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Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

Chandan

By Chandan
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sandtest Newbie

sandtest

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Mumbai Ranji Team Vs Test Team of any country It has a decent experienced opener in Jaffer. Rahane and Rohit are talented enough to form strong middle order. Abhishek Nayar plays under pressure. Presence of Sachin Tendulkar is the biggest advantage for Mumbai. Zaheer is arguably one of the best swinger at the moment. I think, Team Mumbai can hold it's ground against any regular test opposition.

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Chandan Newbie

Chandan

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It has a decent experienced opener in Jaffer. Rahane and Rohit are talented enough to form strong middle order. Abhijit Nayar plays under pressure. Presence of Sachin Tendulkar is the biggest advantage for Mumbai. Zaheer is arguably one of the best swinger at the moment. I think, Team Mumbai can hold it's ground against any regular test opposition.
How can you forget a full strength Delhi team? They have Sehwag and Gambhir as openers. Chopra can be an ideal number 3. Ishant is the lead pace bowler with youngsters like Sangwan and Bhatia, who is a very reliable all-rounder. A fit Nehra can still be a good bowler in short bursts, Amit Mishra is the spinner. Rohit Sharma is admittedly a better young batsman than Shikhar Dhawan and then Mumbai have Rahane too. But I think the battle between these two sides at full strength can be good.
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Dinx - the Jinx Newbie

Dinx - the Jinx

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Oh cmon - Dont get carried away too much. Bombay just beat (or about to beat) a hapless Uttar Pradesh team and Delhi dint qualify for the Quarter finals even and you guys are talking about Bombay Vs Rest of the World and Delhi Vs Rest of the World. The full strength Delhi team lost to Rest of India in the season opener Irani Trophy - forgot that so soon?

