Ranji Trophy, Super League, 2008-09

[Chandan]

Final, Day 5 Mumbai v Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, 5th day Mumbai complete 38th title win January 16, 2009 Mumbai 402 (Rohit 141, Nayar 99, Bhuvneshwar 5-78) and 367 (Samant 113, Rohit 108) beat Uttar Pradesh 245 (Shukla 99, Zaheer 7-54) and 281 (Bhuvneshwar 80, Kaif 72, Kulkarni 5-76) by 243 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details How they were out Wasim Jaffer and Vinayak Samant pose with the Ranji Trophy © Cricinfo Ltd Mumbai clinched their 38th Ranji Trophy title with about a session to spare on the final day, reaffirming their reputation as one of the most dominant domestic first-class sides - they have won over half the 75 editions of the tournament. They had all but sealed the result yesterday, with only the final rites to be completed on the last day. After having secured a 157-run first-innings lead, Mumbai had batted on and on to leave Uttar Pradesh so far behind that they couldn't even imagine making a comeback: they started the final day needing a virtually impossible 525 runs, but kept losing wickets regularly. This was the 42nd time Mumbai had made it to the Ranji Trophy final, and they have lost only four times. There were token stumbles towards the end when Mumbai spilled two catches when just one wicket from securing the title. The stand between Amir Khan and Praveen Gupta delayed the inevitable for 10.2 overs. The tea break was delayed during that period, and then had to be taken after the last pair stood firm for more than half an hour. At 3.21pm Dhawal Kulkarni got Gupta to edge to captain Wasim Jaffer to finish the match. It was a fitting mode of dismissal to bring the title home for Mumbai: Jaffer was the leading run-scorer in the season, and with that wicket Kulkarni became the joint leading wicket-taker. Kulkarni, who had been key to Mumbai's success in the league stages, took five wickets to reach 42 for the season and draw level with Saurashtra's Ravindra Jadeja. He started the day with the wicket of Shivakant Shukla, who guided the ball straight to Rohit Sharma at gully. He later got Suresh Raina, who went for a cut and edged to Sachin Tendulkar in the slips. Kulkarni came back for a second spell to wipe the tail off, taking the last three wickets to fall. Mohammad Kaif and Bhuvneshwar Kumar prevented a complete humiliation, though. From 55 for 4, they added 112 for the fifth wicket. Both of them scored comfortable half-centuries, but missed their hundreds. Kaif fell for 72, holing out to Amol Mazumdar, the substitute fielder, off Ramesh Powar. That dismissal ensured even Muzumdar, a dedicated servant of Mumbai cricket over the years who was dropped for this match, made a contribution to the victory. Bhuvneshwar, who had a great match with a five-for and 41 quick runs in the first innings, fell 20 short of a second-innings century when he was adjudged caught behind off Kulkarni. Replays indicated there might have been a gap between the bat and ball. The dismissal embodied the kind of luck UP had had over the last four days, with opposition edges falling in safe areas and umpiring decisions not going their way. But more than their luck, UP had themselves to blame for their second loss in successive finals: they dropped four catches, missed two run-outs and a stumping. Rohit Sharma, in particular, cashed in on those chances, and became only the sixth man to score two centuries in a Ranji Trophy final. Another POV Mumbai win back their trophy V.V. Subrahmanyam Wins the tournament for a record 38th time in 75 editions Kaif and Bhuvneshwar offered some resistance Kulkarni finished with a five-wicket haul in the second innings REIGNING SUPREME: The jubilant members of the Mumbai team after their historic win in the Ranji Trophy in Hyderabad on Friday. HYDERABAD: Mumbai reasserted its supremacy by winning the Ranji Trophy championship for the 38th time in 75 editions with a thumping 243-run victory over Uttar Pradesh on the last day of the final at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Friday. With this, Mumbai have won the title one time more than all the other winners put together. The Mumbai camp’s professed reason for not declaring its second innings on Thursday was to provide adequate rest to its bowlers. And on Friday, the bowlers justified the move as they bowled out Uttar Pradesh for 281 with a professional approach. Setback Uttar Pradesh’s goal was to salvage a draw. But its campaign suffered a setback in the sixth over when opener Shivakant Shukla slashed at a perfect out-swinger from Dhawal Kulkarni and was caught smartly at slip by Rohit Sharma. In the next over, Zaheer Khan produced a beauty which swung back late to rattle Tanmay Srivastava’s stumps. Then Suresh Raina was caught by Sachin Tendulkar at first slip off Kulkarni as U.P. was reduced to 53 for three. Ajit Agarkar also joined the act as he forced Parvinder Singh to snick to Vinay Samant. This was Samant’s 300th victim in the Ranji Trophy (270 catches and 30 stumpings). U.P. skipper Mohd. Kaif (72, 173 minutes, 124 balls, 14 x 4) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (80, 132b, 14x4) added 112 runs for the fifth wicket to raise hopes of a draw. Kaif loses patience But Kaif lost patience and stepped out to loft off-spinner Ramesh Powar and holed out to deep mid-on. The burly Powar picked up two more wickets — Piyush Chawla who caught at slip by Wasim Jaffer and in the same over Praveen Kumar slashed straight to Abhishek Nayar at point. Tendulkar failed to react in time to latch on to a difficult chance at slip offered by Bhuvneshwar (then on 79) off Dhaval Kulkarni. However, the lapse did not prove costly as the 18-year-old added just one more run before he was caught by Samant off Kulkarni. Bhuvneshwar ended the Ranji season in style with 31wickets and 407 runs. He batted much better than most of the reputed players and his square-drives had class and authority. Inevitable delayed The beer bottles in the dressing room got extra chilled as the last UP pair delayed the inevitable. Tendulkar had a chance to produce the winning moment but in the third ball off his first over, substitute Sahil Kukreja at second slip dropped Amir Khan with U.P. on 270 for nine. Finally, when Kulkarni dismissed Praveen Gupta to finish with a five-wicket haul, it was an apt finish to Mumbai’s near-perfect season as the bowler completed a fiver on the last ball to become the joint highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy this year. While the final touches to Mumbai’s 38th title were given by the 20-year-old Kulkarni in his debut year, it was unavoidable that Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan hogged the limelight in the final fortnight of the tournament because of their performances and their star status. Team effort But on Friday, the