Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

[fineleg]

SRT and ZK shud play for Bombay - it will almost certainly mean Bombay will surely lift the cup. But the best players (if and when available - since no Intl duty now) should play.

[anbuchelvan]

Sachin will be playing in his fav ground.I bet Bombay will meet T.N in finals.

[Guest Hiten.]

given the history of chepauk it will be a sporting wicket...who will save sau from zak's wrath :nervous:

[nospam]

arey umpire se daro, he/she was supporting rajasthan royals even after they were beaten badly by delhi daredevils

[h4te]

Really, was that done deliberately? Commenting on the match itself, Badri has once again reinforced his spot in the test squad. But with Yuvraj making some important runs, his future looks a little bleak. He will probably end up as one of the most prolific FC batsman never to play a test for India, despite being so close, on so many occasions.

not one, but three wides were bowled deliberately :(( :whack: The only way he can get into the team now is if there is an injury or if someone decides to rest.............................or dravid retires within a year. after that, badri will be 30ish and no one is going to select him.....

[SachDan]

Sachin and Zak included in the Mumbai team :yay::yay: Venue is Chennai,Sach's favorite ground http://content-gulf.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2008/content/story/384751.html

[Lord]

not one, but three wides were bowled deliberately :(( :whack: The only way he can get into the team now is if there is an injury or if someone decides to rest.............................or dravid retires within a year. after that, badri will be 30ish and no one is going to select him.....

hard on badri,but not unusual,people have played domestic cricket sussessfully before n havent got a chance in intl.cricket.e.g.amol muzumdar i think we should now on youngsters like rohit sharma n virat kohli

[triam]

The OP is totally unfair,almost every batsman and team chooses to go for personal milestones once the result is a foregone conclusion. And Tiwary bowling wides, now that is really unsportsmanlike.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

vow.. Sir, where were u when yuvi was giving strike so SRT can score a century in chennai?? where were u, when dhoni was letting gauti n yuvi get a century n not pushin for a win?? i dont see any thread from you bashing them?? why is tht?? sick of these double standards.. and its not like he was lookin for his 100 at the cost of his team's victory....

Well said Zubi... :hatsoff: Is beyond me why Salil is so worked up about this that he took time to start a thread and after that vanished altogether. I was at the stadium, as the match was being played in Blore and TN were going to win. I saw the last two sessions. DK did his best to help his team mate get a century, which he needs badly to press his claims strongly for being picked in the indian test team. When Tiwari bowled that wide, that went for 5 byes, DK even tried an acrobatic stunt to stop the ball with the bat. Such was the comraderie. Tiwary bowled another wide as well to deny things for Badri. What Tiwary did was a shame, not what DK did to give Badri a chance to get to his 100.

[flamy]

Well said Zubi... :hatsoff: Is beyond me why Salil is so worked up about this that he took time to start a thread and after that vanished altogether. I was at the stadium, as the match was being played in Blore and TN were going to win. I saw the last two sessions. DK did his best to help his team mate get a century, which he needs badly to press his claims strongly for being picked in the indian test team. When Tiwari bowled that wide, that went for 5 byes, DK even tried an acrobatic stunt to stop the ball with the bat. Such was the comraderie. Tiwary bowled another wide as well to deny things for Badri. What Tiwary did was a shame, not what DK did to give Badri a chance to get to his 100.

:hatsoff::hatsoff: thats awesome!

