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Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

Chandan

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Rajan Newbie

Rajan

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One jealous umpire' date=' you are !!! :giggle:[/quote'] seems the Umpire is correct, I mean ICF umpire, not Amish Joker Sahiba! ========== 74.3 Chawla to Sharma, no run, close shout for lbw, too close to call, bowled with a flatter trajectory on the off stump, seemed to straighten and caught Rohit on the pads as he came forward to defend, struck the pad first and then the bat, but umpire Sahiba shook his head. Probably out, and Rohit survives again, after a lucky streak in the first innings ================================= :omg:
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Chandan Newbie

Chandan

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Final, Day 4 Mumbai v Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, 4th day Rohit and Samant shut out UP January 15, 2009 Uttar Pradesh 245 and 0 for 0 need 525 runs to beat Mumbai 402 and 367 (Samant 113, Rohit 108, Jaffer 85, Chawla 4-94) Scorecard and ball-by-ball details How they were out 386541.jpgVinayak Samant kept Mumbai on course for their 38th Ranji Trophy title win © Cricinfo Ltd Rohit Sharma played his second important innings of the Ranji Trophy final as Mumbai batted Uttar Pradesh out of the match. For a session and a half, the UP bowlers put on a spirited performance, but Vinayak Samant, at first, and Rohit kept them at bay with contrasting centuries. In truly khadoos manner, Mumbai didn't declare even when the lead had gone beyond any reasonable proportions. But that's how Mumbai play their cricket: when your opponents are down, grind them into dust. With three sessions to go, UP will need the highest successful chase in the Ranji Trophy (previous record: Assam's 371 for 4 against Services earlier this season), and the second-highest fourth-innings score in the tournament's history to win the match. Well that's an academic thought. UP's tough task was set by Samant, who scored his maiden first-class century after being promoted to open in the last league match of the season, and Rohit, who became only the sixth batsman to score two centuries in a Ranji Trophy final. The last to do so was Sachin Tendulkar against Punjab in 1994-95. On a personal level Tendulkar wouldn't have enjoyed this final. In the first innings he scored his first duck in Indian domestic cricket, then spent the whole UP innings off the field because of a viral fever, and managed only 4 from No. 7 in the second innings. He was the last wicket of a middle-order collapse that had given UP a faint glimmer. But UP had bowled their hearts and their bodies out to reduce Mumbai from 130 for 0 to 241 for 6. After bowling 16 successive overs for one wicket in the first session, Praveen Kumar went off the field and was disqualified from bowling when UP were forced to take the second new ball after 100 overs (a rule in Indian domestic cricket). Although part-time medium-pacer Parvinder Singh and Piyush Chawla did a commendable job in the middle session, UP were always short of time and behind by too much. By the time the second new ball was taken Rohit had beaten them into submission with attractive stroke play. And with RP Singh off the field throughout the day, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to share the new ball with Praveen Gupta, the left-arm spinner. UP were not so deflated in the morning, though. A spirited effort from the Kumars, Bhuvneshwar and Praveen, who troubled the batsmen consistently by moving a semi-new ball, caused Mumbai to wobble. But Samant didn't give in. He put behind him the edges and plays-and-misses, and nudged and late-cut his way to a satisfactory hundred. Samant started the day on 53 and got the majority of his runs through late-cuts. He played those shots with soft hands, made sure he kept them along the ground, and found the gap between two slips and two gullies regularly. Even in his 90s, he played two such strokes. Samant and his team-mates were overjoyed at his reaching the century: they knew he had taken them one session closer to the title. After Samant became part of the middle-order collapse, which included a pair for Ramesh Powar and an embarrassing 24-ball stay for Ajinkya Rahane, the second-highest run-getter of the season, Rohit took advantage of aggressive field settings. He was much surer than he was in the first innings and didn't look hurried even though he had to wait 27 balls for his first run. Those first runs were three consecutive boundaries off Chawla - a flick wide of mid-on, a pull, and a straight loft. Rohit kept picking on Chawla, slog-sweeping every time the bowler tried a googly. He knew that UP had employed aggressive fields, and even mis-hits would fall safe. The elegance that separates Rohit from other domestic batsmen was on liberal display, with