focus was on the other stand-out performers of the season. Minutes after Kulkarni was mobbed by the squad, captain Wasim Jaffer was holding up the famous silverware. For Jaffer, it was a double delight — he hadn’t just led the team to the title in his first season as captain but was also the chief architect of the triumph. By scoring 1260 runs in 10 games, he sat comfortably on the top of the list of run-getters, with his team mate Ajinkya Rahane, all of 20, in second place with 1089 runs. Add to that list the 21-year-old Rohit Sharma, who matched Tendulkar’s record of scoring two hundreds in the final, and Mumbai have several reasons to smile going forward. Such was the mood in the dressing room that even juniors in the side drenched Tendulkar during the post-win celebration, as he and Zaheer became one of the boys, shrieking and whistling in the team bus. With a flight to catch, the victorious team were in a hurry to leave the stadium but constant phone calls from Mumbai Cricket Association officials meant a big reception and a long night of celebration was planned back home. Skipper Jaffer, always politically correct, was on the ball when he said that it was team effort that had made them play at their clinical best this season. “We batted and bowled well all through the season. If one talks about this match, I want to say that the two dropped catches made the difference (in the first innings when Sharma was handed two life-lines after Mumbai were 55 for four). After that Rohit and Abhishek Nayar played sensible Cricket and we were back in the game,†he said. Planning for tournament Having made the Ranji Trophy final a one-sided affair, first-time captain Wasim Jaffer's side ended the tournament without a defeat, though they came close to tasting one in the League phase against Saurashtra. Chasing an improbable target of 525 in a maximum of 90 overs, Uttar Pradesh were bowled out for 281 in the first over after the tea break, to hand Mumbai a 243-run win. As for Md Kaif's side, it finished second best in the final for the second straight year. It was a sweet victory for Mumbai after their pride had taken a beating when they failed to make the knockouts last season. The selectors handed over the captaincy to Wasim Jaffer while coach Praveen Amre was retained. Planning began with the Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai in August. They identified the combinations that they thought would work in the Ranji Trophy. Mumbai were unshakable throughout the season, playing with purpose as they sought to reclaim the title. The only team that looked like possessing the firepower to challenge Mumbai were Tamil Nadu, but they were eliminated by UP in the semis. While there have been many who have contributed to the team's successful run till the final, Mumbai are hugely indebted to India pacer Zaheer Khan for helping them regain the title while Rohit Sharma proved his mettle with two stylish centuries. But it was Zaheer's seven first innings wickets following Sharma's fighting partnership with Abhishek Nayar that turned the match. UP, who dominated just one session in the game — the pre-lunch session on the opening day when they had Mumbai at 55 for four, were otherwise not in the reckoning. Required to score at nearly 6 an over on the final day, UP lost wickets regularly. Mumbai did not push hard. Wickets fell because of the batsmen's mistakes as they went for the shots. Dhawal Kulkarni, the medium-pacer who sticks to a steady, wicket-to-wicket line, ended his maiden Ranji season with his fourth five-wicket haul. Barring Kaif and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, both of whom scored half-centuries and the late resistance by Md Amir Khan and Praveen Gupta, UP did little to trouble Mumbai. Looking ahead The scene in the UP dressing room was naturally subdued. For the second time in two years, the team had fallen at the final hurdle, but there were still several positives to take from the season. Mohammad Kaif, who scored a fine 72 on Friday to deny Mumbai an early win, hoped that next year they would be able to take the crucial last step. When asked about the game, he took out a piece of paper. “I’ve written down points to ponder about from this game. I hope we will be able to change some things in the next season.†Reminded about Sharma’s dropped catch in the first innings, he just grimaced. In the final analysis, Kaif’s rare misses had made the big difference. But the UP captain didn’t want to think about them. “It is cricket, such things happen, drop me if you want,†he said, before adding with a benevolent smile as he headed towards the team bus: “Chalo, maaf karo. (Okay forgive me, let’s move on).â€

[Chandan]

How Mumbai won it, point by point Devendra Pandey Posted: Jan 17, 2009 at 0012 hrs IST Hyderabad: It's a maidan incentive that old-school coaches have had in place for years. A young Sachin Tendulkar won several coins his coach Ramakant Achrekar placed on his stumps, given to the batsman if he kept the bowlers out. In his debut season as captain, Wasim Jaffer put something similar in place. Not only did Jaffer and Praveen Amre reward performers in the team with cash awards, they also formulated a ranking system for the season. “Jaffer came up with this system and we adopted it on an experimental basis at the start of the season. We wanted to see how the players would react as we were not sure if they would take it seriously,” Amre told The Indian Express. Points were allotted for runs scored, wickets taken and catches held. A catch got a player one point, a score of 60-plus meant two points and a century meant three in the kitty. A five-wicket haul was equivalent to a century. Even the bench was made a part of the system, with cheering from the sidelines and lending a helping hand during net sessions earning points too. But the system wasn’t blindly based on statistics. A crucial knock, or an important breakthrough would be graded to merit. “Ramesh Powar played a match-saving knock of 23 off 171 balls against Saurashtra. He got the same points as a centurion would have,” Amre said. After each match, ranking updates would be announced in the dressing room. Gradually, that became a much-awaited event. Besides the applause, there were leg-pulling sessions and mock debates after the announcement of the ‘results’. “Basically this was a team-building exercise. We had to play constantly for 80 days, so we needed something to lighten the mood in the dressing room,” says Amre. Ajinkya Rahane, who was ranked No 1 for the first two weeks, said the system made the team more competitive. “It was the only time I got a chance to trump my seniors,” the batsman, who finished the season with 1089 runs, said. Asked who the eventual winner was, Amre smiled before revealing the name: Wasim Jaffer. There were loud claps and no debates when Jaffer’s