[h4te]

hard on badri,but not unusual,people have played domestic cricket sussessfully before n havent got a chance in intl.cricket.e.g.amol muzumdar i think we should now on youngsters like rohit sharma n virat kohli

i think he WILL get a chance eventually....once Dravid retires (or when Yuvraj fails in NZ)

[Deleted_User_1]

India's latest run machine...... Possbile replacement for the Wall when he hangs up his boots?............. http://us.rediff.com/cricket/2008/dec/30cheteshwar-pujara-cricket-interview.htm 'I don't like getting out' December 30, 2008 Cheteshwar Pujara His efforts with the bat were instrumental in ensuring Saurashtra a semi-final finish in the 2007-08 Ranji season. Besides, it helped him end up as the top scorer in the Super League, with 807 runs in eight matches (@ 73.36). The encore has been equally, if not more, spectacular. The 20-year-old has already amassed 876 runs in the same number of matches (@ 72.12) and ensured Saurashtra a place in the last four for a second year running. Amongst his knocks are a masterful triple-century (302 not out) against Orissa - an innings preceded by two triple-hundreds in the C K Nayudu Trophy (under-22) - a superb 189 against Punjab followed by an equally efficient 176 against Mumbai [images], all of them coming on home ground (Rajkot). More importantly, his season is far from over. After enabling Saurashtra score a come-from-behind quarter-final win over Karnataka with a magnificent 112 not out, Cheteshwar Pujara took some time out to talk to Special Correspondent Bikash Mohapatra on a variety of topics. Excerpts. So, Saurashtra qualify for the semi-finals again? The end result (Saurashtra beating Karanataka by five wickets) was good. There was pressure to begin with but we believed in our abilities throughout. You had a tough target (325) and were continuously on the back foot after Karnataka had taken the 116-run lead in the first innings. What, according to you, was the main reason behind this win? The way we batted. We had a meeting on the eve of the last day and decided to try and play positive. In any case, we had nothing to loose as we were already behind after the first innings and had lost two second innings wickets at close of play on day three. We needed a partnership and Shitanshubhai (Kotak) and myself managed to do that. The manner in which the middle order pitched in was really commendable. The most important factor for us in the match was the three successive partnerships - 163 runs for fourth wicket, 77 for fifth and an undefeated 84 for the sixth - that we forged in the second innings. Because of these we came right back into the game. Tail-enders would have struggled on this wicket. So, it was imperative for the batsmen to finish the job. I would, therefore, say it was a team effort. And what about your innings? My innings was important, as my role was to occupy the crease (Pujara batted for more than 51/2 hours) and converted the loose balls. But I think this innings of mine was comparatively risky. Personally, it was one of my better efforts so far because it came in the time of need. It was a match-winning knock in a knock-out match. Critics had pointed that your big knocks come on your home ground. But with this innings you again proved that you can score outside Rajkot� (Interrupts) I don't have to prove any point. Obviously, after this innings people should notice me more. But my job is to just score runs. You are being compared to Rahul Dravid, who was playing for Karnataka in the match. How much did you interact with him? He congratulated me and told me I should continue to play the game the way I am doing it. I didn't get much opportunity though to talk with him about batting. But he has watched me perform here and I will definitely try to talk to him in the near future. With him not being in good form of late, some see you (who also happen to play in a similar mould) drafted in his place as a possible successor in the Test squad� (Interrupts) I don't think it would be a good thing if I were to replace him (Dravid) in the Test team. He has proved himself many times at the international level whereas I have a lot to prove. I want to have my place in the team and not take someone else's place. Saurashtra is taking on the Mumbai next in the semi-finals, to be played in Chennai. Your thoughts on that match (January 4-7, 2009)? We haven't planned anything so far but it will be a big challenge for us for sure. They have the advantage, what with Sachin (Tendulkar), Zaheer (Khan) and Ajit (Agarkar) playing in the match. But we will definitely try our best and focus on what we are doing. How do you assess your season thus far? It's been a good season for me, my best so far. I have scored runs when it has mattered. And though I missed out on the first innings here (he made just 1), I made up for it in the second. It is not that I have changed my batting. But the approach towards it has changed. I bat with a much more positive approach now. You can now expect a call up to the national team any time? If you perform you will be noticed. In any case, I don't think much about it. I just concentrate on playing my game. You are more of a textbook player, whose game suits the longer version. How do you see yourself fitting in the ODIs, or, for that matter, the Twenty20 [images] versions that seem to be the order of the day? Thankfully, my strike-rate has improved over the season and that should hopefully help me stake a claim in the one-day and T20 formats. With the second season of the Indian Premier League [images] coming up, I hope I get to play in a few matches. You were part of the Kolkata Knight Riders [images] squad in the inaugural edition of the IPL but didn't get to play� I was disappointed of course not to have played in any of the matches. But to share the dressing rooms with players like Sourav Ganguly [images], Ricky Ponting [images] etc and seeing them prepare and handle different situations was definitely a learning experience. Finally, what is the reason behind Cheteshwar Pujara's remarkable consistency? I don't like getting out. So that makes me more determined to keep scoring runs.

