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Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09


Chandan

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BCCI revamps Ranji format Heena Zuni Pandit, Hindustan Times New Delhi, August 18, 2008 First Published: 00:14 IST(18/8/2008) Last Updated: 00:18 IST(18/8/2008) THIS YEAR'S Ranji Trophy will witness a major change with the top two teams from the Plate Division joining the top three sides from Elite A and B groups in the knockout stage. The relegation system will remain unchanged. Recommended by the BCCI's technical committee, the move is aimed to create a level playing field. Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI's chief administrative officer, told Hindustan Times, “There was a feeling that there should be a single trophy for the Plate and Elite Divisions. We also thought of reducing the number of Elite teams from 15 to 10 but decided to defer a decision on the issue.” Meanwhile, the 2008-09 domestic season will kick-off on 15th September with Delhi locking horn against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (winners of Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Trophy) for the Mohammad Nissar Trophy. While the Ranji season will begin in November, the knockouts are due to be played in December, and the final stage of the Ranji Trophy is slated for January next year. Domestic Calendar Sep 15-18 Mohammad Nissar Trophy in New Delhi Oct 1-5 Irani Trophy in Vadodara Oct 23-26 NKP Salve Challenger Trophy in Cuttack Nov 3 Ranji Trophy Round One nDec 23-26 Ranji Trophy QF December 30-January 2, 2009 Ranji Trophy semi-finals Jan 7-11 Ranji Trophy finals Jan 16-Feb 10 Duleep Trophy February 15-22 Ranji Trophy ODI zonal league February 28-March 9 Vijay Hazare Trophy (Ranji Trophy ODI knockout) March 14-18 Deodhar Trophy March 23-28 Zonal Twenty20 April 2-8 T20 Super League April 10-May 24 IPL Junior tournaments: October 1 onwards CK Nayudu Trophy (Under-22 level); Oct 1 onwards Vijay Merchant Trophy & Polly Umiragar Trophy (Under-16 level), October 20 onwards Cooch Behar & Vinoo Mankad Trophy (Under-19 level). ------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a wierd change which BCCI thinks of bringing in. BY bringing the top two teams from the lower devision, isn't it trying to prove that rest of 12 teams in the Super league are worse than the top two teams of the lower devision? How on earth can you have the teams participate in the knock out phase when they have not even competed in the same league to climb up there? What do you guys think of this change? This obviously gives hopes to teams like Bengal who have the potential to reach even the super league's finals as they showed two years back but somehow I think it is unfair to the rest of the teams in the super league. Please comment!
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Amarnath to be Bengal team consultant Bengal on Monday roped in Mohinder Amarnath as the consultant to revive the fortunes of the team that will fight it out in the Plate Division in the Ranji Trophy this season. "After toying with the idea of a consultant and coach for Bengal seniors team, we've finally agreed on to appoint a consultant (Amarnath). Details about Amarnath's job profile will be worked out in due course. As a consultant he need not stay for the entire season but he'll be available depending upon his other commitments," Dalmiya said. Dalmiya, who carried out his first working committee meeting after he made a comeback at the CAB thrashing Prasun Mukherjee, said his main aim was to bring Bengal into the Elite Division. "We'll do our best to bring back Bengal into the Elite Division. Initially, after taking over, we faced a problem in which most of the seniors wanted to leave the state. They felt that by representing Bengal in Plate Division chances to make the national or India A side will be less which is a genuine reason," he said. "We had to convince them and then seven players (Manoj Tiwary, Ranadeb Bose, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Ashok Dinda, Wriddhiman Saha and Saurashish Lahiri) pledged to play for Bengal and give their best shot to bring back the glory days... It was a very touchy gesture from them."