name was announced in the dressing room. But since the man who formulated the system finished up as the winner, it’s likely that a leg-pulling session followed. ************************************************************ Pravin Amre 'There were no shortcuts' Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi January 16, 2009 Pravin Amre never won the Ranji Trophy as a player, but in his three years as Mumbai's coach he has won the Ranji title twice. Surely, the journey has not been smooth, but he has been able to get the best out of the Mumbai outfit once again. He shares Mumbai's journey to their 38th Ranji crown Two years ago when you won for the first time, you said you should be judged down the line, and not over one season. You must be a proud man now? This was something special, especially after last year's disappointment. We knew Mumbai is a champion side, but I still had a role to play: preparing advance training modules, keeping the dressing-room atmosphere positive, picking a balanced team every game, taking bold decisions. The journey was terrific. It is great to see that happiness on each and every face. The icing on the cake was sharing the moment with Sachin [Tendulkar] and Zaheer [Khan], and they also enjoyed the victory. Last evening we had a team dinner. Sachin congratulated each and ever member of the team for working hard and playing a part in winning the title. He said, 'Zaheer and I only joined in the semi-finals, but you were the guys who made us win the title.' He thanked me for putting in the hard work behind the scenes, and Wasim [Jaffer] for leading from the front. What were the mistakes from last year that you eliminated? I had spoken to John Buchanan few years ago. He was in a similar position as me - everyone in Australia wants the team to be champions always. Since Buchanan's team had a lot of star players I checked with him how he handled them in particular. The first thing Buchanan told me was I needed to keep my ego in the back pocket. That has helped me a lot in handling the Mumbai team. Without disturbing the egos of the star players, I had to get the best out of them. That was the most difficult thing. What were the challenges before the season had commenced? The first challenge was to get a proper composition: whether to go with six batsmen or with five bowlers. Last year we fell short by a bowler so we added one this time, and probably that helped us to bowl out the opposition twice maximum times. Thanks to Dilip Vengsarkar we travelled to Anantapur to play practice games against Andhra as it was raining in Mumbai. Even if we lost three out of the four games it was a very important to get into the rhythm after the off-season. Then we lost to Saurashtra in Buchi Babu, and the critics started to pan us. But it did not matter to me. In those pre-season matches I was working out the individual strengths. At the same time the management decided that we would continue with only those who performed in Anantapur first and then in Buchi Babu. We wanted performers to help us get outright victories. Another key thing was I wanted Wasim to get a feel of his players as we had decided to appoint him the captain for the new season. That appointment might have raised a few eyebrows especially as Amol Muzumdar was a Ranji-winning captain two years ago, and the side's highest run-getter last year. So what was the idea behind replacing him with Jaffer? Firstly I must give credit to Wasim for staying with Mumbai. Before the season began Maharashtra had given him an offer and were willing to pay him any amount of money, but he opted to stay with Mumbai. That was the wisest decision he took as he would have ended up playing only league games there. Now he has won the Ranji Trophy, and also topped the run charts. Personally I felt Wasim, too, was going through a lean phase as he had failed at the international level, but he still had it in him to play for the country and needed to prove himself once again on the domestic circuit. He is a quality opening batsman, and we felt that the additional responsibility would motivate him further. So we dragged him out of the comfort zone to become more responsible for himself and the team. Was there a vision plan after last year's exit? I knew we had talented players who could go to the next level. If you look properly we have had the same team mostly - the only difference has been we started more intelligently this season. I got TA Sekar to screen a pool of 25 fast bowlers and categorise them as 'potential', 'raw', 'developing', or 'flawed'. As a coach I shared my work with him, and that part was very important. For the first time the management knew there were back-up bowlers, which encouraged a healthy competition. The journey was terrific. It is great to see that happiness on each and every face. The icing on the cake was sharing the moment with Sachin [Tendulkar] and Zaheer [Khan], and they also enjoyed the victory Travel was going to be another impediment if not handled properly. If we played 10 games counting the final that would mean a total of 41 playing days, about 65 including the travel. That was a tough itinerary as, at times, there was only a two-day gap between matches. That meant the bowlers would not get enough time for recovery, so we had to shuffle them. Was there any form of team-building exercise you worked on? Every player voted after every game for a Man of the Match, and I would declare the name so the player would know he had his colleagues' support. Then I decided that if any player was late, not only him but the entire team would play the fine because I wanted them to think it was their team and everyone needed to be responsible. Around the halfway mark in the league stage you were forced to follow on against Saurashtra, and you just about managed to avoid defeat. Was there any complacency after two outright victories? That was the toughest game although we saved it in the end. But whatever happened was good, and I told the boys that we were much better than the result showed. And when your last pair can bat for a long time like Usman [Malvi] and Dhawal [Kulkarni] did in the first innings, and then Ramesh [Powar] played an uncharacteristic 171-ball 23 in the final innings, I knew my team was back on the track. The presence of Tendulkar in the dressing room must have been a welcome change for you? Once he was there my job was that of the caretaker. He should communicate with the players more as he has tremendous passion for Mumbai and its cricket, and is always concerned about its welfare. Even after the Saurashtra game he was there in the nets to boost our morale. So with him around. I could be relieved and didn't need to cover every point. His presence was important. Apparently Tendulkar had an honest chat with the entire squad after the semi-final against Saurashta. What was