Indian domestic season 2006-07

[Arjun]

Now we'll see UP and Sialkot facing each other in India. The link is on the main page of CricInfo. As for the Challenger series, let's get this clear. Merely playing two or three matches won't decide whether a player is ready for India or not. Hemang Badani was the leading run-scorer in the Challenger series in the absence of Sachin and Dravid, but in the following series against England, he looked totally out of depth and Nasser's men found a weak link in the Indian batting lineup. Sarandeep was a leading wicket-taker there, but lokoed a misfit in ODI's when he got his first match in the series. The less prolific Yuvraj, Kaif and Bangar did a lot better when they played. This series should merely serve as a workout for the Indian main team and if players outside perform exceptionally well, they may get a look-in.

 

[adharcric]

It definitely is a good way of spotting talent though. Piyush Chawla, VRV Singh and Robin Uthappa all got noticed in the Challenger Trophy. This year, it could be Shahbaz Nadeem's turn, if he gets the nod. Of course, there are intriguing cases such as that of Venugopal Rao, who has excelled at the domestic level and even made 250-300 runs in last year's Challenger Trophy and has never shown that kind of ODI form wearing the national colours since then.

 

[Arjun]

It definitely is a good way of spotting talent though. Piyush Chawla, VRV Singh and Robin Uthappa all got noticed in the Challenger Trophy. This year, it could be Shahbaz Nadeem's turn, if he gets the nod. Of course, there are intriguing cases such as that of Venugopal Rao, who has excelled at the domestic level and even made 250-300 runs in last year's Challenger Trophy and has never shown that kind of ODI form wearing the national colours since then.

Frankly, the Challenger selections are often debatable. We've seen the original Challenger selections, with the Indian main team, then the reserve team, then newcomers making three sides. It started going wrong when they tried to get some players from India Seniors to other teams to make the series more competitive, maybe to make this 'exhibition series' into a selection platform, and it's not helped. Frankly, two or three matches cannot decide a national team, and the most they can do is give them a workout. If the Indian main team does well, that's good, and if other players do well against them, they may have a chance to make the national team. Frankly, events such as ROD and Deodhat should decide the national team, not this one.

 

[adharcric]

Frankly, the Challenger selections are often debatable. We've seen the original Challenger selections, with the Indian main team, then the reserve team, then newcomers making three sides. It started going wrong when they tried to get some players from India Seniors to other teams to make the series more competitive, maybe to make this 'exhibition series' into a selection platform, and it's not helped. Frankly, two or three matches cannot decide a national team, and the most they can do is give them a workout. If the Indian main team does well, that's good, and if other players do well against them, they may have a chance to make the national team. Frankly, events such as ROD and Deodhat should decide the national team, not this one.

Although I agree with you that the Challenger Trophy matches should not be reason for a national call-up, they give young, talented players a platform to get noticed. After that, it's up to them to perform consistently in domestic cricket and earn a selection. Performing against the best in the nation should certainly mean something, even if it's only in a game or two. This can also be a good time for guys in a position battle to stake a claim. For example, Kaif vs Raina or Uthappa vs Dhawan vs Gambhir or Patel vs RPS vs Sreesanth. Definitely an important tournament.

 

[Arjun]

Although I agree with you that the Challenger Trophy matches should not be reason for a national call-up, they give young, talented players a platform to get noticed. After that, it's up to them to perform consistently in domestic cricket and earn a selection. Performing against the best in the nation should certainly mean something, even if it's only in a game or two. This can also be a good time for guys in a position battle to stake a claim. For example, Kaif vs Raina or Uthappa vs Dhawan vs Gambhir or Patel vs RPS vs Sreesanth. Definitely an important tournament.

We've seen how these tournaments can throw some rather unusual results at times, such as three successive times when the Indian senior team failed to win the series, and also some of the unusual heroes it spawned. We've seen Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia the left-arm spinner and now Venugopal Rao, all of them do well in the series, then flop when playing for India. We've also seens several selections that just made up the numbers, and none of them are even remotely likely to play for India. Let's hope that doesn't happen this time.

As for the rest of the season, I wouldn't be surprised if Railways won the Plate Trophy easily. This season, Haryana and Karnataka will be the teams to watch.

 

[adharcric]

We've seen how these tournaments can throw some rather unusual results at times, such as three successive times when the Indian senior team failed to win the series, and also some of the unusual heroes it spawned. We've seen Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia the left-arm spinner and now Venugopal Rao, all of them do well in the series, then flop when playing for India. We've also seens several selections that just made up the numbers, and none of them are even remotely likely to play for India. Let's hope that doesn't happen this time.

As for the rest of the season, I wouldn't be surprised if Railways won the Plate Trophy easily. This season, Haryana and Karnataka will be the teams to watch.

Haryana for me as well ... Sunny Singh, Sumit Sharma, Joginder Sharma, Amit Mishra
Punjab also with Uday Kaul and VRV Singh looking to put on a show

 

[Arjun]

Haryana for me as well ... Sunny Singh, Sumit Sharma, Joginder Sharma, Amit Mishra
Punjab also with Uday Kaul and VRV Singh looking to put on a show

You mentioned VRV Singh, we can always hope he'll finish the full season and lead the wickets tally. I don't know who Uday Kaul is, but there's someone named Ishan Malhatra who outshone Sodhi with bat and ball, but hardly got a match. Sodhi is now playing as a proper batsman and bits-and-pieces bowler, and his chances of getting another India cap may be a shut case.

