Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

[Cricketics]

Really disappointed to see Delhi not qualifying. We played bad, but not that bad to be left out from the quater final stage. a definately better team then plenty of them in other groups. just sucks when Delhi started to gain their class, it was too late then

[Mr. Wicket]

Delhi: From champions to a first round knockout, and why Last season: Rajat Bhatia: 26 wickets at 12.65 Pradeep Sangwan: 33 wickets at 19.24 with consistent strikes with the new ball that immediately put Delhi on top Chetanya Nanda: 26 wickets at 25.38 Amit Bhandari: 14 wickets at 25.50 in 5 matches Delhi had a superb all-round attack last year. Sangwan was a revelation with the new ball and looked like a hot international prospect, Nanda rose up the ranks of domestic spinners very quickly with his control and variation, and Bhatia and Bhandari provided consistent backup support. Ishant only played 3 games, but the attack was still outstanding in his absence. This season: Pradeep Sangwan: 18 wickets at 38.61 Chetanya Nanda: 13 wickets at 51.15 Rajat Bhatia: 2 wickets at 110.50 Amit Bhandari: 3 wickets at 35.00 Batting remained very impressive with Dhawan, Chopra and Bhatia all enjoying good seasons with willow and Manhas and Kohli still doing OK. But the bowlers have taken a huge step back. Nanda started the season really well with 8 wickets in the Irani and a good season here might have taken him onto the test fringe - but both he and Sangwan roughly doubled their averages this Ranji season compared to last.

[Predator_05]

Sangwan's decline is the reason why Delhi got knocked so early. It's usually the team with the best bowlers that wins the Ranji trophy. Most top sides are evenly matched in batting, so the bowlers make the difference. Delhi's bowling attack was good only on paper. The team was also missing Gambhir's leadership.

[Cricketics]

Regarless of all that.. i am excited about the new guy Parwinder Awana. He seems to be taking wickets all of a sudden. nothing really to peal of and find out what really happend and how Dilli couldn't qualify. It was clear bowling failure.

[Chandan]

HIGHLIGHT OF ROUND VII One last drama, and a dream ended prematurely Cricinfo staff December 22, 2008 Sourav Ganguly turned up for Bengal one last time, and helped them through to the Super League © Cricinfo Ltd Turn again, tiger So you thought he was gone? There was one final farewell left. And it was all Sourav Ganguly. The following, the elaborate build-up, the preparation, and the final act more or less lived up to the hype. Ever since he agreed to represent Bengal in the Plate League semi-final, a match that could take them to the Super League, the Plate League was sure to get a facelift. It started with the security arrangements. "We have our own security personnel at the stadium but since Ganguly will be playing, we have written to the local authorities to make adequate police arrangements," said Ashok Dewan, the former India hockey goalkeeper, who is in charge of the stadium. Then came a foolproof plan. "I am sure the opposition will feel daunted by Sourav's presence. And, if he fails, Goa is likely to be lulled into complacency," Utpal Chatarjee, the Bengal coach, said. Neat. Ganguly played his part in what he had announced was his last first-class match. From 127 for 5, he took Bengal to 257 for 6, and scored a determined 69. Bengal ended with 337, which should have been enough for a first-innings lead, but an obligatory final drama remained. Fog and bad light threatened to eat so much into the game that at one point even a first-innings result looked improbable. In that case, Bengal would have lost out because of a poor run-quotient. But they managed the wickets in time, are back in Super League, Ganguly will never play again, Ranji trophy is Ranji Trophy again. And then there was more Ganguly was not the only star attraction present at the Karnail Singh Stadium. With Bengal team, came Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya. He had his share of spotlight too, but he said he was not getting into power battles with the BCCI now. "I have held all positions in my life, in ICC, ACC, BCCI and CAB," he said. "One must know where to stop. I just want to prove my innocence. I've faith in the judiciary, and I don't want to leave with a black spot." Different folks, different battles. Dreamender With Delhi working towards what could have been an incredible comeback, there was a fingerlickin' good prospect at hand. If they made it to quarters, they would have had the services of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma in the knockouts. And a certain Mumbai team would have got Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan back. And surely nobody could have prevented their clash at some point of time. But hey, hang on. Delhi first had to hope that Saurashtra did two points worse than what Delhi managed in their last league match. And Saurashtra, full credit to them, played the perfect spoilsports. They went for a big gamble, laid out a track that assisted spin, won the toss, batted first, conceded a marginal lead against Hyderabad, and then came back to win the match outright on the third day. Which meant Delhi could, at best, get only one more point than Saurashtra. When they came to know of Saurashtra's victory on the third day, they were well placed to push for an innings win against Rajasthan. From thereon, though, they gave up, and went for some batting practice. So long Delhi, another champion team who have failed to make it to knockouts in their title defence. Will they, will they not? With Wasim Jaffer saying before their last league game, against Punjab, that Tendulkar and Zaheer would be available from quarter-finals onwards, there was anticipation all right, but confusion too. Confusion because the quarter-finals start on December 26, which would only a two days' gap for the duo after the Mohali Test. And why would Mumbai, group leaders, need them for a match against Himachal Pradesh? Perhaps because when Mumbai were desperate for full points last year, Himachal had thwarted their march, and that draw had proved crucial in Mumbai not making it to the semi-finals then. Anyway the confusion has been sorted out, and according to a release from the Mumbai Cricket Association, Tendulkar and Zaheer won't play in the quarter-finals. Shane Warne's boys' corner What a season Ravindra Jadeja is having. Cheteshwar Pujara started off as the star player for Saurashtra, but Jadeja has turned in big performances at crucial junctures to see Saurashtra through to the quarters. And when they played their big gamble in their last league match, against Hyderabad, it looked like going horribly wrong in the first innings. Jadeja scored 0 in Saurashtra's 132. But he took 3 for 57 to keep the deficit down to seven runs, and then scored a crucial 31 to set Hyderabad 177. And then the star turn came: Jadeja opened the bowling, and took 7 for 31 to help Saurashtra win. With 30 wickets and 636 runs, he now No. 6 on the wicket-takers' list and No.7 on run-getters'. Some all-round effort this. Quotehanger "It's good to play cricket again." Sourav Ganguly, before going on to say he doesn't really miss the game