his message before the final? We had scored 647, but still struggled to bowl out Saurashtra. We were lucky to escape as the rain arrived just half hour after play was called off on the final afternoon otherwise we would have missed out. Sachin's message was that if we had to be real champions the attitude and approach had to be important. For that we needed to be more fearless. At times in the semis, he pointed out, players were going through motions but a champion side always dictates the events. Last year you pointed fingers at the batsmen for playing the wrong shots. How did you work on that? I made my own plans on how each batsman would contribute. The way they got out never helped the team. There were not many hundreds, and only Amol got 500-plus runs. This year you have two batsmen - Wasim and Ajinkya [Rahane] - who crossed 1000 after eight games. I pointed to each batsman which areas they were getting out in, which strokes they were more susceptible to playing around a particular score in their innings, and how they could nullify the mistakes to get to the target of hundred. We also decided that four batsmen should score at lease 800 each in the season. But more importantly we put a challenge to them by letting them know they would get four innings to grab the opportunity, do well for himself, and do well for the team. "It just means Mumbai cricket has not gone down. If we had lost, our cricket would have gone back by three years. I vouched that each and every member worked hard. There were no shortcuts." © Getty Images As for the bowlers the target for the seniors was to achieve a minimum count of 25 victims, but I knew this would be difficult. The other area, where we found ourselves really weak, was in the fielding, so we worked hard on that, especially on our slip catching. We had high-intensity sessions of at least 50 catches each, which helped us a lot. Was dropping Amol - the first time ever in his career that he has been benched after being named in the 15 - was the most difficult decision of your coaching career? That was very, very tough. It was also emotional as we had won the Ranji title under him two years ago. That was my first year as coach and it was a very, very special moment for me, too, because I had never won the title during my playing days. But this time around we had to take the decision for nothing else but winning the tournament. There were only two other names apart from Amol's - Abhishek [Nayar] and Sairaj [bahutule]. Abhishek had been batting well, and was giving us that extra balance. The main reason behind finally opting for Sai was because this was the first time in two years that we were playing a five-day game. We thought we might need a second spinner, and did not want to take a chance. Also Sachin was batting at No. 4, Amol's position. It was a tricky thing, conveying the message to him. The timing was important so as to not break his confidence. In the end it went fine. Both me and Wasim went to his room on the eve of the game, and told him. Obviously he was disappointed, but agreed his was not an extraordinary season but he could still play a part. But if the seniors felt they needed to drop him, he would take that on the chin. Is it true that Jaffer initially opposed the idea of opening with Samant? Forget him, if I had proposed it to any other senior he would have first made sure I was actually serious. But I was, so I asked Wasim to think about it. In end it worked out. Didn't it? What does the victory mean for you? It just means Mumbai cricket has not gone down. If we had lost, our cricket would have gone back by three years. I vouched that each and every member worked hard. There were no shortcuts. ******************************************************* Up close and jovial Sriram Veera January 16, 2009 In the stands a lady in a burkha glided towards the far end to sit in the shade. In the tier above the sightscreen, where final touches were still being done to the structure, a labourer walked across alone with a cement bag. The rest of the crowd, sparse but very vocal, were chanting the Indian fan's mantra - "Sachin … Sachin!". In the middle, the game, with Uttar Pradesh struggling at nine wickets down, was wobbling towards its death. Tendulkar turned around towards the crowd and moved his arm as if bowling a leg break. The crowd roared. They have wanted him to bowl for a while now. Tendulkar pointed to Wasim Jaffer, Mumbai's captain standing next to him in the slips, and suggested in jest that it was up to him. The crowd roared again. The next over, Tendulkar bowled. In the UP dressing room Mohammad Kaif led the laughter. The third delivery whirred in the air invitingly and Amir Khan edged his drive to first slip where Sahil Kukreja spilled it. The crowd sighed. It was pure theatre. More laughter broke out in both the dressing rooms. The tea break intervened. In the UP area, Parvinder Singh, one of the semi-final heroes, turned philosophical, sipping his tea. "Bhai sahab, jo bolta hai na 'luck doesn't play a part in cricket', voh bewakoof hai." Parvinder started his cricket seven years back and was in and out of the side before getting his first full season this year and hopefully has sealed his spot with a big ton in the semi-final. He was also referring to the dropped chances given to the centurion Rohit Sharma in the first innings and the numerous times the ball went past the edge, but it was a sort of a statement on his own career as well. "I will make sure I play for UP at this level as long as possible," he said. Outside, a member of the UP contingent promised reporters he would bring more of the special made-only-in Allahabad "Dohra", an indigenous preparation of tobacco. Sudeep Tyagi,the highest wicket-taker last year but out of the playing XInow, struggling to come to terms with his changed action, spoke about his intended visit to the National Cricket Academy this week and about his hope for a better new year. In the Mumbai area, everyone eagerly waited for the game to end. The celebration had started last evening in the hotel. 