singh would have them competing, if not struggling. If pace isn't everything, these ROI bowlers would have bowled out Mumbai before the 90th over.

Back in the Ranji Trophy, Robin Uthappa is again in the top 10 run-scorers chart. This, despite Karnataka having a miserable 2015-16 season, a far cry from the last two years of winning many trophies- winning absolutely nothing this season.

The first day of Irani Trophy finishes at just 83 overs.