[fineleg]

i think salil may be touring somewhere for holidays. There is no need to lock any thread. He can explain what he meant when he comes back.

[Chandan]

A few reactions from the QF stars: L Balaji The smiling assassin is back Sidharth Monga December 29, 2008 L Balaji's second coming is a heartening sign given his injury troubles in the past two years © Getty Images One of the more endearing sights in Indian cricket is back. To see L Balaji smiling on a cricket field, after a painful two-year hiatus, is reassuring. For, on various occasions during that time he has not been sure if he would be able to bowl again. For, when he went for the surgery on his back, he needed that very reassurance. "I told Raman [WV, the Tamil Nadu coach] before I went for surgery: 'I just want to bowl again'. Raman told me, 'You will come back, and you will bowl'. That was a big boost." It wasn't as simple as that, though. "If I were to go back," says Raman, "to what all happened when he was told he would have to go for a surgery, it would take me two days to rattle on." But all that is history now, and Balaji doesn't want to go back. "The last two years have been really tough for me, when I was struggling to even bowl," he says. "Those are the moments I don't even want to recollect." His comeback started during the IPL, but then again so did Ashish Nehra's. Both of them impressed, bowling four overs a day, but the real test would be to bowl 20 to 30 overs a day on unresponsive tracks. Nehra broke down again, but Balaji has gone on through the league stages and the quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy. When it comes to unhelpful tracks, none come worse than the Chinnaswamy pitch, where Tamil Nadu played Bengal. Chasing a dream after years spent in wilderness - they last came close to a Ranji Trophy title in 2002-03, losing to Mumbai in the final and have even had to fight relegation in the latter years - Tamil Nadu had conceded the first-innings lead to a spirited Bengal and had only four-and-a-half sessions to bowl them out and get the runs. It needed a big-hearted effort from somewhere, and - risking disrespect towards the other players in the game - it could have come from only one man. Raman agrees. "Either Bala was going to do it for us or it was not going to happen. To be fair to others, they are not incisive or as experienced as he is. So Bala was our only chance." And how Bala did it. He may not want to remember the horrors he has gone through in the last two years, but it is worth recollecting the magic ball he bowled to Inzamam-ul-Haq in the Rawalpindi Test on the 2003-04 tour. Ritam Kundu, the Bengal off-break bowler and lower-order batsman, didn't deserve this: the ball coming from wide of the crease, angling in to him, and moving away to take the off stump. Inzamam was better: he had managed to edge it. Balaji did that and more on a pitch where taking wickets in quick succession was next to impossible. He took five of them for seven runs, whereupon Tamil Nadu went on to make an incredible comeback and make their way through to the semi-final. It wasn't easy: he looked innocuous at times, bowling in the mid-120s and not getting any help from the pitch. But he persevered. In the first innings, he bowled what looked like a slower legcutter to Manoj Tiwary, which jagged in and bowled him. Tiwary was closing in on 150, but nobody expects googlies from pace bowlers. Quite interestingly, Balaji compares this match with the Rawalpindi Test, but for different reasons. "This is one of my best performances," he says. "One of the best matches I have played so far. Maybe the third Test in Pakistan comes closer. This time we hardly had any chance of coming back. "Unless and until, I feel, if I don't win a match, that performance is not going to make a difference. If you ask Sachin [Tendulkar], he made a hundred on a [Chennai] track [against England] to see India