'Singh is Kinng', a popular Hindi film number, blared as players, Tendulkar included,Tendulkar danced around. And today Mumbai's 38th Ranji triumph came at 3.22 pm when Praveen Gupta, who hit the winning runs in the semi-final, edged to Kukreja, who didn't make any mistake this time. And the usual melee ensued. Stumps were uprooted from the earth for souvenirs and the Mumbai dressing room emptied on to the playing field. Kaif rushed out of the dressing room and led his team to shake hands with Mumbai's players. And then, more of the same. Camera 'no 7' broke down just before the prize ceremony. Another camera was hurriedly brought in and the show continued. UP retreated and Mumbai continued with their Kodak moment. More laughter and camera flashes. The frenzy continued in the dressing room where champagne bubbled and Sula wine and beer drenched the floor. But there was a flight to catch and the players filed out one by one to the team bus. More Tendulkar moments. Some happy, some well … A Mumbai player was talking to a reporter when Tendulkar emerged from the room. A security guard tried to clear the way but unknowingly shoved the player, who was talking to a reporter, out of the way. The player stumbled, held his balance some how, shrugged his shoulder, smiled and stepped aside. It comes with the territory of playing with a legend. A crowd had gathered outside waiting to catch a glimpse of their Tendulkar. And they erupted at the sight of their beloved. Tendulkar waved. The crowd grew delirious. All was well with the world. ******************************************************** UP's Point of view: Mohammad Kaif 'Now we know how to win' Interview by Sriram Veera January 16, 2009 Uttar Pradesh will no doubt be heartbroken by the missed opportunity in this year's Ranji Trophy final, after suffering their second loss in successive finals. Captain Mohammad Kaif believes it still is a very huge achievement nonetheless, as he discusses the positives to take from this season "Now when you talk about Mumbai, you need to mention UP as well in domestic cricket"© Getty Images Wasim Jaffer talked about the two catches you dropped in the first innings as turning point. Hold me responsible. Drop me if you want! Chalo mujhe maaf karo. Cricket hai. (Forgive me! It's cricket.) Others too dropped catches and missed stumpings. I think that if we had scored a few more runs and kept the lead down from 157, it would have been close. We made a mistake of respecting the bowlers too seriously in the first innings and batted slowly. So we came back today with a plan of winning. It didn't go that way of course, but we tried. Three finals in the last four years. How big an achievement is it for UP? In my eyes, a very huge achievement. The UP record in the past has not been great. We won only once three years back; earlier we were not one of the big sides. Now when you talk about Mumbai, you need to mention UP as well in domestic cricket. UP don't have many facilities. Your achievement is despite the system. When will the situation change? Not sure. Hopefully in the future. We are getting things organized slowly. Now we have a coach, a physio and a manager. We didn't have them before. Even in the year when we won, we didn't have a physio. I wish we will have the same facilities like other big teams have. They have gyms, proper nets, videotaping facilities. Why do you think it is in this state? Maybe because we were not the best side. We were not winning anything. Now we know how to win and what the things are required to form a good side. Things are changing back home slowly. I had to call one guy from Madhya Pradesh, Rathore, only for the final to look after the boys, during the year we won. There is talk of too much politics being in the system... In UP, well I don't need to tell you. You all know what it is. Probably, you want to hear it from me as a captain which is fine. You know about the good things, the bad things, politics, how players come from, how they get picked . We have some difficulties at the under-age levels. Hopefully the selection criteria and the infrastructure will improve. If I turn the question around and ask you that if you are on the administration side, what things will you look into? Infrastructure and proper selection at the under-age levels, in the 30-member squad and give more chances to the players you finally pick. That's what I have been trying to do as a captain as well. For example, Parvinder Singh - he has been playing for seven years but he was not able to get support from the management and the players and never felt at home. But this time, he has played his first full season. I assured him that he would get five to six games, but he had to show us what he could do. He didn't start well, but grew in confidence as he knew if he got out, he would have some support in the dressing room and he would get more chances. That has worked. He delivered for us. How difficult it is to captain this side full of diverse characters and strong personalities? Yeah you need to know about their nature. Sometimes you've got to be hard, sometimes you've got to be soft, and know how to guide the younger boys. There is a group of young inexperienced guys on one hand, while there are some who can be at times a touch difficult. Any worries? What you see of them is not how I see. All I need is commitment once they enter the ground and I get it. That's all I am bothered about. Have you enjoyed the captaincy? Yeah. At times there is fatigue and stuff like that because of non-stop cricket. People think I can do a good job and I am happy that I have been able to work with the young guys and get to three finals. What are the positives from this season? The allrounder Bhuvneshwar has been a find. Bhuveneshwar, yes, and the whole team has done well actually - Parvinder Singh, Shivakant Shukla. As a captain I look things differently. Praveen Gupta is a good bowler. Sometimes, in a match, you need to keep switching plans. You cannot give a big spell to a bowler. So someone like Praveen has not got a chance to bowl big spells compared to Piyush [Chawla], Praveen [Kumar], RP [singh]. To me, all are equal. Our strength in the past few years was our bowling. But this season our batsmen have clicked and we have chased some big scores. So the team is looking good allround. Moving to your career, how and where do you see it going now? I am not sure. If you ask the selectors they will give you a better idea. To me, all I can do is just to score runs. Some people have called you a very unlucky Indian cricketer, in terms of opportunities given to you. Would you agree? Sometimes there are stages in your career you feel when you are getting runs and you still get dropped. I scored 91 against England and was dropped for the next match. In West Indies, I scored 146 not out in a Test match [in 2006], batted only three innings after that and never played again. It's disappointing. Players who were getting dropped are coming back. But I haven't made a comeback in more than two years. It's been frustrating and very tough. Have you got the answer to the question, why you have been dropped? You can't ask those questions as a player. Selectors have not spoken to me. When you are dropping someone you need to know in what area you need to work on. That's how it's supposed to be. You need to be more transparent. If I am not good enough, just tell me on the face and I will work hard on those areas. It will help that player and at the same time to the team also na? Are you still hopeful of the India cap or have you stopped thinking about it? No, I am still hopeful. I am not done.