[Chandan]

1st Quarter-Final: Mumbai v Himachal Pradesh at Ahmedabad - Dec 26-29, 2008 2nd Quarter-Final: Saurashtra v Karnataka at Mumbai (BS) - Dec 26-29, 2008 3rd Quarter-Final: Gujarat v Uttar Pradesh at Vadodara - Dec 26-29, 2008 4th Quarter-Final: Tamil Nadu v Bengal at Bangalore - Dec 26-29, 2008

Let us see how many states have declared their teams for the QF: Dravid to bolster Karnataka in Ranji quarter-final Published: Tue, 23 Dec 2008 at 18:42 IST Mumbai, Dec 23: Rahul Dravid is to straightaway plunge into domestic cricket after playing in the drawn second and final Test against England at Mohali. Rahul Dravid returns to the Karnataka squad for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Saurashtra scheduled to be played at Mumbai from December 26 to 29. The team: Robin Uthappa (Capt.), Rahul Dravid, C. Raghu, K.B. Pawan, Thilak Naidu, Sunil Joshi, B. Akhil, Sunil N. Raju, R. Vinay Kumar, N.C. Aiyappa, K.P. Appanna, C.M. Gautham, Deepak Chowgule, S. Aravind and Raju Bhatkal. Coach: Vijay Bharadwaj; Manager: R. Ananth. Chavan makes way for Abdulla in Mumbai Ranji squad Mumbai: Iqbal Abdulla has been recalled to the Mumbai Ranji Trophy squad for the quarter-final game against Himachal Pradesh in Ahmedabad. The 19-year-old left-arm spinner, who made his first class debut last year, hasn’t yet played a Ranji game this season. Abdulla replaces another left-arm orthodox bowler Ankit Chavan for the game starting on Friday. Ajit Agarkar too returns to the squad with pacer Kshemal Waingankar making way for him. While being away from the Ranji side, Abdulla came up with a phenomenal all-round show in the under 22 CK Nayudu cricket tournament. Mumbai captain Wasim Jaffer felt that Iqbal will be a big asset to the team. “He is good player and if you see then in junior cricket he has been scoring consistently. It is not that Ankit is bad but at this moment Iqbal is in form,†Jaffer said. After suffering from a viral fever Agarkar has been declared fit and will be back in action. However, Waingankar will consider himself unlucky since he is once again was dropped after a creditable showing in the only game he played for Mumbai this season. Waingankar had taken a five-wicket haul against the visiting England team. Speaking about the problem of plenty in the pace department Jaffer said, “We have a packed bowling department. So these things will happen.†Interestingly, Murtuza Hussain, who is the highest wicket-tker for Mumbai under 22 side and got only one match this season, also missed the bus. Squad: Wasim Jaffer ©, Amol Muzumdar (VC), Ajinkya Rahane, Sahil Kukreja, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Vinayak Samant (wk), Sairaj Bahutule, Usman Malvi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Iqbal Abdulla, Ajit Agarkar, Rahil Shaikh, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Varma. Bengal announces Ranji squad against Tamil Nadu Kolkata, Dec 22 (UNI) Cricket Association of Bengal today announced a 14-member squad headed by Laxmi Ratan Shukla recalling senior batsman Arindam Das and middle order Shreevat Goswami for four-day Ranji Trophy quarter final play against Tamil Nadu in Bangalore from December 26. Arindam Das was recalled for the first time this season to replace opener Anustup Majumder and Goswami, who was dropped in the previous match against Goa, found place in the squad at the cost of Shoham Ghosh. Former India Team captain Sourav Ganguly, who was in the squad as the 15th member and played against Goa, has announced that he would not play first class any more cricket. Among others in the squad are Rohan Banerjee, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket keeper), Manoj Tiwari, Dibyendu Chakraborty, Avik Choudhury, Ritam Kundu, Ashoke Dinda, Sourav Sarkar and Ranadeb Bose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Apart from these three, I can't find the squad of the other five teams at the moment.

[Feed]

BCCI to take up pitches issue The BCCI is planning to take action against associations responsible for making dodgy pitches during the league phase of this season’s Ranji Trophy. More... BCCI to take up pitches issue Devendra Pandey Posted: Dec 23, 2008 at 0028 hrs IST Mumbai: The BCCI is planning to take action against associations responsible for making dodgy pitches during the league phase of this season’s Ranji Trophy. With several games of the four-day competition getting over much before the scheduled duration, the decision-makers in the BCCI have upped their ante. Professor Ratnakar Shetty told The Indian Express that matches that have seen a series of batting collapses will be referred to the technical committee of the BCCI. The BCCI will be referring to the report of the match referee present at the questionable games and might even ask them to give their view before the committee. “Since we have six video cameras for all games, the technical committee can understand the nature of the pitch. If there are any instances of the pitch being under-prepared or not being up to the desired standard, the opinion of the pitch committee will be taken. After that the issue will be discussed by the working committee,” said Shetty. The working committee will decide about the action against the associations. The games that finished in about two days this season are: Saurashtra vs Hyderabad at Rajkot, Delhi vs Orissa at Ferozeshah Kotla and Mumbai vs Orissa at Cuttack. The BCCI had earlier given directives to each of its state associations to have quality pitches to ensure Ranji games last for four days. “Lately, we have been very particular about the quality of pitches, not just for first-class games but even for junior tournaments,” Shetty added

[Chandan]