home in a chase of 387 when nobody thought India could do it. That will be the most satisfactory moment for him. It's the same for me: when the things were really looking low, and I stood up and said: 'I will do my job. I will do something to take the team to the next level.'" He has come back with a new action, where he sort of tiptoes for the first few steps - almost as if unsure of the ground he is going to run on, before easing in. This is something he used to do when he was younger. "I recollected my old action and all that stuff," he says. "I had remodelled it a little bit. I have to be much straighter." "Putting it simply I don't see many guys doing it: coming back, first of all, and then working so hard with so much dedication, and also not allowing frustration to get the better of him, and to do what he has been doing all season on placid tracks. I really don't see many doing it WV Raman, Tamil Nadu's coach, on Balaji's return from injury In his first season back Balaji has taken 31 wickets at 16.64, none more important and wily than the eight he took against Bengal. Apart from the fact that he has played through the season, the biggest challenge would have been to sustain the action. Raman thinks he has done that well. "From first game to now, he has improved quite a lot. It's also a mental confirmation that his body can hold out, and also he is not going back to the whole thing. In terms of cricket, it was important he was able to reproduce again and again the restructured action. "That's getting better and better, which means he will get better results with passage of time. That's not good news for the batsmen across the country, but it is very good news for us." Though not racing too far ahead, Balaji is happy with his comeback so far. "I have so far bowled around 160 overs," he says. "I am really enjoying my bowling, my long spells." Raman puts his achievement into perspective: "Putting it simply I don't see many guys doing it: coming back, first of all, and then working so hard with so much dedication, and also not allowing frustration to get the better of him, and to do what he has been doing all season on placid tracks. I really don't see many doing it." At the same time, this might only be half the journey. He is not near his best as yet, but Raman believes he is only going to get better. Along the way, if he can bowl more such inspirational spells, that beaming smile will stay on display. Everything clicked, says Balaji Bangalore: L. Balaji remained modest as ever and tended to speak more about the team rather than his spells that paved the way for Tamil Nadu’s victory. However, when repeatedly asked about his role, Balaji said: “In the first one hour, everything clicked. The ball was coming out well from my hand, I had a nice rhythm. I am happy that I could bowl well and take my team to the next level – semi-final.†Balaji termed the match as perhaps one of the greatest he has ever played in and ranked it close to the Tests he has played against Pakistan. “There was almost no chance for a comeback in this match but as a team we did well. We have grown up on these flat tracks and we know how to bowl. Look at the way Zaheer and Ishant are bowling these days. They have shown a big heart and that is the most important thing,†Balaji said and added, “The last two years have been a struggle but I don’t want to recollect all that.†Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu coach W.V. Raman stressed that his players believed that they had a chance and praised Balaji. “We knew it would be interesting to watch how Bengal emotionally handled their small lead. Balaji bowled splendidly and his comeback after undergoing surgery, restructuring his run-up and remodelling his action is a great achievement. Knock-out matches like this should be five-day matches even though we came back here and Saurashtra came back against Karnataka,†Raman said.

[Chandan]