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‘BCCI all for sporting tracks’ For the first time, the BCCI will give CDs of all Ranji Trophy matches to the five zonal curators and ask them to look into the behaviour of pitches. Excerpts from an interview with Daljit Singh, chairman, pitches and grounds committee. More... ‘BCCI all for sporting tracks’ G Krishnan, Hindustan Times January 19, 2009 First Published: 13:00 IST(19/1/2009) Last Updated: 01:34 IST(19/1/2009) For the first time, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will give CDs of all Ranji Trophy matches to the five zonal curators and ask them to look into the behaviour of pitches. Also high on the agenda is to make each association identify at least four first-class centres that can hold matches on a rotational basis. Excerpts from an interview with Daljit Singh, chairman, pitches and grounds committee: Are you satisfied with the way pitches were prepared this season? Last year, we played the Ranji final at a neutral venue for the first time and everyone appreciated it. We should give this (concept) time. I agree the pitches for the semifinals were in favour of the batsmen. But the quarters were played on sporting tracks. Previously, we only saw fence hitting by the batsmen in the first three or four games. In the next half, there were dramatic changes in the pitches as the teams faced promotion/relegation. The board has now put its foot down on this. Why is nothing being done to provide sporting pitches? The BCCI is thinking of certifying curators and they will be accountable. A certain element of home advantage is acceptable but it should not be blatant. Shouldn’t youngsters be made to play on bouncy pitches? We are paying too much attention to senior cricket. If we can rear our juniors on bouncy, hard wickets, their mindset will be different. I know of India under-19 teams wanting to play only on turning tracks at home. At this level, they should be playing on all kinds of pitches. Like the Karnataka State Cricket Association, should foreign help be taken to prepare pitches? It is not a good idea. You cannot prepare a pitch 4-5 days before a game. You need 6-8 weeks. Foreigners are not aware of local conditions besides communication with the groundsmen is a problem. What is the way ahead? The BCCI has published a guidebook for groundsmen and it talks about what goes into the preparation of a pitch, its maintenance and what needs to be done to preserve it after a match.

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Ranji Tales International touch at Ranji C Rajshekhar RaoMonday, January 19, 2009 2:16 IST Email New Delhi: The just concluded Ranji Trophy final may not have been a thrilling contest, but it still came across as a whiff of fresh air in the modern era of packed international calendars that don't guarantee top class cricket. It is not often that we see a domestic fixture featuring so many players with international experience, and the presence of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan only increased the profile of the championship. Mumbai scored a comfortable 243-run victory over Uttar Pradesh in a match that saw a total of 12 players who have played international cricket. The importance of such big names figuring in domestic cricket can not be overstated, but it is not just the players who are close to selection who stand to gain from such performances but also those on the two extremes of the scale -- the youngest lot and the most experienced ones. VVS Laxman, who has been through the rigmaroles of different levels of the game, is one who swears by first-class cricket and feels any success against big stars can go a long way in boosting the confidence of young players. "It is a great learning experience for young bowlers like Bhuvneshwar (Kumar) to dismiss greats like Sachin (Tendulkar) in the final of the Ranji Trophy. Playing in the final is a big occasion for any youngster and doing well and getting the prize wicket of Sachin will give him lot of confidence for the future," said Laxman about the 18-year-old Uttar Pradesh seamer who got rid of Tendulkar for a duck in the first innings. Laxman, who has played 102 Tests, said even the stars gain valuable practice and keep match fit. "By playing in these matches, top international players contribute to their team's success and also share their experiences with teammates and help in their growth," said the 34-year-old who is famous for his wristy shots. "Also, let us not forget that the opposition indirectly learns by watching these players," added Laxman. But what about those who have played for the country, but don't stand a realistic chance of a comeback in the near future? "Luckily motivation has never been an issue with me. I know it sounds clich餠but I love playing the game and would continue playing for as long as I'm enjoying it," said Delhi skipper Aakash Chopra, whose fine run through last year could not earn him a comeback to the national squad as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had entrenched themselves at the top in all forms of the game. "From time to time it gets very frustrating not to find my name in the national squad, but then there's nothing I can do about that. So you make peace with the circumstances and move on," said Chopra, who has written a book on domestic cricket titled Beyond the Blues about his experiences during the domestic season last year that saw him score 1339 runs. But he is not too excited about this season. UP's upward climb Without anything close to adequate and effective infrastructure, Uttar Pradesh may have been writing a fairy-tale script in the Ranji Trophy over the last four seasons — they won in 2006 and have been runners-up twice since then. Much as UP’s Ranji success owes to the purely human factor — good coaching, good captaincy and a squad of very talented young cricketers with boundless enthusiasm and vaulting ambition — this is ultimately a story of Cricket itself, and how cricket ties itself in with the world around. C.L.R. James’s Beyond a Boundary — a cricket book that gave the world the aphorism “What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?” — became a legend because it showed just how cricket takes itself beyond its own boundaries. It wasn’t just a simple set of power equations between coloniser and colonised, between master and servant, between one class and another. James’s book also underscores for us something that we tend to forget — that the heart of cricket lies in first-class cricket. Not surprisingly, the best of classic cricket literature pertains to the domestic game. If cricket, like any other sport, is a spectacle with an open-ended narrative, it is time to once more enjoy first-class cricket in its own right. Undoubtedly, domestic cricket is the breeding and testing ground for international players. But it is much more. For instance, UP’s recent success is nuanced by the shifting power balance within the sociology of the state’s cricket. Just as there is an interesting and intriguing psycho-sociological story behind the body language on the pitch, there is