gorgeous drives and pulls decorating his century. Even after Parvinder took two wickets in two balls, Sairaj Bahutule and Dhawal Kulkarni frustrated UP for 17.3 overs and 20 runs. UP will have no ground for complaints, because they did the same to Gujarat two matches ago. After securing a 188-run first-innings lead in the quarter-final, they didn't enforce a follow-on and went on to bat until they were bowled out - giving Gujarat 564 to chase in one-and-a-half session. What goes around comes around. Another POV Mumbai set UP Mission Impossible Rohit joins an elite club; Vinayak Samant scores maiden first-class century in his 85th match 2009011656532101.jpgSPECIAL INNINGS: Mumbai’s Vinayak Samant acknowledges the crowd’s cheers after scoring his maiden first-class century on Thursday. . HYDERABAD: Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma joined a select band of five other cricketers who have scored a century in each innings in a Ranji Trophy final. His extravagant knock (108, 171 minutes, 146 balls, 17x4, 1x6) in the second innings against Uttar Pradesh was a perfect complement to an equally significant century by 36-year-old opener Vinayak Samant on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy final at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Thursday. Rohit joins the elite club Remembering batting records have always been big in Mumbai — be it a man in the maidan or the Master himself, memorable feats sit conveniently on their finger tips. So when Rohit Sharma, unbeaten on 77 at tea, met Sachin Tendulkar in the dressing room, he was reminded of the importance of scoring 23 more runs. Tendulkar had scored centuries in both innings of a Ranji final in the 1994-95 season and he wanted another Mumbai player to repeat his feat. Sharma didn’t disappoint as he followed his 141 in the first innings with a 108 on Thursday. He was the second centurion of the day after opener Vinayak Samant (113). If UP were pushed to the ropes by Zaheer Khan’s seven-wicket haul on Wednesday, the Sharma-Samant one-two delivered the knock-out punch on the fourth day of the match. Cricket doesn’t have a ‘referee stopped the contest’ option, but now that UP have been set a fourth-innings target of 525, the final day will mostly be spent waiting for the 38th title. Besides sealing the Mumbai win, Sharma also made a point on Thursday. His first-innings 141 had led to few toasts about his grace and unhurried approach and more mentions of dropped catches and run-out misses. The 20-year-old isn’t a 1,000-runs-per-season kind of player but he proved once again in his second innings that he is someone who can play match-defining knocks. Apart from his first-innings ton, which came with Mumbai struggling at 55/4, earlier in the year he had played a back-to-the-wall innings in the Challenger Trophy to take his team to the final. Talking about this knack, Sharma said later: “When I’m playing big matches, somehow my confidence level rises and I become more focused.†Though not severe as the first innings, Mumbai did have a crisis of sorts on Thursday. After a fine start by Samant and Wasim Jaffer (85), wickets fell in a heap. Of the nine batsmen who followed the opening pair, six managed only single-digit scores and two others didn’t cross 20. Sharma was the lone man standing tall in the middle of the late-order mess. For the record, Rohit joined Hanumant Singh, Surinder Khanna, Vijay Hazare, Mushtaq Ali and Sachin Tendulkar who have had the distinction of scoring a century in each innings in the final. Mumbai was eventually bowled out, off the last ball of the day, for 367. Thereby it set a huge target of 525 for U.P., with only one day remaining. Mumbai plays the waiting game; Good knock by Jaffer Have all but claimed their 38th Ranji Trophy title. They only have to assemble at the Uppal stadium here on Friday and go through the formalities on the final day. With a 157-run first innings lead, Mumbai had no intentions of securing an outright win. They batted on before being all out for 367 at the scheduled close on Thursday A maiden first . class century by Vinayak Samant (113) and a second hundred of the final for Rohit Sharma (108) took the game beyond UP's reach. UP, to protect their pride, have to try and bat out the final day being left with a target of 525 from 90 overs which is merely academic. When play resumed on Thursday, UP's only outside chance was to take quick wickets and apply pressure. Praveen Kumar was outstanding but unlucky in the morning session. With captain Wasim Jaffer (85, 13x4) leading from the front, Samant too batted with authority to score his maiden first-class century (113, 312 minutes, 239 balls, 17x4) in his 85th match.UP struck early through Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who trapped Wasim Jaffer leg before wicket for 85. UP relied on Praveen Kumar to do the needful as R. P. Singh, with a shoulder injury, did not take the field. Praveen bowled 16 overs