Tale of 2 youngsters Mumbai: Cheteshwar Pujara had hoped to tap Rahul Dravid’s vast reservoir of cricketing knowledge when they met during the course of the Ranji Trophy quarter finals at the Brabourne Stadium. But it was a very short tete-e-tete as India’s premier batsman walked past the Saurashtra dressing room at the end of the match. The former India captain condensed his years of wisdom into one line for the Saurashtra youngster. “Keep doing what you are doing. You are doing well,” Dravid said. Perhaps, Dravid didn’t feel the need to elaborate. In Pujara’s own words, the innings at Brabourne on the final day was a bit different from the way he has batted this season. “My 189 against Punjab came off 182 balls and the 176 against Mumbai off 173. But Monday, my task was to stay at the crease for 90 overs,” Pujara told The Telegraph. Pujara rated his unbeaten 148 against Delhi at the Roshanara Club last year — when he batted the entire final day — as his best knock so far. “That hundred came in a difficult situation. It was a match-saving century, the (against Karnataka) was a match-winning one,” he said. Pujara’s prolific run-making has, however, over-shadowed his teammate — promising all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Along with Pujara, Jadeja has been the key to Saurashtra’s emergence as a force in domestic circuit. Jadeja rates the hundred he scored against Delhi earlier this season as his favourite knock. “I made 143 and it came against a better attack. There was a lot of talk when I went in to bat, so it was very satisfying to make that century,” he said. Cheteshwar Pujara 'I'd prefer to play alongside Dravid' 31 Dec 2008, 0009 hrs IST, Gaurav Gupta, MUMBAI: MS Dhoni's fans want to build a temple in his honour in Ranchi. The way Cheteshwar Pujara has begun his cricket career, don't be surprised if his fans engage themselves in a similar pursuit in Rajkot a few years down the line. The 20-year-old added another chapter to his growing legend on Monday, cracking an unbeaten 112 that carried Saurashtra to a famous five-wicket triumph over Karnataka in the Ranji. It wasn't surprising when he later termed it as the best knock of his career. When he talks about his best, there is a fair bit to choose from, even for his age. Last season, he hit 807 runs in eight Ranji games, at 73.36, with three hundreds. Before this season began, Pujara slammed two triple hundreds in the Col CK Nayudu Trophy. The 'Mr. Consistent' of domestic cricket then followed that up with an unbeaten 302 against Orissa. Till now, he has 867 runs in eight games, with four hundreds against his name already. So why does this knock stand out? Firstly, it came right in front of Rahul Dravid, one of his childhood heroes. A pat on the back and a gentle "well played" that came from 'The Wall' just after the win would be the biggest prize Pujara would have hoped for in this game, though the master class that he was hoping for from the former Indian captain never came. "I had to stick at one end, as well as keep scoring. It wasn't entirely according to the way I play naturally. I had to adapt to the situation. I was forced to play strokes quite a few times," he reasoned. The way Pujara soaked the pressure, despite walking in at 13-3, was admirable, to say the least. "I never think of pressure. The question what if I fail, never crosses my mind," he said. Why this knock could be special to him could be the spotlight it would bring on him, more so with India not playing any international cricket currently. After all, it was a match-winning effort in a formidable fourth-innings chase in a knockout game. However, any talk of expecting a national call-up is met with a gentle reply. "I just want to focus on my game. If I keep scoring, the selection will happen in due time," he says. His calm exterior reflects no signs of frustration. Perhaps, his daily regimen of meditating for half an hour is playing an important role. The steady head can also be attributed to father Arvind Pujara, a former Ranji wicket-keeper bat for Saurashtra who has been Pujara's coach, mentor, practically everything. What if he replaces Dravid in future? "I wouldn't like to replace him. I would prefer to play alongside him," Pujara says. He resembles a young Dravid in more ways than one. Ravindra Jadeja Saurashtra’s ‘rock star’ hopes to continue raking up the numbers Bharat Sundaresan Posted: Dec 30, 2008 at 2338 hrs IST He was part of the Indian team that won the under-19 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, and stood on the podium with his Rajasthan Royals’ team mates after winning the inaugural IPL. He ended the year on a high, claiming nine wickets and scoring 55 in double-quick time to ensure his team’s passage into the Ranji Trophy semi-finals. Year 2008 has been memorable for Saurashtra’s Ravindra Jadeja. Ask the 20-year old whether winning the Ranji Trophy is his next goal and he quips, “Phir to life ban jaayega (That will make my life).” Jadeja has also been the most successful all-rounder in the competition this season, having scored 729 runs and picking up 39 wickets. He credits his improved bowling to playing eight four-day matches on the trot, he reveals, as it has helped him adapt to different versions of the game. “Last season I played in a number of one-day games and was bowling really flat. Now I give the ball more flight and the results have been great,” he says. Jadeja admits that the pull shot had been a detriment last season, but is quick to insist he has worked hard on fine-tuning it. “I want to make sure that I keep the pull shot down, so that there is no danger of being caught in the outfield,” he says. When the left-hander walked in on Monday after Shitanshu Kotak was out, his team was still in a tricky situation, despite a good start. “I was under pressure when I went out to bat, but I decided to play my natural game and not worry too much about the match situation. And once I connected with a pull shot early on, things just fell into place,” explains Jadeja, whose bravado did lead to his downfall. “That ball just bounced on me and I got the top edge. But I was confident that the likes of Jaydev Shah and Sagar Jogiyani would take us home,” he adds. Named the ‘Rockstar’ of Rajasthan Royals by Shane Warne and impressing the Australian legend, the youngster is adamant that his New Year resolution is to continue performing, this time in order to grab the attention of national selectors. ---------------------------------------------------- Let us hope these two live up to the expectation.

