Chandan Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 South Zone v Central Zone, Duleep Trophy 2008-09, Bangalore- Preview Hopefuls target the big stage The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore January 21, 2009 Sreesanth needs to make the most of his opportunity in the Duleep Trophy © Getty Images The Duleep Trophy has long been the setting for famous turnarounds in a player's fortune - Sourav Ganguly's road back to the national team started with an emphatic century in 2005 and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's 200 in 1967, after resigning as India captain, had his critics imploring him to remain leader of the national side. It remains so this season with a hectic year of cricket ahead and an Indian team in some transition. The tournament opener at the Chinnaswamy Stadium has several fringe players hoping for a similar upturn, chief among those is South Zone's swing bowler Sreesanth. For a few Test regulars it is an opportunity to gain match practice ahead of the New Zealand visit, but VVS Laxman, the South captain, stressed he was focused on winning the tournament and was not treating the match as a warm-up for New Zealand. Having struggled with injuries following last year's IPL, Sreesanth made a huge impact in his only first-class game since, taking seven wickets for Kerala. Anyone with his pace and his outswinger would have walked into an Indian side of the 1990s in spite of the long lay-off, but the national fast-bowling stocks have rarely been in better health, making his comeback a far tougher proposition. To complicate matters for Sreesanth, the tournament is now played in a knockout format, with the winner of this match progressing to the semi-finals. That means he could have only one chance to convince the national selectors of his form and fitness ahead of the New Zealand tour next month. Another bowler who has slipped down the pecking order is legspinner Piyush Chawla, a Test debutant at 17, three years ago. He missed out on the squad for the one-dayers against Sri Lanka despite Harbhajan Singh's absence. He's had a moderate first-class season - taking 27 wickets at 35, and made some handy runs - but an eye-catching performance against the formidable South batting, including VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, could provide just the boost he needs. Duleep Trophy format The absence of a foreign team in this edition of the Duleep Trophy means the tournament will revert to a knockout format. It starts with a play-off between the two bottom-placed sides in the previous season, the winner of which will take on last year's champions, North Zone, in the semi-finals. East Zone and West Zone clash in the other semi-final. The short four-match event is the traditional format of the Duleep Trophy, which it followed from its inception in 1961-62 till the 1993-94 season. Fixtures South Zone v Central Zone, Jan 22-25, Bangalore East Zone v West Zone, Jan 29-Feb 1, Mumbai North Zone v tbc, Jan 29-Feb 1 Final, Feb 5-Feb 9 Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath, on the bench for the recent home Tests against England, is another one who needs to perform. His ticket to New Zealand is not yet confirmed, with Rohit Sharma - who made twin centuries in the Ranji Trophy final - leading a bunch of youngsters pushing to take his place. His South team-mate Robin Uthappa has dropped off the national radar since the CB Series in Australia early last year. He has staked his claim though by being Karnataka's stand-out batsman, making three centuries in the Ranji Trophy to carry an inexperienced batting order. A little lower in the race for a national berth is L Balaji, who has had a dazzling season (36 wickets at 17.50) after a long battle with a back injury. A good Duleep Trophy will help him climb another rung on the ladder to the top. With Balaji and Sreesanth leading the attack, and an imposing batting line-up, South start as favourites, their only weakness being an innocuous spin department. Central's worry is not their slow bowling, which includes Chawla and Murali Kartik, but their batting. Their recognised batsmen have played only 13 Tests, compared to South's 254. The pitch is expected to favour the batsmen, on the slower side with the bounce getting lower as the match progresses. South Zone squad: VVS Laxman (capt), S Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Dravid, Arjun Yadav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, L Balaji, Sreesanth, R Vinay Kumar, Saurabh Bandekar, M Suresh, Anoop Pai. Central Zone squad: Mohammad Kaif (capt), Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Anureet