Duleep Trophy 2009-10

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Agarkar suffers injury Ajit Agarkar became a casualty within minutes of the start of West Zone’s warm-up session while playing football at the Race Course Ground here on Monday morning. More... Agarkar suffers injury G. Viswanath Rajkot: Ajit Agarkar became a casualty within minutes of the start of West Zone’s warm-up session while playing football at the Race Course Ground here on Monday morning. He tripped on the boundary rope, twisted his right ankle and did not take part in the team’s training and practice session for the four-day Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone starting on Tuesday. Initial treatment from physiotherapist Arjun Rana did not appear to have eased the pain that necessitated further investigation at a local clinic. Not unduly worried West skipper Wasim Jaffer did not seem to be unduly careworn though. “We will wait till tomorrow morning to know about his fitness. The wicket looks good for batting, although initially it may help the seamers. There are good batsmen and bowlers and they have to score runs and take wickets to open the doors for selection,” said Jaffer. The Mumbai skipper with two Ranji Trophy titles under his belt, has seam options in Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Dhawal Kukarni and Abhishek Nayar. The spinners in the side are Ramesh Powar and Ravindra Jadeja. North skipper Virat Kohli said the match would present an opportunity for his side to compete against an opponent filled with many former India players.

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Jaffer confident ahead of Duleep clash with North A confident West Zone, mainly comprising players from Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, will take on North Zone in the first semifinal of the Duleep Trophy match here on Tuesday. More... Jaffer confident ahead of Duleep clash Aditya Iyer Separated by only a few metres and draped in their Team India training jerseys, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja tested the strength of the bamboo poles holding up their respective nets with synchronised strokes, in front of a group of onlookers wondering whether an international match was scheduled at Rajkot. On closer inspection and after a few inquires through the mesh, they were informed that the ODI regulars were pitted against each other in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy. Almost immediately, chants of ‘Jadeja’ drowned those of ‘Kohli’, as the group made an impromptu decision to visit the Madhavrao Scindia cricket ground from Tuesday onwards to lend support to defending champions West Zone — for whom local lad Jadeja will play the role of an all-rounder under captain Wasim Jaffer — against Kohli’s North. A confident West Zone, mainly comprising players from Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, will take on North Zone in the first semifinal of the Duleep Trophy match here on Tuesday. Both teams have a fair amount of depth in batting and bowling but it’s the presence of all-rounders of proven ability that makes West look better on paper. And they’re led by Wasim Jaffer, who is on a high after leading Mumbai to a second successive Ranji title. Abhishek Nayar, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajit Agarkar can all bowl and bat. Jaffer will have a problem of plenty choosing a bowling attack from among them. And when it comes to batting, the West Zone skipper should find enough depth there as well. Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel and Chirag Pathak, all feature in the top 10 scorers in Ranji Trophy this season. Add names like Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma and it is easy to imagine what the North Zone bowlers will be up against. Led by Virat Kohli, North Zone will depend heavily on their batting. Apart from the young skipper, they will bank on other Delhi batsmen Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas and Shikhar Dhawan to deliver. Bowlers Love Ablish, Vikramjeet Malik and Manpreet Gony too have done well and Kohli will hope they have the wherewithal to test West Zone’s batting. And surely Jaffer hasn’t forgotten Himachal Pradesh seamer Vikramjit Malik’s pace and swing that ripped through Mumbai’s batting in their Ranji clash this season. Though the wicket at the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground is traditionally known to prefer batsmen, both sides will tread with caution to avoid giving away any early advantage to the opposition side. The who’s who — past, present and future — of India’s domestic circuit arrived for their practice session on the eve the match, with Delhi and Mumbai players featuring generously in their respective zonal sides. Including the captains, eight Delhi cricketers — Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas, Puneet Bisht, Pradeep Sangwan, Parwinder Awana, Vikas Mishra — fill up half the North Zone squad, while seven Mumbai players — Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ajit Agarkar, Dhawal Kulkarni and Ramesh Powar — form a chunk of West Zone’s 16-member side. The skippers therefore preferred to pay closer attention to those from outside their Ranji teams on Monday. Fresh from taking Mumbai to their 39th Ranji Trophy title, Jaffer believes that leading West Zone is a more challenging task as it is outside his comfort zone. “In the Mumbai squad, we all travel together and know each other inside out, but it is very different when you captain a zonal team. I have been trying to observe the different skill sets of the non-Mumbai players in my squad. But we are all professionals with a common goal. Winning the Ranji Trophy was special but the Duleep Trophy is a stage ahead," Jaffer said, speaking to The Indian Express. West and North lead the winners’ list of the competition, clinching the title 17 times each in its 50 year history. “It is going to be a fantastic game of cricket. They (North) look a very well-rounded side. We are the joint leaders of the Duleep Trophy and are known to provide exciting action and hopefully it will be one of those memorable games,” Jaffer added. Meanwhile, clutching a heap of metal scorecard plates with a firm grip, a groundsman trotted across ground to fix the freshly painted units on the manual scoreboard. Halfway to his mark, the green surface within the restricted pitch area caught him by surprise, forcing him to pause and take a closer look. A half-minute inspection later, he shrugged to himself before resuming his journey to the other end of the ground. During the official pitch inspection, Kohli’s reaction was a lot like the groundsman's. “It looks a dicey pitch. The grass is cosmetic and I wouldn’t advice anybody to bowl first,” Kohli said. Back to the domestic circuit after scoring two ODI centuries against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Kohli feels that every match is a learning experience and cannot be taken lightly. “West Zone is a very tough opposition with many former Test players in it. It is a learning curve for everybody and for me as a captain. To say the least, it’s going to be a great fight ahead.” Squads West Zone: Wasim Jaffer (Capt), Parthiv Patel (wk),Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Dhaval Kulkarni, Agit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Chirag Pathak, Harshad Khadiwale, Abhishek Nayar, Ankit Bawne North Zone: Virat Kohli (Capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ravi Inder Singh, Rahul Dewan, Mithun Manhas, Sunny Singh, Paras Dogra, Rajat Bhatia, Love Ablish, V S Malik, M S Gony, Parvinder Awana, Punit Bisht (WK), Uday Kaul, Vikas Mishra, Abid Nabi In indore: Central vs South Squads Central: Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Sanjay Bangar, Piyush Chawla, Faiz Fazal, Praveen Kumar, Monish Mishra, Naman Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Parvinder Singh, Jalaj Saxena, RP Singh, Tanmay Srivastava, Akshay Wakhare, Umesh Yadav South: S Badrinath, Alfred Absolem, S Anirudha, R Ashwin, Aushik Srinivas, C Ganapathy, M Gautam, Shadab Jakati, Arun Kartik, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abhinav Mukund, Manish Pandey, KB Pawan, Robin Uthappa, Vinay Kumar