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Ranji season to begin on November 3 The 2008-09 domestic season will commence on September 15 with the Mohammad Nissar Trophy. More... Indian domestic cricket Ranji season to begin on November 3 Nagraj Gollapudi August 14, 2008 332322.jpg The battle for the Ranji Trophy begins on November 3 © Cricinfo The 2008-09 domestic season will commence on September 15 with the Mohammad Nissar Trophy. Delhi, the current Ranji Trophy champions, will clash with Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, winners of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's premier domestic competition, at home. The Ranji season will take off on November 3, with the knockouts beginning on December 23 and the final slated for January 7. This season sees a new format for the Ranji Trophy with a quarter-final stage where the top two teams from the Plate division join the top three teams from the Elite A and B groups. The change, aimed at a more level playing field, is based on the recommendation of the BCCI's technical committee, chaired by Sunil Gavaskar. "[The move] was created to allow more chances to deserving players and teams from the Plate division and in effect make the Ranji Trophy a more open tournament", BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told Cricinfo. He added that the existing system of relegating the bottom two teams from the Elite groups and the promotion of the top two from the Plate division remains in place. The Irani Trophy will be played in Baroda from October 1-5 between Delhi and the Rest of India followed by the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy, from October 23 to 26, in Cuttack. Meanwhile, women's cricket is set to get a boost with the inaugural Challenger Trophy scheduled from September 21-24. In a move to boost preparations for the Twenty20 World Cup next summer, the board has decided to start a women's Twenty20 league, which will be played from April 11-17 followed by the knockout from April 21-27. The men's inter-state Twenty20 is back on the domestic calendar after being omitted last season. Domestic Calendar ready reckoner September 15-18 Mohammad Nissar Trophy in New Delhi October 1-5 Irani Trophy in Vadodara October 23-26 NKP Salve Challenger Trophy in Cuttack November 3 Ranji Trophy Round One begins December 23-26 Ranji Trophy quarter-finals December 30-January 2, 2009 Ranji Trophy semi-finals January 7-11 Ranji Trophy finals January 16-February 10 Duleep Trophy February 15-22 Ranji Trophy ODI zonal league February 28-March 9 Vijay Hazare Trophy (Ranji Trophy ODI knockout) March 14-18 Deodhar Trophy March 23-28 Zonal Twenty20 April 2-8 Twenty20 Super League April 10-May 24 IPL Junior tournaments October 1 onwards CK Nayudu Trophy (Under-22 level) October 1 onwards Vijay Merchant Trophy & Polly Umiragar Trophy (Under-16 level) October 20 onwards Cooch Behar & Vinoo Mankad Trophy (Under-19 level) Women's tournaments September 21-24 Challenger Trophy (venue undecided) November 20 One-day league January 2, 2009 Two-day league April 11-17 Twenty20 League April 21-27 Twenty20 knockout October 10 Under-19 ODIs

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Foreign players allowed for Ranji Trophy http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indiandomestic/content/story/366950.html State associations will now be permitted to include four "guest" players [ those from areas outside their jurisdiction] in their squad from the 2008-09 season onwards, up from the three that was previously permitted. One overseas player can be included among the four, but he must have played at least ten Tests or 20 ODIs. However, only three outstation players can be included in the playing XI. The decision was made at a meeting of the BCCI technical committee, chaired by Sunil Gavaskar, in Mumbai on Saturday. The last date for associations to register their guest players will be September 1 every year. No high-profile overseas players have featured for India's state associations, with the likes of Vikram Solanki, Kabir Ali and Nayan Doshi, former India left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi's son, having played in recent seasons. The first two turned out for Rajasthan, while Doshi played for Saurashtra, the region his family originally hails from. However, things could change, with many overseas players having been part of the squads of the eight franchises that contested the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League earlier in the year. But it's unlikely that associations will be able to match the sums franchises shelled out for the big names; Andrew Symonds fetched a whopping US$1.35 million for his participation in the six-week long event. The IPL rules allowed teams a maximum of four overseas recruits in the playing XI. The 2008-09 season will begin with Irani Trophy match - between Ranji Trophy champions Delhi and Rest of India - which has been advanced to September 24, instead of October 1-5 as originally scheduled. The BCCI working committee also deliberated on the amendments in playing conditions for domestic tournaments. They chose to retain the original Powerplay rule in the forthcoming season.