on the trot in the morning without complaining but luck was not on his side. He swung the ball away from the right-handers, often missing the edge. While Samant was determined not to give away his wicket, Rahane was tempted to play his strokes. Stuck for 35 minutes and scoring only 5, Rahane drove Praveen straight to short covers. Abhishek Nayar batted at number four instead of Sachin Tendulkar and he too did not last. But Samant, in the company of Sharma, went on to realise his dream of scoring a century, coming in his 85th first class match and 80th Ranji game, 13 seasons after his debut. Samant was promoted from number nine to five and eventually to open the batting four matches ago. He did not disappoint as the bowlers struggled. The 36year-old wicket-keeper fell for 113 but Mumbai did not stop. Sharma, lucky to be ruled not out on one by Amish Saheba when he was struck in front off Piyush Chawla, played strokes all around the wicket. Soon, Rohit unleashed some vintage strokes. When he walked down the pitch to loft left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta over long-on for a huge six to reach his century, it was perhaps symbolic of the domination of Mumbai. Sharma, only the sixth batsman in Ranji history to score a century in each innings of the final, fell for 108 and with the overall lead beyond 500, Mumbai stuck to their guns, not making a declaration at any stage. UP's bowlers, towards the end, showed no interest, with Praveen even sending down slower and wider deliveries at the last pair of Bahutule and Kulkarni to make known his team's protest Mumbai's decision not to declare. Sachin fails Disappointment was in store for the many who expected fireworks from Tendulkar. They had to be content with one square-cut that raced to the fence, and the duck in the first inning was followed by a four in the second. Sachin Tendulkar had a forgetful final — failing for the second time when leg-spinner Piyush Chawla lured him to drive straight to mid-on, much to the dismay of the sparse crowd. But Sharma, at the other end, was doing all he could to keep the crowds entertained. The purists appreciated his sublime flicks and carpet cover-drives but it was his slog-sweep off Chawla that was the day’s most popular stroke. What made things easy for Sharma was that two of UP’s most experienced pacemen were missing from action as injury and fatigue forced RP Singh and Praveen Kumar to stay in the dressing room. Hyderabad is without doubt Sharma’s favourite ground but there is also a not-too-pleasant memory associated with the venue for him. Earlier this year, when playing the Board President’s XI game, he was told that he’d been dropped from the Test squad. He went on to score a ton in that match against Australia and now has two more centuries at the Uppal Stadium. With his performance in the Ranji final, the race to the Team India middle-order may have just become more interesting. So the day belonged to Samant and Rohit as the two dashed whatever hopes U.P. might have entertained on a pitch which was rock solid. Players of the day Vinayak Samant: IN SEPTEMBER 2008, Mumbai's fittest cricketer, Vinayak Samant, attended selection trials for the Kolkata IPL team but was not considered. But, at 36, Samant has capped a fine season, scoring his maiden first class century even if it came in his 85th first match. "Opening was a challenge and I accepted it," Samant said. "Batting at No. 8 or No. 9 gives you little chance to score. I worked on my technique and was able to handle opening." Samant, naturally considered his innings special. "Sachin (Tendulkar) was also there and it was a very special experience to get a hundred in the final. Very few get to score a 100 in the Ranji final." "In a five-day game, the opposition can come back and hence no declaration,†he said. Piyush Chawla: LEGGIE Piyush Chawla bowled 35 overs, his highest in an innings this season, and had 4/94, including the wicket of Tendulkar. But, he wasn't satisfied with his performance. "Getting Mumbai out twice is a big achievement for the team, but I am not satisfied with my own achievement. I should have bagged five instead of just four," said Chawla. The spinner, who bowled 15 wicketless overs in the first innings, claimed that the pitch was not as sisting the bowlers. "It's a batsmanfriendly wick et so bowling is always a difficult task. It was going to be difficult to stage a comeback in the match, but we did it," he said. *********************************************************** It was disappointing display of lack of fight and willingness from UP. Perhaps their gameplan in the season revolved around securing the first inning lead only and hence they look to bat for 140 overs no matter how slow that might be. It is disappointing when a team playing for draws reach the domestic tournament final and we are in need of a better system than just the first inning lead! UP had just one outright victory the entire Ranji season!!