PREVIEW OF THE QUARTER-FINALS Mumbai v Himachal Pradesh in Ahmedabad Mumbai favourites In the build-up to this quarter-final, there was confusion abound in Mumbai about whether Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan would be available for this match. A more important question is, whether Mumbai will need them for Himachal Pradesh? Mumbai have by a long margin been the best team in the Super League, and should go in as overwhelming favourites in this match. As it turns out, Tendulkar and Zaheer won't be playing the game, and should be available from the semi-final onwards. Mumbai are the only team to have won five outright games in the Super League, and go into the knockouts high on confidence. They have won three consecutive matches - their nine-wicket win against Punjab being the most recent - and their batsmen featured prominently in each of those victories. The key players were Ajinkya Rahane, the highest run-scorer in the competition with 924 at an average of 84, and Wasim Jaffer, the second-highest run-scorer. Fast bowler Dhawal Kulkarni, who has 32 wickets including two five-wicket hauls in his last three innings, and offspinner Ramesh Powar backed up their team's batting by bowling out the oppositions for low scores. Himachal will be relying heavily on new-ball bowlers Vikramjeet Malik, who has taken 33 wickets - including 13 in their 103-run win against Haryana, and Ashok Thakur, whose tally is 29. Sangram Singh, their opener, has averaged 63.2 in seven games, including back-to-back double-centuries against Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand. However, unlike Mumbai, Himachal have lost one game to Goa but their comprehensive innings victory against Madhya Pradesh in the semi-final will give them ample encouragement as they take on the tournament favourites. Mumbai has a score to settle Mumbai would take the field against Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal here from Friday knowing fully well that it was the same opponent which stopped it from reaching the knock-out stage last year. On a bone-chilling day at Dharamsala 12 months ago, Ajay Mannu, who was dismissed for a fourth ball duck in the first innings, returned at the No. 7 spot in the second innings and notched up his first century in Ranji Trophy to shatter Mumbai’s hopes of taking full points from the match. Paras Dogra played perfect foil while making a half-century. Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer still remembers the encounter. “We spoke about it last night (Wednesday). We respect Himachal Pradesh as a team and cannot afford to take any team lightly. We will be on our toes,” said Jaffer. The Mumbai middle-order is a mix of solidity and sparkle. Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Amol Muzumdar — all vital assets — would be followed by Abhishek Nayar. Struck by dengue, Nayar returned to action only in the last match against Punjab. Five bowlers Jaffer’s policy that five specialist bowlers are required to win a Ranji match has been backed by the selectors and coach Praveen Amre. He has placed his trust on Ajit Agarkar (back in the team after recovering from a bug), Dhawal Kulkarni (32 wickets), rookie left-arm seamer Rahil Shaikh, and spinners Ramesh Powar and Sairaj Bahutule for this game. Himachal Pradesh, which has not fielded more than 14 players this season, has thrived on the batting displays of Sangram Singh (632 runs) and the bowling deeds of seamer Vikramjeet Singh Malik (33 wickets). Skipper Ashok Thakur has chipped in with 29 wickets. The team has also benefited by the knowledge and on-field performances from former Mumbai batsmen Bhavin Thakkar (586 runs) and Vineet Indulkar (314). Curator Dhiraj Parsana, was as usual confident that the Motera pitch would be a sporting one. The teams: Mumbai: Wasim Jaffer (Capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Amol Muzumdar, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Vinayak Samant, Ajit Agarkar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rahil Shaikh, Ramesh Powar and Sairaj Bahutule. Himachal Pradesh (from): Ashok Thakur (Capt.), Sangram Singh, Bhavin Thakkar, Vineet Indulkar, Vikramjeet Malik, Sarandeep Singh, Mohinderraj Sharma, Paras Dogra, V. Bhatia, R. Saini, Mukesh Sharma, Ajay Mannu, M. Gupta and J. Mehta. Umpires: Shavir Tarapore and Sanjeev Rao; Match referee: Sunil Chaturvedi. Gujarat v Uttar Pradesh in Vadodara Confident Gujarat vs. star-studded U.P. J.R. Shridharan VADODARA: A keen contest is on the cards when Gujarat, riding high on its success in the Super League phase of the Ranji Trophy, takes on a star-studded Uttar Pradesh led by former India international Mohammad Kaif in the quarterfinals here from Friday. The teams are evenly balanced and the batsmen and bowlers of both sides have come up with superb performances in the current season. Gujarat, which finished next to Mumbai in Group ‘A’, will be led by the experienced Parthiv Patel who notched up an impressive double hundred against Orissa. The team’s batting fortunes would revolve around Bhavik Thaker (662 runs with three hundreds), Nilesh Modi, who made a double century against Hyderabad, and all-rounder Timil Patel, who slammed a hundred against Saurashtra and has also been taking wickets as a leg-spinner. All eyes on Parmar Off-spinner Mohnish Parmar will be the bowler to watch out for, as he has picked up 34 wickets and is the leading wicket-taker. The onus of handling the new ball will be on Siddharth Trivedi (33 wickets), Amit Singh and Ashraf Makda. Makda also demonstrated his batting skills by making a quick-fire 73 off 78 balls against Mumbai. “We have had a brilliant run so far and the boys are peaking at the right time. We are well versed with the Motibaug wicket as we played many tournaments here,” said Parthiv. “The strip has always been seamer-friendly and also helps batsmen who show patience and temperament,” the Gujarat skipper added. With five internationals in its ranks — Kaif, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar and Rudra Pratap Singh — Uttar Pradesh is a formidable opponent. The feat by the batsmen against Karnataka is still fresh in coach Gyanendra Pandey’s mind. “Never in the history of Uttar Pradesh cricket has a team overhauled more than 500 to gain the lead. The chase has made the players more determined to give it their best shot in this important game,” Pandey said. Dream chase The Uttar Pradesh skipper said the team was performing well as a unit and the dream chase was special to him. “Tanmay Srivastava is having a fine run with the bat and has scored 585 runs, including two hundreds. Chawla (23), medium-pacer Bhuvnesh Kumar (19) and left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta (17) have been consistent with the ball,” said Kaif. The teams (from): Gujarat: Parthiv Patel (Capt.), Niraj Patel, Nilesh Modi, Priyank Panchal, Bhavik Thaker, Sunny Patel, Timil Patel, Siddharth Trivedi, Ashraf Makda, Mohnish Parmar, Amit Singh, Ishwar Choudary, Jay Desai, Rinkin Chauhan and Anupam Patel. Uttar Pradesh: Mohammad Kaif (Capt.), Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Tanmay Srivastava, Ravikant Shukla, Shivakant Shukla, Parvender Singh, Praveen Gupta, Sudeep Tyagi, Bhuvnesh Kumar, Imtiaz Ahmed, Mohd. Amir Khan, Tahir Abbas, Kshitij Lall and Ashish Yadav. Umpires: Subrat S. Das and M.R. Singh; Match referee: Col. Chinmaya Sharma. Karnataka v Saurashtra in Mumbai Karnataka boosted by Dravid's return There is an interesting fact about Rahul Dravid playing the quarter-final clash against Saurasthra from Friday: the game will be his first first-class match at the Brabourne Stadium. Dravid, who flew in to Mumbai from Mohali to join the squad previous evening, will be the main attraction, and his presence is likely to tilt the scales heavily in favour of Karnataka. Dravid might start with a few nerves, but his convincing return to form in Mohali against England where he scored a patient century, will be a definite advantage for Robin Uthappa's team, which does not feature a single batsman who has crossed the 500-run mark this season. Even Uthappa, appointed the captain this year, has not been able to convert the starts, though he is the team's highest run-maker with 455 runs including two centuries in the first three games. Probably the most reliable batsman in the side is B Akhil, an allrounder, who notched up a century and two half-centuries in the three games he played. The inconsistency of their batting order made Dravid's return imminent even if it was close on the heels of the England Test series. "It was on the team's request