[King Tendulkar]

vow.. Sir, where were u when yuvi was giving strike so SRT can score a century in chennai?? where were u, when dhoni was letting gauti n yuvi get a century n not pushin for a win?? i dont see any thread from you bashing them?? why is tht?? sick of these double standards.. and its not like he was lookin for his 100 at the cost of his team's victory....

OUCH. Looks like salil has run for cover:haha:

[Kshatriyan]

OUCH. Looks like salil has run for cover:haha:

Salil -- running away --- no wayyyyy ..... he is just gathering enough ammo to blow u guys away :fight:

[Dravid]

good to see balaji getting wickets

[Shehezaada]

Milestones. Bah. Whoever said that a number of Indian players are obsessed with them was right. This Ranji QF is turning into a pathetic farce. For the last god-knows-how-long Badrinath has been trying to milk a hundred. Karthik is blocking non-stop, so we're getting overs where Badri takes a single to start and Karthik blocks the rest. After that the Bengal players have gotten upset and started bowling ridiculously wide - Kundu and Tiwary are firing the ball FEET down the leg side, and it's disgusting to watch them bowling deliberate wides. And to make it even more farcical, Badri's had several moments where he's tried to monopolise the strike completely - hitting the ball out to the deep, starting for the first run and then turning back when he realized he couldn't get 2 to monopolise the strike with Karthik happy to play along with this farce. Some of the most painful, boring and generally disgusting cricket I've seen from both sides. Thank you Badrinath, Karthik and the Bengal bowlers for turning an entertaining run chase into a borefest focused around one man's milestone (which thankfully he didn't reach). No wonder you've got a crowd in double digit numbers at this game - if teams play this sort of crap on the field, who the hell wants to go to the ground and watch the game? If there is a thing such as karma, I hope Tamil Nadu get flayed in the semi finals.

In the 50th over Badrinath is 90*, needing another 10 runs, with the target 13 away. I think what Salil is referring to is this: Tiwary to Karthik, 5 wides, wayward delivery bowled well wide of leg stump, five wides. Did he do that on purpose to deny Badri the hundred? I don't see the harm in allowing a team mate to get a hundred if you know your gonna win. But realistically Badri shouldn't have even attempted it. At tea with a further 78 runs to get, Badri was 35*, which means he needed a further 65 runs out of 78 to get to his hundred. To give him the benefit of the doubt I don't think he was thinking along those lines earlier, only when maybe he got closer to the hundred these thoughts started coming to him.

[Holysmoke]

good to see balaji getting wickets

What happenned to the can of whoop-ass you were gonna show Mumbai? Pant ni andar aj fati gayu?