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BCCI fixes deadline for registration of foreign players The BCCI has fixed September 15 as the deadline for state associations to register foreign cricketers as 'guest players' for the 2008-09 domestic season. More... Indian domestic season 2008-09 BCCI fixes deadline for registration of foreign players Nagraj Gollapudi August 31, 2008 346912.jpgVikram Solanki played for Rajasthan in the 2006-07 Indian domestic season, and qualifies as a foreign player under the BCCI's new regulations as well © Getty Images The BCCI has fixed September 15 as the deadline for state associations to register foreign cricketers as 'guest players' for the 2008-09 domestic season. The board's technical committee had, on Saturday, decided to allow each association to select a maximum of four outstation players - one of whom can be a foreigner - in their squads. The board reiterated that it had increased the limit on guest players by one, but only three of them could figure on the final XI. "There was a request from a member association [to increase the player count] ," Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer, told Cricinfo. "After discussions, the count was increased from three to four, but the playing XI will continue to have three guest players only [as was the case till last season]. "The format remains the same and now there is a clear definition about who qualifies as a foreign player," Shetty said. According the board's new stipulations, a foreign player can only be selected if he has played a minimum of 10 Tests or 20 ODIs. Explaining the qualification norms for foreign players, Shetty said: "The technical committee said that if you are talking about people from abroad helping in improving our standards, then they should have played for their country." However, the Maharashtra Cricket Association [MCA] has expressed disappointment with the rules regarding foreign players. "If this the board's decision, which was taken based on collective wisdom, by this criteria neither Shaun Marsh nor Ajantha Mendis can be recruited," Ajay Shirke, the MCA president, said. Shirke's concern is understandable, since, a month back, the MCA had revealed its plans to recruit the Bangladesh spinner Enamul Haque Jr and Sujeewa de Silva, the left-arm fast bowler from Sri Lanka, as their outstation players for the upcoming season. But now, the MCA may have to make do with just Enamul, while Silva does not qualify for selection as he has played only three Tests and no ODIs. Gautam Dasgupta, a close aide of Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former president of the BCCI and the current head of the Cricket Association of Bengal, supported the board's move to have a criterion for the selection of foreign players. "The player needs to have a certain stature since we are getting [sic] him as a professional." Regarding foreign players' payments, the board said it will be borne by the association in question since the contract will be between the two. The most recent foreign cricketers to have played in the Indian domestic circuit are Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali, who represented Rajasthan in the 2006-07 seasons, and Nayan Doshi, who was with Saurashtra for four seasons between 2001 and 2005. But only Solanki meets the current criterion set by the board.

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At grassroot level : Hope and a little cricket Lost in the shining glory of the monstrous Indian Premier League, the domestic cricket circuit (and by that one doesn't necessarily confine oneself to the Ranji Trophy) too has its own stories to tell. Here's a tale. More... Hope and a little cricket Sudipto Gupta KOLKATA, Sept. 4: Some folks are under the notion that if they head into the sunset they would somehow come out through the dawn. Dealing with the Indian sporting scenario, one is even more perplexed to differentiate the sunset from the dawn. Often one comes in the guise of the other. India's best ever show at the Olympics evoked inspiration as well as dismay (a single gold medal from a hundred-crore strong democracy). Indian cricket, of late, has been glittering ~ sometimes with success, sometimes otherwise. But that's just one side of the show. The other side, in lenient terms, is weird. Lost in the shining glory of the monstrous Indian Premier League, the domestic cricket circuit (and by that one doesn't necessarily confine oneself to the Ranji Trophy) too has its own stories to tell. Here's a tale. A bunch of young, enthusiastic cricketers are camping in Dankuni (a suburban town) and are using the Dankuni Sporting Club and its ground for their lodging and practice. The boys have come from all over India ~ Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Delhi, Maharastra, Jharkhand etc ~ to take part in the ongoing cricket camp under the supervision of coach Mr Utpal Kumar Chatterjee. They have been promised that they would be selected for the under-16, under-19 and under-22 Sikkim state team and if not they will have a chance to represent various clubs in the Kolkata league. Though the coach denied making any such assurance and said that everything was based on talent, the boys revealed that 15 players were definitely going to be selected in each age group for Sikkim's state team. That settles the fate of 45 boys out of a total of 50. There's hope for the remaining too as the coach said: "Local clubs like Mohammedan Sporting Club and Gymkhana have visited the trials already and have selected a few of the boys. Many others are slated to come." According to Mr Chatterjee, he is trying to provide 'a platform' to these boys to launch their careers. He insisted that he was not getting any monetary profit from this endeavour and the players were only being charged a paltry 80 bucks daily for food. Well, apparently it seems to be a great step towards developing cricket at the grassroot level. But there's a flip side to the story. While the contribution of Dankuni Sporting Club in the effort is commendable, some questions do arise about the whole affair. The trials are being held on concrete pitches and not on natural turf. According to Chayan Kar, an ex- Kalighat player who was carefully watching the proceedings, trials on concrete pitches are a strict no-no. He said: "It's strange that such an important issue is being overlooked. Will they really play state level cricket?" The players are also being made to run on the road, which is extremely unscientific. Such lacklustre planning makes one really wonder about the motive behind such a camp. What's even more awkward is the fact that these cricketers have come from places where there's a sound cricketing ambience. Then why have they landed in a place such as Dankuni, which by no stretch of imagination is known for its cricket? Moreover, this whole effort perhaps would have been more useful had the events proceeded in the reverse order. To be more precise, players from Sikkim should have been brought to the state, provided proper training and then given an opportunity to play in the domestic circuit, rather than providing Sikkim with sub-quality players. But that's Indian cricket which creates more complications than provide solutions.