I came because it is a crucial game," Dravid said after a light training session in the morning. Dravid had already made his presence felt in the two games he played, against Andhra and Baroda, as he rebuilt the innings after top-order collapses with two fifties. Karnataka won both the games. Uthappa was happy to have Dravid in the line-up, but pointed out Karnataka was confident even in his absence. "Rahul makes a difference, but it doesn't boost the side," Uthappa said. One performer who has boosted Karnataka's spirits, and is likely to play once again a winning hand, is Sunil Joshi. Probably the oldest player in the tournament, Joshi celebrated his 100th first-class match for Karnataka with 11 wickets in the final league match, against Maharashtra. His experience and the bounce on offer on the CCI pitch will be twin factors that might pose some tricky questions for the Saurashtra batsmen. Based on the evidence of the two games played this season, by Mumbai, the pitch has something for everyone, which might make it an enticing contest especially with Uthappa keen to avenge the close defeat Saurashtra inflicted on them last season. "We want to settle scores after the three-run defeat even if we had taken the first-innings lead the previous season [2006-07]," Uthappa said. Saurashtra have fought hard to make it to the knockouts for the second straight year after qualifying to the Super League three years ago. This time they got off to a false start after being forced to follow-on against Gujarat, a game they lost by an innings and 227 runs as they failed against the pace and spin of Siddharth Trivedi and Mohnish Parmar. Then, going into their final league game, against Hyderabad, they were in a must-win situation as Delhi were hot on their trail to qualify as the third team from Group A. But they got off to a terrible start, folding easily for 133 having elected to bat. But Ravindra Jadeja, probably their best player at the moment, picked a seven-wicket haul in the final innings to seal Saurashtra's place in the last eight. Jadeja, who prospered with his handy cameos for Rajasthan Royals during the IPL, also shared the record partnership for the fifth-wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara, the team's run machine and third on the leading scorers' list this year, against Orissa as Saurashtra bounced back after the first-round loss. Jadeja, who bowls left-arm spin, is also the team's leading wicket-taker with a tally of 30 wickets and just like Joshi has shown a penchant to excel in pressure situations. Pujara has been the backbone of Saurashtra's batting as whenever he has scored big Saurashtra have been successful. He has knowledge of the local conditions having played for Indian Oil Corporation in the local corporate league and will be the key wicket Karanataka's bowlers will be hungry for. This is the first instance both teams are playing outside home turf which will only add to the allure of the contest. Uthappa said the "consistent" nature of the pitch will provide an even game while Dravid felt it was beneficial for the players that the game was happening at a neutral venue. "Neutral venue is an interesting idea and should not be dismissed without fair trial. Lot of people have criticised pitches across the country but this is an opportunity to correct the faults", Dravid said, implying there would be no pressure from either team on the nature of the pitch. Teams: Karnataka (probable) Robin Uthappa (capt), KB Pawan, CM Gautam, Rahul Dravid, C Raghu, Thilak Naidu (wk), B Akhil, Sunil Joshi, R Vinay Kumar, KP Appanna/Sunil Raju, NC Aiyappa. Saurashtra (probable) Jaydev Shah (capt), Bhushan Chouhan, Chirag Pathak, Sitanshu Kotak, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Sagar Jogiyani (wk), Rakesh Dhruv, Sandeep Jobanputra, Kamlesh Makvana, Balkrishna Jadeja Tamil Nadu v Bengal in Bangalore Bengal's chance to cause an upset Over the next four days, the merits of the BCCI technical committee's decision to let the two best Plate League teams play the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals alongside the six best Super League teams will be put to the test. The Chinnaswamy Stadium will be witness to one such match, between Tamil Nadu, who led their Super League group comprehensively, and Bengal, who fought