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Chandan Newbie

Chandan

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So what are problems that UP is facing? Praveen struggles to come to grips with lack of swing Devendra Pandey Posted: Jan 14, 2009 at 2321 hrs IST Hyderabad: The trademark, goofy smile on Praveen Kumar’s face has gone missing. After bowling 34 wicketless overs in Mumbai’s first innings, he looks pensive as he sits in the dressing room. That’s when he makes a confession most bowlers in his situation wouldn’t dare to utter in public. “I think I have lost the swing,†he says. Looking helpless, he adds: “Getting the ball to move was always easy for me. I really don’t know how things have changed so suddenly. Maybe I’m trying too hard.†In the fragile world of professional cricketers, even a minor flaw in technique can make a major difference. Just a year back, Praveen could do no wrong. After making a big impact in the Ranji final against Delhi — which took his total to 36 wickets from six matches — he was picked for the tri-series in Australia. He played a stellar role in India winning the final, making it a habit to get the wickets of Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist. That seemed in the distant past as he struggled to make the ball talk on a pitch that did offer a fair bit of assistance. Surprise all around Lalchand Rajput, who was the coach of the team on that Australia tour, says he can’t believe what he is seeing. “He bowled exceptionally well in Australia. He always gave us a good start, but I don’t know what has happened to him this season.†The Mumbai dressing room too is pleasantly surprised by Praveen’s ineffectiveness. “I think there is some problem with the wrist position and that’s why he isn’t getting the swing that he used to,†Praveen Amre said. But despite the lack of movement, Praveen has had his moments in the final. In the early part of century-maker Rohit Sharma’s innings, he had the batsman edging a ball to the slips, but Mohammad Kaif failed to latch on. Besides, there were several instances of the ball narrowly missing the edge of the bat or the stumps. As UP bowling coach Ashish Winston Zaidi says, “Sometimes it happens, he is still getting the outswinger going, but there is a problem with the inswing. He might be thinking too much, he might not be pitching the ball in the right area or there could be a problem with his wrist position,†Zaidi said. This highly successful Uttar Pradesh team are strictly old-school — but under the circumstances, Praveen wouldn’t have minded sitting down for some video analysis. One-at-a-time trend finally bites UP Devendra Pandey Posted: Jan 15, 2009 at 0003 hrs IST Hyderabad: There is an intriguing statistic connected to UP’s amazing run to the Ranji final. Despite overhauling several first-innings scores this season, they just have one batsman — Tanmay Srivastava — among the top-15 run-getters in the tournament. Batsmen have scored big 100s but a typical UP scoreboard consists of one three-digit score surrounded by several single-digit failures. And that’s the reason coach Gyanendra Pandey has a worried look on his face when one asks him about batting. “It is really strange. Batsmen have not been consistent. Different batsmen have had big scores in different games but most of the time they have not received much support,†he says. This came out quite clearly in the semi-final and the final. While Shivakant Shukla and Parvinder Singh scored centuries against Tamil Nadu, they didn’t get support from the big names in the team such as Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina. The trend has continued in the final too. Raina was run out early and Kaif scored 33, putting the pressure again on the semi-final heroes. Shukla did score 99 but UP needed another big hundred from him. Shukla had scored a modest 244 from five games before the semis. In the early part of the season, the two men in form were Srivastava and Kaif. They were involved in important partnerships and were responsible for UP taking the first-innings lead in six games. “If you see the league matches, Tanmay and Kaif saved the team several times. We were lucky that Shiva and Parvinder came to our rescue in the semis. But one can’t win all the time with this kind of record,†coach Pandey says. Besides these four, the other regular UP run-getters have had a forgettable season. A lot was expected from Raina but he hasn’t even crossed the 300-mark this year. Same is true for the two all-rounders in the side, Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla. In contrast, the Mumbai batsmen have fired together on several occasions. Wasim Jaffer, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma are in the Ranji Trophy top-10 list. And, in the backdrop of UP’s batting troubles, Zaheer Khan’s stunning spell on Wednesday will prove to be the difference between the two sides. ****************** But Samant is really pleased after hitting his first Ranji ton. Truly memorable: Samant HYDERABAD: Mumbai opener and centurion Vinayak Samant said that it was a special feeling to score a century in the Ranji Trophy final especially considering the fact that you have the likes of Sachin Tendulkar in the team. “Opening the innings was a challenge which I accepted. And I made necessary adjustments in my technique such as leaving the moving ball and offering a straight bat to the incoming balls. It has been a truly memorable innings for me,†said this 36-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman. “It was the team’s strategy to bat the whole day out as we wanted to give the bowlers some rest. We also were aware of the importance of second innings in such a prestigious final. There were no thoughts of any declaration,†Samant said to a query. Samant who played for Assam in Ranji Trophy for quite some time before coming back to his home State, said it was always a great feeling to play for one’s home State. “I am lucky to be a member of this Mumbai team,†he added. “It is every player’s dream to be a member of a Ranji Trophy winning squad and I am looking forward to cherish the moment when we are crowned champions,†the opener said. ************************************* Mumbai has been the much better team than UP this year.

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Ram Newbie

Ram

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This is getting quite boring really.. How many titles will Bombay keep winning? Lets not forget India has 25 states and 7 union territories ( or whatever that number is).. They should also win every now and then.. This is horrible, if your'e not a Mumba-ite that is..:D

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Mr. Wicket Newbie

Mr. Wicket

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A whole lot more. The two outstanding performers this season were Rahane and Dhawal, two of the youngest members of our squad. Other guys being groomed for the future like Iqbal Abdulla have so much talent, and Bombay U19s just won the last regional U19 tourney. With that calibre of youth, it'll be great to see who stands up to replace the old guard like Sairaj, Amol and Jaffer over the next decade or so.

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The Outsider Newbie

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It was a tremendous achievement by UP to reach the finals once again. Their catching let them down on the opening day, else this could have been a lot closer. For a state with no big names in the past, no proper facilities, and lacking a strong cricket culture that places like Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore, Madras etc. possess to reach 3 out of the last 4 finals and win one of them is nothing short of extraordinary and a testament to a proper team spirit. Hopefully, these strong performances by UP coupled by the emergence of players like Kaif, Chawla, RP Singh, Raina, and P Kumar over the last few years will spur UP cricket to new heights and get the BCCI to invest more in the game there.

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