[Shane]

Raina gone, 125/4 Abhi Mithun impresses again with 3.

[Shane]

Brilliant catch by Arun Karthik, UP Central Zone reeling at 125/5

[Shane]

Another amazing catch by Karthik, this guy is ****ing brilliant. 6 down now.

[The Dark Horse]

any links?

[Sachinism]

damn cricinfo has no scorecard

[Shane]

Try Cricketnirvana

[IKnowU]

:hysterical::giggle:

[saneindian]

Central 300/7 Kaif 112, Chawla 70*, PK 17*, Mithun 3/44, Vinay 2/89 Wonderful knock from Kaif. Continues his good form after the 202* in the last match vs EZ. And what a time tobe scoring those runs. Definitely a contender now for a spot in the test 15 if RD, VVS and Yuvi don't recover in time.

[Karan114]

^^ Yep, and possibly Sachin may be missing too (not sure how bad the problem is with his shoulder after he fell down when trying that Tamim catch). But could be a real opportunity for Kaif

[saneindian]

The Rajkot stadium continues to live upto its fame as a batting paradise. West Zone 425/5 Nayar 102*, Jadeja 55*, Pujara 77, Rohit 63, Patel 55, Rahane 34 BTW look at the WZ batting line up: Jaffer, Rahane, Patel , Pujara, Rohit, Nayar, Jadeja, Irfan, Powar! Wow as strong a batting line up in a domestic match as we will get to see.

[coffee_rules]

South Zone team is a mix of key players from Karnataka and TN. Nobody else makes the cut. A Mithun makes a mark. He should be very quickly drafted to A tours and get him intl exposure in the offseason.

[zubinpepsi]

Jadeja 55* - :woot: :cantstop:

[cowboysfan]

the shelf life of the medium pacers is less due to the amount of cricket they play,i would like to see mithun in the national side quickly.