their way up from the Plate League. On the face of it the provision to have Plate League teams play the quarterfinals seems silly. It means the best six teams and the teams ranked 14th and 15th are playing for the big prize. The middle-ranked teams will be justified if they feel hard done by. However, there is another way of looking at it. "It [the new format] is good because there's every chance that a good cricketing team might have slipped down to Plate," Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman said. "It has happened with Karnataka before, and now with Bengal. Once that happens it denies you things for two years. If a good side has gone down due to whatever reasons, there is a fantastic chance for them to come back immediately." Bengal know they deserve that chance. Last year they slipped to the Plate League after being finalists in the previous two seasons. The defections to the ICL played their part too. However, they have come storming back into the Super League, riding on two innings victories and one by nine wickets. Achieving the promotion was no mean feat for there was pressure to win every match in the league stage. The promotion secured, there was a sense of relief in the Bengal camp. "Perhaps we had more pressure before to win every game, in order to be promoted," Laxmi Ratan Shukla, the Bengal captain, said. "Hopefully there will be less pressure this time." If Shukla and Bengal's other batsmen can make significant contributions on a good batting track, some of that pressure will be released. None of their batsmen has crossed the 500-run mark after six matches: Wriddhiman Saha has been the most prolific with 428 runs at 53.50. Manoj Tiwary and Shukla will wish to set an average season right after averaging 38.5 and 29.7 so far. What has worked for them is the form of Ashok Dinda and Ranadeb Bose, who have taken 61 wickets between them, and are at Nos 3 and 4 on the wicket-takers' list. Tamil Nadu, though, don't have any batting worries. The problem of riches could force them to bench Arun Karthik, who scored a century on debut this season and is averaging 57.33, to accommodate M Vijay, who was away on India duty. Not one of their five specialist batsmen averages below 50, and the two part-timers - R Ashwin and Suresh Kumar - average in the mid-40s. The batting transformation has caused the turnaround for Tamil Nadu after years in the wilderness. "If a side has to do well in Ranji Trophy, it has to put runs on the board," Raman said. "Whenever the runs have been put on the board, we have been there or thereabouts. If not titles, at least semis of finals. That's what has been harped on in the last two or three years. Plus the wickets in the latter part of the seasons are usually batsmen-friendly, so it's all the more important to score heavily." Not surprisingly, they have topped their group and got an easy quarter-final as a result. Raman expected to "put it across" Bengal. The flat pitch will work in their batsmen's favour too: Karnataka's 511 in the first innings was bettered by UP in the last game here. One of the bowlers here, who has been following the matches, joked the teams should be allowed to use a bowling machine in the matches. But it is knockout time, and a mistake could prove decisive. To have such matches played over four days defies logic. A knockout comes from the most comprehensive of blows, but usually there isn't enough time in four days to land such punches. "I would have preferred these knockout games to be played over five days," Raman said. "It doesn't give you a comeback chance in a four-day situation. Five days would mean better competition, and obviously these players are being groomed to play top-level cricket." From here on, the teams know that each mistake they make could be their last. And therein lies the underdog's chance, Bengal's in this case. Teams: Tamil Nadu: Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), M Vijay, A Mukund, S Badrinath, S Vidyut, S Suresh Kumar, R Ashwin, C Suresh, L Balaji, C Ganapathy, Yo Mahesh, P Amarnath. Bengal: Lakshmi Ratan Shukla (capt), Rohan Banerjee, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Arindam Das, Avik Chowdhury, Ashok Dinda, Ritam Kundu, Sourav Sarkar, Didyendu Chakrabarty, Randeb Bose, Iresh Saxena, Shreevats Goswami, Avik Mallick.