entertainment and education in the way Mohammed Kaif, who made his own international debut in 2000 having risen from similar circumstances, is now marshalling his juniors. If he says these boys need encouragement to do better, then encouragement they must get. And even if they don’t deliver, the game would still be spectacular. Mumbai: A season to cherish Mumbai: Mumbai’s cricketers, who have made a remarkable impression this season, have been amply rewarded. Winning the Ranji Trophy for the 38th time was the ultimate prize. Before Wasim Jaffer’s team beat Uttar Pradesh in the final on Friday, the under-19 team had won the Cooch Behar Trophy by crushing Punjab. The under-22 team went down to Punjab in the final and the under-16 team lost a close semifinal against Delhi. From Monday onwards, University of Mumbai will lock horns with SRM, Tamil Nadu, in the final of the Rohinton Baria Cup here. Dedicated approach The teams picked by distinguished cricketers, trained by dedicated coaches (Praveen Amre, Satish Samant (u-19), Pradeep Sundaram (u-22), Ravi Kulkarni (u-16) and Vilas Godbole (University)), were provided with match practice and excellent facilities and specialised camps have returned desired results. “ “Mumbai dominated the games right through the season, except for a one-off bad game against Saurashtra at Rajkot,” said Dilip Vengsarkar, former chairman of the Mumbai selection committee and Vice-Preisdent of the association. On Friday evening, MCA’s joint honorary secretary Hemant Waingankar presented a special bouquet to Jaffer at the Mumbai airport. The MCA President Sharad Pawar has announced a bonus of Rs. 60 lakh to the team. The Mumbai team will also receive Rs. 60 lakh as prize money from the BCCI for winning the national championship. Jaffer, who led from the front, had a great run scoring 1260 runs and taking 20 catches in ten matches. The other distinguished performers were Ajinkya Rahane (1089 runs and 10 catches), Rohit Sharma (747 runs, including a century in each innings of the final), Dhawal Kulkarni (42 wickets) and Vinayak Samant (471 runs, 37 catches and 3 stumpings) and Ramesh Powar (34 wickets). Mumbai fielded in all 21 players in ten matches with Jaffer, Rahane and Samant playing in all ten. Rahane has played two seasons and Kulkarni, one. Overall,Ranji, an uninspiring grind MUMBAI: In retrospect, it would be fair to conclude that it wasn’t the Indian Premier League (IPL) or international cricket that sapped India’s premier domestic tournament, the Ranji Trophy, of any interest. Instead, it was the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s listless planning that failed to make Ranji matches happening. While taking nothing away from Mumbai who are celebrating their 38th title win after batting Uttar Pradesh out of the final, it is pertinent to note that the 76 days of cricket the tournament witnessed - for the record played out at 23 different venues across the country - was uninspiring. There were flashes of brilliance though. Cheteshwar Pujara’s century in the quarter-final at Mumbai, Shivakant Shukla’s 178 in the semi-final at Nagpur, nine seven-wicket hauls including that of Basanth Mohanty in the highly entertaining match between Orissa and Punjab and Ravindra Jadeja’s performances that make him the all-rounder of the year. The rest of the tournament spoke harshly about the fast diminishing standard of India’s domestic circuit. ToI takes a look at what all was appalling. Flat pitches The promise of making the 22-yard strip more exciting failed disastrously. The two semi-finals were played at Nagpur and Chennai, respectively. At both venues, tracks remained flat at best, an absolute downer if seen in the backdrop of the neutral venue theory proposed to improve the quality of cricket. Out of the 56 matches, 29 yielded a result and it should be taken into account that most venues where matches ended in a result, weren’t the leading international stadiums. Instead, lesser known grounds in Valsad, Ratnagiri, Mysore, Bhubhaneshwar, Ghaziabad and Cuttack delivered. No takers for overseas player Another BCCI decision which failed was one with respect to introducing one overseas player among the four guest players in each team. The rule dictated that cricketers who have played either 20 ODIs or 10 Test matches can only be invited, which in the end proved to be senseless. Three associations - Baroda (Dilhara Fernando), Bengal (Muttiah Muralitharan) and Maharashtra (Emanul Haq Jr) - went ahead and signed foreigners out of which only Haq Jr turned up. The rest were either deprived in terms of spending or did not have a choice. That Muralitharan couldn’t turn up for a single game for Bengal either suggests that Cricket Association of Bengal simply used the off-spinner’s name to publicize their campaign or that the star spinner simply wasn’t available. In any case, the BCCI needs to do a rethink. Semis of four days makes no sense The BCCI seems to be struggling to accommodate domestic cricket. If not, there is little reason to believe why the semi-finals were of four days duration and not five. Several players who were a part of the semi-finals admitted to the ToI that ‘‘four-day match doesn’t make any sense’’. It is understandable, they say, that matches throughout the season are played in four-days format to squeeze in the number of games but ‘‘at least the semi-finals of the tournament need to be for five days, simply because there can be a straight result". True. It makes no sense that the team entering the final does so by way of first innings lead. Five days can ensure a good match. Poor umpiring One thing that has unanimously been accepted this season, is that the level of umpiring in the Indian domestic circuit seems to be going from bad to worse. Amesh Saheba’s poor show in the semifinals between Mumbai and Saurashtra and again in the final at Hyderabad was the most glaring example. Net run-rate rule The net run-rate rule left players and coaches confused. Teams expressed dismay and surprise over the rule for the final which said if a team’s first innings was left incomplete, the winner would be decided on the run-rate. ‘‘Isn’t it starnge? If we score 700 off 200 overs and then UP are 150 for 9 in 30 overs, they will win. In a four-day or a five-day match, there’s no need to decide the winner on the basis of better run rate,’’ Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer said before the match. For the semi-final too, the BCCI guideline that the net run-rate calculated from previous games will decide the winner in a knockout game in case the first innings is not completed, did not go down well. Neutral venue Sachin Tendulkar gave his verdict on the neutral venue policy adopted by the BCCI, saying it made no sense. ‘‘You don’t have the atmosphere at a neutral venue. If you play home or away, you have the home crowd rooting for its team while the other side will be up against it. This is a part of the learning process for the young cricketers,’’ Tendulkar said. Despite having neutral venues, the board failed to provide sporting wickets which left the bowlers toiling away in the dust.