Singh, Robin Bist, Piyush Chawla, Faiz Fazal, Yere Goud, Murali Kartik, Naman Ojha (wk), Pankaj Singh, Parvinder Singh, Jalaj Saxena, Shivakant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava. Other POV Solid batting line-up is South Zone’s key K.C. Vijaya Kumar Central hampered by loss of key players in the Duleep Trophy opener BATTING MAINSTAYS: Rahul Dravid and S. Badrinath (right), who will be expected to play a major role in South’s batting, exchange a few words with Syed Kirmani at a net session on Wednesday. Bangalore: There can be no half-measures for both South Zone and Central Zone as the teams are all set for the Duleep Trophy match commencing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday. The four-day match on a placid pitch would have an edge as it is a knock-out game with the winner, either by virtue of an outright victory or the first innings lead, will qualify for the semifinal against defending champions North at Rajkot from January 29. The absence of a foreign team this year, has forced the Duleep Trophy to dispense with the league phase and adopt the knock-out format involving five teams and as South and Central were bottom-placed in their respective groups last year, the two teams have to slug it out in the lone quarter-final. South skipper V.V.S. Laxman said, “South is keen to win the Duleep Trophy.” Laxman along with Rahul Dravid, vice-captain S. Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund and Robin Uthappa constitute a batting line-up that has solidity and flair. Sreesanth and Balaji lead bowling All eyes will be on S. Sreesanth and L. Balaji hoping to steal the attention of national selectors on a greenish pitch. The duo missed the flight to Sri Lanka for reasons well known. Sreesanth will be monitored for his match fitness as well. Despite a stellar show in Ranji matches Balaji, is yet to hit his peak level. L. Balaji, who has had a dream Ranji season with 36 wickets, will lead the bowling attack that also figures S. Sreesanth, on a comeback trail from injury. The support cast includes seamer R. Vinay Kumar and spinners – R. Ashwin, M. Suresh and S. Jakati. “It is good to have Balaji and Sreesanth, who are coming back from injuries and have a point to prove,” said Laxman and added that “a five-day match would be ideal.” Pleyers to be missed Meanwhile the Central squad lost some key players. R.P. Singh is recovering from a shoulder injury while Suresh Raina and Praveen Kumar are set to tour Sri Lanka with the Indian team. “We’ll be missing the services of two crucial players, Praveen Kumar and Suresh Raina, both of whom have performed remarkably for Uttar Pradesh,” Central captain Mohammad Kaif said, while adding that left-arm fast bowler RP Singh will also miss the opening contest due to injury. The batting will hinge on Mohd. Kaif, Shivakant Shukla, Tanmay Srivastava and Yere Goud while the bowling besides the spin duo of Murali Kartik and Piyush Chawla also features Bhuvaneshwar Kumar who scalped Sachin Tendulkar in the recent Ranji final at Hyderabad. Perfect balance Laxman said that his team had the perfect balance of experience and youth, and insisted that even the bowling department was shaping up perfectly. “The likes of Balaji and Sreesanth have made terrific comebacks after long injury lay-offs, and we also have a couple of good spinners in Ashwin and Suresh ,” he said. After a failed attempt at revamping the Duleep Trophy in 2002-03, where the five zonal teams were replaced by five teams based on the then newly introduced Elite and Plate Group divisions in the Ranji Trophy, the tournament had been boosted by the presence of a foreign team the following season. But while the BCCI managed to create space for India’s 14-day visit to Sri Lanka, they somehow didn’t show the same efficiency in arranging for the sixth team this time around, and the competition will be played on a knock-out basis for the first time since 1993-94. Hardest hit The teams to be affected most due to the Lanka series will be West and North, as the 15-member Indian squad includes a total of 11 players from the two zones. While North, who are aiming for a hat-trick of victories, might find their quest difficult to achieve, West will be the most depleted side with seven players away on national duty. The winners of the clash between Central and South will face the defending champions in Rajkot, and both teams will be looking at the extra match as a blessing in disguise. The number of players representing the country from a particular zone does indicate the dominance of their cricket, and does lead