[Mr. Wicket]

Ranji QF: Bengal v. Tamil Nadu on Neo cricket and other matches on cricinfo Bengal batting first. Good to see Balaji bowling again, his run up looks a lot slower and a bit different, but he's still moving the ball about at just above medium pace and keeping it accurate.

[h4te]

link to NEO sports would NOT be appreciated!

[Mr. Wicket]

I'm getting it on TV. I can tell you the channel, but I don't think that'll help you. :--D But don't worry, you're not missing much so far. Balaji's clocking in the low 120s, and Bengal are happy to crawl at 1 an over. They're playing like Andhra or one of those other very weak, limited teams that are happy to just crawl to totals of 220/5 at the end of a day and aim to compete and draw, rather than going for wins.

[fineleg]

oh ok, TV :D thanks salil, that may not help some of us, unless u stream the telecast :)

[h4te]

yes, i've been following on Cricinfo! All bowlers bowling at 120s....wtf?....LULZ!

[fineleg]

yes' date=' i've been following on Cricinfo! All bowlers bowling at 120s....wtf?....LULZ![/quote'] Looks llike boring match

[Mr. Wicket]

Ashwin on. Dull first over, didn't live up to the hype I've heard about him as a spinning prospect. Bowled slow and gave it air, but never really seemed to get loop or drift on the ball. Reminds me of the old Powar back when he could only toss the ball high but never get it to dip on the batsman, and got milked.

[Cricketics]

damn. Cricket Nirvana also not casting.

[fineleg]

bengal 20-0 in 15 overs!

[Rajan]

TN has a strong batting line up most of the 4 days domestic matches turn out to be very very painfully slow batting deaths because of the points for first innings lead.some of the teams like Railways do not attack at all.it is rubbish cricket. TN is a very good batting unit, especially since M.Vijay and Badri are available after the tests. their replacements did excellent job.TN will get thru this one.surprised it is on TV. May be i can watch the new TN batsmen for the first time tomorrow.hope Dinesh Karthik continues his good form.

[Chandan]

The match so far has been the most boring I've ever seen. Why on earth were the batsmen not attacking? It was not as if all the bowlers were on fire or fielders were live wire!! Extremely disappointing show so far, in this match. Do we have the scorecards of other matches or will get to read only the post day reports? PS: The scores of other matches are available too. So at lunch: HP is 85/5 Karnataka is 86/2 UP is 90/1 And Bengal has picked up a bit after lunch and is 90/2 at the moment.

[Chandan]

Saha finally perishes to Ganpathy after making a half ton. Did he lose his concentration there or became a bit overconfident?