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Munaf to play for Baroda Munaf Patel is going to turn out for Baroda in the 2008-09 Indian domestic season after switching allegiances from Maharashtra, where he was based for three years. More... Indian domestic news Munaf to play for Baroda Cricinfo staff September 13, 2008 Munaf Patel is going to turn out for Baroda in the 2008-09 Indian domestic season after switching allegiance from Maharashtra, where he was based for three years. Prior to that, Munaf represented Mumbai from 2003 to 2005. He said the proximity of Baroda to his home was the main reason for his decision. "Baroda is only one hour away from home. That's why I decided to switch," he told Cricinfo. "Anyway I have spent five years playing for other teams." Munaf's arrival is expected to bolster Baroda, who were semi-finalists in last year's Ranji Trophy Super League. In his 37 first-class appearances so far, Munaf has taken 132 wickets at 23.97. Baroda kick off their 2008-09 campaign when they take on Uttar Pradesh at home from November 10.

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"Baroda is only one hour away from home. That's why I decided to switch," he told Cricinfo.
Oh really Munaf? I didnt know that, somehow in the last 4 years, when you had played for other teams, Baroda all of a sudden was a few thousand miles away and only last week, magically came within the geographical proximity of your home. :winky:
Um' date=' Isnt he from Baroda/Gujrat anyway? Why did he play for Maharashtra?[/quote'] In the FC circuit, there's a general feeling that the more 'mainstream' your team ( eg; Bombay, Delhi, Karnataka, T.N), as opposed to the fringe states ( like Orissa, Assam, J&K ), the easier it was for the player to get recognition at the national level mainly coz, the better your team, the longer it lasts in the season, giving you more chances to score more runs/ take more wickets and hence top the stats table.
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Mendis to play for Rajasthan in Ranji Sri Lankan spin sensation Ajantha Mendis will turn up for Rajasthan in the forthcoming Ranji Trophy season. More... Mendis to play for Rajasthan in Ranji Bikash Mohapatra October 16, 2008 10:29 IST Sri Lankan spin sensation Ajantha Mendis [images] will turn up for Rajasthan in the forthcoming Ranji Trophy season. The BCCI had recently allowed each state to rope in an international player in a bid to improve the status of the country's biggest domestic competition and Rajasthan seems to have made a big scoop in this regard. RCA sources confirmed that talks are on with Mendis and the deal is almost finalised. Mendis though first has to get a clearance from the Sri Lankan Army team, which he represents in the country's domestic competitions. The mystery spinner had bamboozled India with a six-wicket haul in the Asia Cup final and continued to trouble India during the Test series in Sri Lanka. He took an astonishing 26 wickets in just three Tests and carried on with his good form in the following five ODIs snapping 14 wickets. He was also honoured in the recent ICC awards ceremony. Bengal has already roped in the services of Mendis' teammate and ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

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