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Chandan Newbie

Chandan

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Final, Day 3 Mumbai v Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, 3rd day Zaheer's seven takes Mumbai close to title January 14, 2009 Mumbai 402 and 130 for 0 (Jaffer 74*, Samant 53*) lead Uttar Pradesh 245 (Shukla 99, Zaheer 7-54) by 287 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details How they were out 386351.jpg7up against UP: Zaheer was just too good for domestic batsmen © Cricinfo Ltd A devastating Zaheer Khan was too much for Uttar Pradesh's batsmen and his second five-for in back-to-back Ranji Trophy finals took Mumbai within striking distance of a 38th title. Zaheer was the one big difference between Mumbai and Bengal two years ago, and he proved to be the same with UP. He didn't stop at five this time, taking two more wickets to finish the job emphatically, and helped Mumbai to a 157-run lead. Umpiring continued to be the focus too. Shivakant Shukla, who resisted for 393 minutes and 99 runs, ended up on the wrong side of a marginal lbw decision, and that dismissal started UP's slide. Wasim Jaffer and Vinayak Samant helped themselves to fifties against a lacklustre UP in the second innings to put it almost beyond them. It was almost unfair to unleash a superlative Zaheer on the domestic batsmen. He has played only three Ranji matches for Mumbai so far - he started his career with Baroda, and has rarely found time off from his international commitments since shifting to Mumbai. The first, when he took nine in the match against Bengal, brought them the 37th title. He was off colour in the second, in the semi-final this year, but has come back strongly with his best performance in the Ranji Trophy. In his second spell with the second new ball today, Zaheer took five wickets for 20 runs, and UP went from 214 for 4 to 245 all out. He started the day with perhaps the highlight of the match: a spell of immaculate reverse-swing bowling, although he went wicketless because Parvinder Singh handled him admirably. That seven-over spell from Zaheer was a fierce interrogation that would have tested any Test batsman. From round the stumps, and wide of the crease, Zaheer angled the ball in, and continuously got it to move away. He got Mohammad Kaif with a similar delivery yesterday, but Parvinder learned the lesson. He played as late as possible, kept the bat close to the body, and even took a blow on the forearm. There was no show of pain at that moment, and he went back to tackling Zaheer. Parvinder took 32 deliveries to get off the mark, but clearly he was not anxious about reaching that milestone, unlike Suresh Raina yesterday who ran himself out first ball. Parvinder lost that intense concentration half an hour before lunch to let Mumbai sneak back. His first error proved to be his last, as he chased a juicy wide delivery from Abhishek Nayar. Along with a fortuitous Shukla, he had frustrated Mumbai for 126 minutes, but those minutes translated into only 55 runs for the partnership. Nayar, a modest medium-pacer at best, has this happy knack of getting match-turning breakthroughs. He did that again here. After his 821-minute epic in the semi-final, Shukla had said he could bat on for three-four more days. It seemed the case, especially given the two dropped chances and various edges falling either short of fielders or in the gaps. But Shukla stayed patient, unhurried in his strokeplay and body language. Zaheer got him to edge one though gully, before Dhawal Kulkarni got back-to-back edges off him. After surviving the second of those outside-edges, Shukla walked away from the stumps and admonished himself, keen to make the most of those chances. But four overs later, Ajit Agarkar beat him outside the off stump twice. And then he tried to cut Sairaj Bahutule, and expertly bisected first and second slip with an edge. Neither Jaffer, blind-sided by Samant's gloves, nor Ajinkya Rahane, at second slip, went for it. Shukla was 68 then. Shukla's innings was similar to Rohit Sharma's, though he wasn't as quick, Two catches went unclaimed, he looked loose outside off, and in-between he hit a few attractive boundaries to reach 99. Along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shukla added 68 for the fifth wicket in quick time. Bhuvneshwar played an odd cameo - characterised by being beaten outside off comprehensively at one time, and driving the next ball for a crisp boundary. With more than 20 hours gone between dismissals for Shukla, it would have taken a special delivery to get him. Zaheer produced just that: a sharp inswinger, catching him in front of stumps. But Shukla was hit on the flap of the front pad, and height was a question. It was a touch-and-go decision, but one that went against UP again. Zaheer just proved too good against the other batsmen, who lacked application. So crushing was Zaheer's effort that a dejected UP took the field with two days and a session to go still. Gone was the fizz their bowlers had in the first innings, and the resilience that has been their trademark all season. Jaffer and Samant found it easy, and did exactly what was required to start the home stretch towards yet another title. Another POV Mumbai fly high as Zaheer destroys UP, Mumbai tighten grip in Ranji final Zaheer Khan's best figures in the Ranji Trophy, 7 for 54, derailed UP 2009011457542101.jpgIN THE THICK OF ACTION: Zaheer Khan (third from left) played a cameo with the bat and then bowled a superb spell on day three of the Ranji final. . For the second successive day, the man the whole nation looks up to as a role model and whose presence in the Mumbai dressing room is inspirational, was absent from the field. Sachin Tendulkar did not take the field for the entire UP innings because of a fever. In his