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Nayar's century helps West Zone amass 425 All rounder Abhishek Nayar's unbeaten century (102) and half centuries from Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja helped West Zone amass 425 runs for the loss of five wickets in 90 overs against North Zone on the opening day of four day Duleep Trophy match at Rajkot. More... Nayar's century helps West Zone amass 425 January 26, 2010 19:30 IST All rounder Abhishek Nayar's unbeaten century (102) and half centuries from Parthiv Patel , Cheteshwar Pujara , Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja helped West Zone amass 425 runs for the loss of five wickets in 90 overs against North Zone on the opening day of four day Duleep Trophy match at Rajkot. West skipper Wasim Jaffer won the toss and decided to bat first however, he alongwith his Mumbai teammate Ajinkya Rahane could not give good start and went back to pavilion. Jaffer(12) was the first man to be dismissed this morning followed by Ajinkya Rahane (34) and at that stage West Zone were 55 for two. But half centuries from Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma not only put West in comfortable position but also allowed Nayar to play freely. Earlier after reducing at 55 for two, Parthiv and Cheteshwar did the rescue work and added 97 runs for the third wicket before Gony struck dismissing Patel for 55. Pujara (77) than added another 69 runs with Rohit (63) who added 64 runs with Abhishek Nayar. Nayar completed his fifty from 70 balls with eight fours and one six while reaching three digit in style by smashing a four to mid wicket off Ravi Inder Singh. He was supported well by Ravindra Jadeja who was batting on 55 that came from 96 balls with eight fours in exactly two hours at the middle

[urbestfriend]

RP singh deserves a recall for SA test series as Sreesanth will be out injured. Mithun also can be selected as 4th seamer instead of Tyagi.

[Shane]

Vinay picks up 5, CZ All Out for 333, Piyush (Nectar) Chawla 90*.

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Mohd. Kaif and Chawla lead Central’s fightback IINDORE: Mohammad Kaif loves to build an innings and grind the attack. ?My natural game,? he said as he reflected on Central Zone?s recovery on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal against South Zone at the Maharani ... More... Mohd. Kaif and Chawla lead Central’s fightback Vijay Lokapally INDORE: Mohammad Kaif loves to build an innings and grind the attack. “My natural game,” he said as he reflected on Central Zone’s recovery on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semifinal against South Zone at the Maharani Usha Raje cricket stadium here on Tuesday. Put in, Central was struggling at 154 for six when Kaif and Piyush Chawla produced a stand of 118 runs to enable the team finish the day at 300 for seven. Kaif’s brilliant century, his second in succession, and Chawla’s unbeaten 70 stopped a confident South in its tracks. Kaif was at ease after some initial discomfort but Chawla (70, 9x4, 2x6), excelled in playing what comes ‘naturally’ to him. Mohammad Kaif showed once again why he is such a dangerous batsman if given an opportunity to settle down. The Central Zone skipper scored his second consecutive century (112, 17x4) in Duleep Trophy — this time against South Zone in the semifinal — to help his team reach 300 for 7 at the Usha Raje Stadium on Tuesday. Piyush Chawla, on the other hand, earned applause for his quickfire 50, which he scored with the help of seven boundaries and two sixes. Central Zone should thank the two batsmen for bailing them out. Reduced to 31 for 2, Kaif and Tanmay Srivastava steadied the innings with a 55-run partnership. But once Srivastava departed, a middle-order collapse saw Central tottering on 154 for 6. Just when it seemed it would be curtains for Central, Chawla and Kaif came together and ran riot, stroking a 118-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Earlier, the first three-and-a-half hours of the match belonged to Abhimanyu Mithun, as he removed Central's top-order and left them reeling at 86 for 3 at lunch. R. Vinay Kumar and C. Ganapathy gave him able support, keeping up the pressure at the other end. Mithun has been the talk of the season, and on Tuesday, he showed why he is rated so highly. Even before openers Sanjay Bangar (4) and Jalaj Saxena (7) could settle down, they fall prey to Mithun. Bangar got a leg-before decision, while Saxena's stumps went flying. Srivastava, who showed some patience, facing 106 deliveries for his 42, departed on the second-last ball before lunch when Badrinath caught a dolly the batsmen offered off Mithun. Chawla likes to play positive cricket and it was evident in the manner in which he dominated the bowling where Abhimanyu Mithun stood out for accuracy. On what Kaif described a ‘good cricket pitch’ the South bowlers extracted decent bounce and movement. Mithun removed Jalaj Saxena with a late inswinger and Sanjay Bangar was also foxed by late movement. Tanmay Srivastava threw his wicket away after digging himself in while Suresh Raina played a shot too early. Parvinder Singh and Naman Ojha fell to good catches before Kaif and Chawla did the repair job with lot of discipline. This partnership was the decisive stage as far as Central Zone was concerned. “It keeps us in the game,” observed Kaif, who gave lot of credit to Chawla. “It was tough but it was a matter of applying oneself,” said Kaif on an innings that was flawless. It followed his double century against East Zone in the previous match and put the Uttar Pradesh batsman in contention for a comeback to the national team. Kaif perished in the slips to the new ball but Chawla carried on in style, not wasting any scoring opportunity. But for Chawla’s aggression and Kaif’s patience, South would have been in the driver’s seat.

[Guest DeveGowda]

Latest Score SZ 62/4 - PK all 4 wkts