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‘Cricket is a way of life in Mumbai’ Like the champion sides from Mumbai in the past, the current squad led by Wasim Jaffer too has an immense sense of bonding, a lot of depth and the desire to excel. No wonder the team won its 38th Ranji title in Hyderabad recently. By S. Dinakar. Skipper Wasim Jaffer with the Ranji Trophy. For the Mumbai players, the pride of playing for the team has remained undiminished. The side continues to conquer. Sunil Gavaskar recalled an interesting story the other day. It was about how the young cricketers of Bombay would, from the upper berths, listen to words of wisdom of the masters during the long train journeys of the Ranji Trophy team. Much of the talk in the lower berths, occupied by the seniors, would revolve around the game’s nuances, strategy, successes and failures. Even as the accomplished players discussed cricket over a game of cards, much knowledge would be passed on to the eager aspirants. Those times are behind us now. The teams, largely, fly to their destinations these days. The money in domestic cricket has increased vastly too. And Bombay has become Mumbai. However, certain things don’t change. Mumbai continues to win Ranji Trophy. The other afternoon in Hyderabad, Wasim Jaffer’s men nailed Mumbai’s 38th Ranji title. Importantly, the pride of playing for Mumbai has remained undiminished. The side continues to conquer. The Ranji Trophy this season had the biggest stars parading their skills during the climactic stages. Sachin Tendulkar turned out for Mumbai, so did Zaheer Khan. Coach Pravin Amre highlighted the significance of Tendulkar, the legend, playing for Mumbai. He spoke about the younger crop benefiting from interacting with the maestro. And Zaheer, from his position at mid-off, was often seen walking up to the young Dhaval Kulkarni between deliveries and guiding the emerging paceman. Even as the seniors pull their weight in more ways than one, Mumbai continues to churn out bright young cricketers. Kulkarni harried and consumed several batsmen with his movement; he could do with a yard or two of pace though. The talented Rohit Sharma went back to the basics to script two match-winning hundreds against Uttar Pradesh’s well-rounded attack in the final. Under pressure, he thrived. Rohit’s century in the first innings — after the UP pacemen had made major inroads in the first session of the match — orchestrated a remarkable Mumbai recovery. His century in the second innings batted UP out of the match. Most Wickets

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A path-breaking India captain, Ajit Wadekar, comprehends much about Mumbai and its cricketing culture. He was also a famous Bombay skipper. “You know, we start by playing for the club in the Kanga League. You develop loyalty to the club. You bat on different types of wickets. You do not get batting tracks all the time. There are occasions when you bat on sticky wickets,†reveals Wadekar. Then he says something significant. “All this makes our cricketers ‘khaduus’ (meaning hard to break).†They bond so well... the Mumbai players celebrate their victory in the Ranji Trophy final in Hyderabad. ‘Khaduus’ is a quality that underlines Mumbai’s cricketing culture. Wadekar himself was ‘khaduus’ when he walked in at No. 8 against Saurashtra with Bombay reeling at 100-something for six. The elegant left-hander notched up a hundred. That effort, really, was the beginning of his cricketing journey. Wadekar adds: “We learn to win from an early age. In Mumbai there are officially around 320 clubs and 110 tournaments. Then we have ‘galli’ cricket where the young cricketers pool in the money. Cricket is a way of life.†Most Runs

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The former India captain also throws light on the immense sense of bonding and the intense competition in the Mumbai team. “We used to have six or seven Indian players in the Bombay team. And there was this great desire to excel in front of your peers. There was a lot of depth in the ranks and we knew that if we missed a single game for Bombay our careers could be on the line. Money wasn’t there, but it did not matter. We enjoyed our cricket. There was this great spirit within the side. Even today, you can see the bonding in the Mumbai team. Cricketers help each other out.†In the triumphant campaign of 2008-09, the seniors in the Mumbai camp guided the younger bunch. Jaffer made a mountain of runs in an elegant fashion. He also inspired someone like No. 3 Ajinkhya Rahane to pile up big scores. The young Rahane has a few issues to sort out in his initial movement, but he times the ball sweetly and is hungry for runs. Mumbai dished out a positive brand of cricket — aggressive field placements were backed by well-directed bowling. The team played smart cricket, set the batsmen up. The team executed its plans neatly. Abhishek Nayar, who revived Mumbai in the first innings with Rohit in the final, has interesting possibilities. He is a punishing left-hander and a handy seam bowler; more importantly, he seems to relish the sniff of a combat. Along the campaign trail, cricketers of varying kinds put their hands up for Mumbai. Vinayak Samant, in his mid-30s, picked a perfect occasion to score his first Ranji hundred — in the final. The ploy to send the wicketkeeper-batsman as an opener worked. Ramesh Powar prised out batsmen with flight, dip and spin. He remains a grossly under-rated off-spinner. The seniors in the team displayed heart and commitment. Tendulkar braved fever to carve a stroke-filled century in the semifinal against Saurashtra in Chennai. Ajit Agarkar generated fiery pace and extracted disconcerting lift. Zaheer operated with rhythm and control for a title-winning seven-wicket innings haul in the Ranji final. Like most champion sides, Mumbai was ruthless in the composition of its XI. Amol Muzumdar may have been only a handful of runs behind Amarjit Kaypee’s record as the highest run-getter in Ranji history, but the senior batsman’s lack of form saw him being omitted for the final. Sahil Kukreja may have scored a double hundred against Delhi earlier in the season but the compulsion of finding the right balance in the XI ruled him out of the side in the climactic stages. There are several aspects to Mumbai’s cricket. Cricketers from other states aver that the players from Mumbai attempt to unsettle opposition through sledging. Indeed, Mumbai is the Australia — in its pomp — of Indian domestic cricket.