absence, the many-time Ranji champions were put on the path for their 38th title by India's spearhead Zaheer Khan. The 30-year-old left-armer finished with seven for 54 including a dream spell of five for 20 from 4.2 overs with the second new ball as Uttar Pradesh, replying to Mumbai's 402, were shot out for 245, giving the team from West Zone a 157-run lead. At stumps on Wednesday, with neither the UP medium-pacers nor the spinners making any impression, Mumbai openers Vinayak Samant (53 batting) and Wasim Jaffer (74 batting) rode comfortably on their 130-run unbroken partnership. With an overall lead of 287 and two days remaining, Mumbai have tightened the noose around UP's neck. Shukla and Singh fail to repeat semifinal heroics When play resumed at 91 for three, UP relied on Shivakant Shukla and Parvinder Singh to reduce the deficit but the pair could not repeat their semifinal heroics. The fourth-wicket duo nearly batted for two hours as the Mumbai bowlers could not do much with the old ball. Zaheer too could do little as the conditions did not favour the reverse swing. Off-spinner Ramesh Powar and leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule did not get much turn out of the pitch and appeared to be just playing a holding role, giving the medium-pacers the break. However, the dangerous pair was separated by 'partnership breaker' Abhishek Nayar, when Parvinder played an outswinger away from his body and edged to wicket-keeper. Not shaken by the loss, Shukla concentrated hard and settled down in Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's company. The duo consumed time and frustrated Mumbai for more than an hour after lunch. They even saw off the first 10 overs of the second new ball. Left-handed openers across the world dread Zaheer with the new ball. Even the best in the business over the last few years — Matthew Hayden and Graeme Smith — have been on his ‘bunny’ list. Though UP’s left-handed opener Shukla had survived Zaheer’s new-ball burst on Tuesday, the Mumbai paceman changed gears on Wednesday just as things were starting to slip out of Mumbai’s hands. His sharp in-cutter has accounted for several big names in the recent past, and Shukla couldn’t be blamed for missing the line and getting out lbw. Shukla walked almost immediately after the impact, not waiting for the verdict from umpire Tarapore. In any case, expecting a semi-final encore from Shukla would’ve been too much to ask for. With his unbeaten 178 against Tamil Nadu in the semis, he had helped UP climb Mt 400. This time, he took the team to the halfway mark but when he lost his trusted sherpa Parvinder Singh — the man who gave him company during the heroics at Nagpur — the climb got tougher. Dream spell 15_01_2009_024_007_004.jpg Here began Zaheer's dream spell. While no other bowler looked like taking wickets except for Agarkar, who had Bhuvanesh throw his wicket away to a slip catch, Zaheer came up with his second five-wicket haul for Mumbai. In a spell of controlled swing bowling, the UP tail fell to catches either behind the wicket of within the 30-yard circle. Uttar Pradesh’s bowling hero Bhuvneshwar Kumar stuck around and gave Shukla some support, but it didn’t prove quite enough. Once he and Shukla got out, it was a combination of shattered confidence and inspired bowling. The tail-enders didn’t really have a chance against Zaheer, who by now was moving the ball around at will. “It was a good track to bowl on, and I just wanted to put it in the right areas. It was a long day for us and we were getting tired, so I just wanted to finish the game early,” Zaheer said about his spell, talking like a neighbourhood elder who, after getting bored with a sub-standard backyard game with the juniors, had taken off his kid gloves. Patience pays But Zaheer did have a few words of praise for Shukla. “He was batting really well, it was turning out to be good contest. We just maintained the pressure and were patient,” said Zaheer. After Shukla fell, Zaheer dismissed Praveen Kumar (6) and Amir Khan on successive deliveries, both edging the moving ball into the hands of wicketkeeper Samant, before dismissing Piyush Chawla and last-man Praveen Gupta. Watching Zaheer’s perfect seam and precise movement must have been a lesson for the other pacemen in the match. But at the same time, the return of India’s star bowler on the domestic circuit also puts the season’s Ranji performances in perspective. Before the Ranji Trophy semi-final, Zaheer Khan was enjoying a well-deserved international break. “All I did during that time was catch up on sleep,” he says about the brief time away from the game. After almost sleep-walking through the semis, he woke up on the third day of the final, and his one inspired spell has all but handed the Ranji Trophy to his skipper Wasim Jaffer. Zaheer’s seven for 54 helped Mumbai take a 157-run first innings lead. With openers Jaffer and Vinayak Samant following it up with an unbeaten partnership of 130, Mumbai have pulled away from UP and with two more days to go, a turnaround seems close to impossible. Before Zaheer went into the zone, the game was interestingly poised and the smiles hadn’t yet faded on the faces in the UP dressing room. They had crossed the 200-mark and the man in form Shivakant Shukla was in the 90s. With six wickets in hand, they thought they could double the score to overtake Mumbai’s first-innings total of 402. Zaheer praises the track and Shukla ZAHEER KHAN likes to play as much as he can and enjoys bowling lots of overs, and, of course, taking wickets, whether for India or for Mumbai. 