Oh yes, maybe this is the time for Mumbai's under-achieving youngsters to stand up and be counted.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

You mentioned VRV Singh, we can always hope he'll finish the full season and lead the wickets tally. I don't know who Uday Kaul is, but there's someone named Ishan Malhatra who outshone Sodhi with bat and ball, but hardly got a match. Sodhi is now playing as a proper batsman and bits-and-pieces bowler, and his chances of getting another India cap may be a shut case.

Oh yes, maybe this is the time for Mumbai's under-achieving youngsters to stand up and be counted.

Keeper-batsman (OD specialist I think) who opened for India Under-19 in England this year.

 

[adharcric]

Keeper-batsman (OD specialist I think) who opened for India Under-19 in England this year.

He can keep wickets in one-day matches but usually plays as a specialist opener in the longer format. Should open for Punjab alongisde Ravneet Ricky once again.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Gough Hints at Maharashtra Move

Who saw that one coming? I know there has been a fair bit of talk about overseas players in India, but you would have thought a young batsman looking to develop against spin would be more likely, not an old-stager like Gough. He'd be a decent signing for anyone though, provided his fitness is up to it.

 

[adharcric]

Getting some foreign fast bowlers would really help our up-and-coming batsmen. Wouldn't it be tough for a foreign player to mix in though? I'm not sure, but do the state teams speak in local languages (marathi for example, hindi etc) or do they all know some english?

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Getting some foreign fast bowlers would really help our up-and-coming batsmen. Wouldn't it be tough for a foreign player to mix in though? I'm not sure, but do the state teams speak in local languages (marathi for example, hindi etc) or do they all know some english?

I presume most of the state players will have had a decent education, or picked enough up off from their teammates to speak some basic English. Can't imagine Goughy speaking fluent Marathi, Hindi or Gujarati as you so. The culture would also be a big problem as well, plus the heat might take it out of him a bit over an entire season.

 

[Arjun]

Gough Hints at Maharashtra Move

Who saw that one coming? I know there has been a fair bit of talk about overseas players in India, but you would have thought a young batsman looking to develop against spin would be more likely, not an old-stager like Gough. He'd be a decent signing for anyone though, provided his fitness is up to it.

Shirke and gang are aiming for big things, so they'd choose Gough over some rookie batsman. They're trying to help their team and the domestic scene more than Gough, who may just play the series as a national comeback platform. The Maha-CA even approached MacGill and Hayden some time ago.

 

[Arjun]

Now this will be interesting, Munaf anf Gough opening the bowling for Maharashtra– an average FC side which make up the numbers has two (former and current) internationals as opening bowlers!

 

[Arjun]

I presume most of the state players will have had a decent education, or picked enough up off from their teammates to speak some basic English. Can't imagine Goughy speaking fluent Marathi, Hindi or Gujarati as you so. The culture would also be a big problem as well, plus the heat might take it out of him a bit over an entire season.

I'm not too sure about the Maharashtra team, how fluent their English is (although Kale, Kanitkar and Jadhav don't have a problem), but Brett Lee would fit in just fine, since he knows a bit of Hindi, as we've heard and read in the news!

 

[Arjun]

Zaheer Khan is likely to turn up for Mumbai this season, but MCA secretary Ajit Wadekar said he was unaware. Watch this space.

JUST IN: D(p)oordarshan will be covering the UP-Sialkot match starting September 27.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

JUST IN: D(p)oordarshan will be covering the UP-Sialkot match starting September 27.

Ah, I was going to ask how that went, since CricketArchive said it was supposed to start today. What's Dharamsala like this time of year? Hot and humid despite its altitude?

One supposes Asif and Rana won't be available for Sialkot (it'd be great fun if they were there - combined they took 38 wickets @ 13.63 in the Gold League last season - but I suppose that'd swing the odds even more to Sialkot), so the teams would look summat like this?

Sialkot:

*Imran Nazir (24, rhb/lb)
Faisal Naved (26, rhb/rm)
couple of middle order batsmen (Inam-ul-Haq, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Ayub, Qaiser Abbas)
Shahid Yousuf (20, rhb/rm)
Mansoor Amjad (19, rhb/lbg)
Shehzad Malik (29, rhb/rm)
Tahir Mugha (29, rhb/rfm)
+Khalid Mahmood (29, rhb/wk)
Zahid Saeed (25, rhb/lfm)
Sarfraz Ahmed (27, lhb/lfm)

Uttar Pradesh (w/o Kaif, Raina but with other Challenger Trophy names):

Pravin Kumar (19, rhb/rfm)
Shivakant Shukla (20, lhb/ob)
Rizwan Shamshad (33, rhb/rm)
+Amir Khan (20, rhb/wk)
JP Yadav (29, lhb/sla)
Gyanendra Pandey (34, lhb/sla)
batsman (Mohammad Saif, Rohit Prakash, Ali Murtaza)
Ravikant Shukla (19, lhb/ob)
Piyush Chawla (17, lhb/lb)
Ashish Zaidi (35, rhb/rfm)
bowler (Praveen Gupta, Shalabh Srivastava, Ali Murtaza again )

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Wierd thing is, neither side looks particularly strong. Looks like Mansoor vs Piyush in a battle of the emerging leggies.

 

[adharcric]

Uhh, Piyush Chawla >>>>>>>> Mansoor Amjad at the moment.

 

[Arjun]

Now I notice that the Challenger Trophy starts a day after the UP-Sialkot match ends. Maybe all the UP fellows can miss the Challenger Trophy and concentrate on the Sialkot match.