386418.jpgZaheer Khan's best figures in the Ranji Trophy derailed UP © Cricinfo Ltd. In 1998, a young Zaheer Khan travelled with the Mumbai Ranji team without playing a single game. He could not even find a seat in the dressing room - the space was taken by Mumbai's stalwarts - and would park himself in the adjoining room. He left Mumbai the next year, helped Baroda win the Ranji Trophy in 2000-01, returned to Mumbai in 2006-07 for one game, the final, and won another Ranji Trophy title. Today, he propelled Mumbai to the verge of its 38th Ranji Trophy. Zaheer plucked four wickets in eight balls in the afternoon to knock the wind out of Uttar Pradesh. In the morning, he walked out with just rubber soles and not his bowling shoes, telling some of his team-mates not to worry, "Main lunch ke baad khatam karta hoon. (I will finish them after lunch.)" Zaheer's words came true, and he did not let the batsmen have it easy in the morning. He got the old ball to reverse, and was denied a wicket only because Parvinder Singh managed to handle what many Test batsmen wouldn't. Three overs first-up with the second new ball didn't bring a breakthrough, but a few overs later Zaheer breathed fire with a devastating spell that read 4.2-1-20-5. The ball swung in the air before leaving the batsmen late, a few bounced nastily and in general he created hell. His 7 for 54 was his best in the Ranji Trophy . On Wednesday, his body was tiring and he wanted to finish off the Uttar Pradesh innings early. The result was his best bowling figures in national competitions in India — seven for 54 in 27.2 overs. “I am happy to know that,” he said, smiling after a profitable day “It is a good track to bowl and there is plenty in it for the bowlers. It was a long day for us and I was getting tired. I wanted it to get over quickly .” The 30-year-old said that even though the other bowlers did not get wickets, they ‘combined well to maintain pressure on Uttar Pradesh. It was a breeze. "I was definitely tired and I wanted to get away quickly and am glad that I could get the wickets in that spell." That cool temperament led to the obvious question: "Is it almost unfair on the domestic batsmen to be playing against you in such conditions?" Zaheer responded with the right thing. "You can't say that. Shivakant Shukla played really well and offered a contest." Shukla later said it was a battle that he immensely enjoyed. "He reversed the ball, got it to swing normally and bowled really well." Zaheer returned the compliment. "He deserved a century but it obviously felt good to get him on 99". It was one that nipped in which caught Shukla in front of the stumps. We had to be patient and get the ball in the right areas and wait for the batsmen to make mistakes.’ “He deserved his 100,” said Zaheer of Shivakant. “He played very well. But it was good to get him out.” The Indian spearhead, though, has not yet begun celebrating even though Mumbai now have the title in their sights. “We have been champions 37 times and Mumbai play to win. I enjoy playing for Mumbai and playing in semifinal and final of a Ranji Trophy is very pres tigious. It is very impor tant for Mumbai to win and not take the opposi tion lightly.” 386416.jpgShivakant Shukla enjoyed his battle with Zaheer © Cricinfo Ltd. Till then Shukla had made sure he wasn't exposed by Zaheer. At the start of the season, he wasn't sure whether he would be in the squad but stunned many with a marathon hundred in the semi-final. The turnaround in his batting happened under interesting circumstances in September 2008. An irregular bowler, he was identified with a suspect action and asked to report to the NCA. There he bumped into Dav Whatmore and a batting coach from Sri Lanka, Mattau Owen, who had worked with the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara and under whom Indian batsman such as Shikhar Dhawan have benefited. "I corrected my action under the supervision of Sivaramakrishnan sir [L Sivaramkrishnan] and worked on my batting with the Sri Lankan coach," said Shukla. "It was a great experience. We worked hard on my batting technique and that has really helped in improving my batting." A struggling batsman went to correct his bowling action and returned as a more confident batsman. His family too helped him overcome the insecurity that arose out of playing for his spot in the side. "Jyaada sey jyaada kya hoga, cricket nahi chala toh tum apne ghar hi aa rahe ho na." (Even if your cricket doesn't click, you are just going to come back to your home, so why worry?)" Shukla relaxed as a result and decided he would enjoy his cricket. The new year has dawned brightly for him. Mohammad Kaif believes the innings in the semi-final is the turning point in Shukla's career. "He is going to be more self-aware of his batting now and I think you will see a different Shukla from now on. It's great that we have some one apart from Tanmay [srivastava], [suresh] Raina and [Mohammad] Kaif in the UP team." And that is exactly what is really giving Shukla the biggest kick. "I hear murmurs from the coach and the team in the dressing room. "Shukla hai abhi, hume abhi be chance hai game mey. (Shukla is still batting, we still have a chance.) I feel important in the team and I feel really nice about it." Sometimes, self-esteem rises from what others that matter think of you. And for Shukla, this season will be the time in which he has earned his team's respect. Shukla disappointed UP's Shivakant Shukla sounded a bit low, but also vowed to give Mumbai a run for their money. "I am not disappointed on missing a ton today, but I am disappointed at not helping the side take the first-innings lead,” said Shivakant. “The knock was a big boost to my confidence, but this would have been enjoyable, if the side had taken lead. Our bowlers should bowl with the same enthusiasm they showed on the first day .” “It’s true that I played a bit slow today, but it was our game plan. Our primary target was to take the first innings lead and keep on batting as long as we could.”

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