to bragging rights. But, as things stand, South Zone may end up benefiting from the lack of ODI players by having a Duleep Trophy title to brag about in the first week of February. Teams don't have a 'ball' on match eve The South Zone team did not have an ideal preparation for their Duleep Trophy game against Central Zone, as Kookaburra brand of cricket balls were not made available for their practice on Wednesday. The Duleep Trophy games, four in all this season, have been played with Kookaburra over the last two seasons rather than the Sanspareils Greenlands brand used in Tests and other domestic games in India. "We didn't practise with Kookaburra balls as we were not provided with any," a senior member of the South Zone side told DNA. "Kookaburra and SG behave differently and the type of ball used makes a significant difference. It can be unsettling to change from SG to Kookaburra without practice," a South Zone bowler said. Skippers VVS Laxman and Mohammad Kaif were confident that using Kookaburra will help domestic cricketers. However, using it in the Duleep Trophy that is literally a knock-out tournament this year, will mean that bowlers would have no time to get used to the ball, especially when there was a scarcity on match eve. While Kaif and Laxman won't have much to complain as the change of ball doesn't affect the batsmen, their sentiments are not shared by the bowlers. "It makes no sense to use one kind of ball for one tournament and play all Tests and other domestic tournaments with another brand. It really serves no purpose, " a Central Zone player said. South Zone convener Brijesh Patel, also the Karnataka State Cricket Association secretary, did not seem to be in the loop when asked about the lack of equipment. "Are you saying players can't bowl if they use different balls for practice and on match day? I don't know what happened," Patel said nonchalantly. BCCI's chief administrative office Ratnakar Shetty confirmed that each zone's convener was forwarded six new Kookaburra balls and two older ones to be used solely for practice. "The convener of each zone has to ensure that these Kookaburra balls are made available to the teams. In addition a dozen are also available for each four-day Duleep Trophy game," Shetty added. Link to comment
h4te Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 are these matches going to be on Cricinfo atleast? I see no scoreboard as of now..... Link to comment
Chandan Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 are these matches going to be on Cricinfo atleast? I see no scoreboard as of now..... I don't think so. Neo will be telecasting only the final and the three matches before that don't get any attention! Wonder what sort of logic is that, that you do not telecast the match even when stars like Laxman, Dravid, Sreesanth, Kaif, Chawla etc are playing!! PS: South has won the toss and is batting first. Looks like Central will be knocked out easily! Link to comment
ludhianvi Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Duleep Trophy : South Zone vs Central Zone First match thread :yay: For live scoreboard http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/duleeptrophy2008/engine/current/match/368326.html Central Zone v South Zone ---------------------------------------------------- Played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on 22,23,24,25 January 2008 (4-day match) South Zone squad A Mukund, RV Uthappa, R Dravid, S Badrinath, captainVVS Laxman, AS Yadav, wicketkeeperKD Karthik, R Ashwin, S Sreesanth, M Suresh, L Balaji, SS Bandekar, R Vinay Kumar, SA Pai, SB Jakati Central Zone squad TM Srivastava, SS Shukla, captainM Kaif, Parvinder Singh, B Kumar, YKT Goud, PP Chawla, M Kartik, wicketkeeperNV Ojha, Pankaj Singh, U Yadav, Anureet Singh, Jalaj S Saxena, FY Fazal, R Bist Umpires K Hariharan and SL Shastri Match referee SS Patil South Zone win the toss and elect to BAT FIRST http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/duleeptrophy2008/engine/current/match/368326.html dont know whether they'll show ball by ball commentary p.s, can merge this with other duleep thread if necessary Link to comment
h4te Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 wtf, another 4 day match? :whack: edit: looks like no 'live' coverage... Link to comment
ludhianvi Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 ok the scorecard has been updated: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/duleeptrophy2008/engine/current/match/368326.html South Zone 57/2 ....Pankaj Singh taking wickets of Uthappa and Mukund [edit] h4te faster than me :whack: Link to comment
h4te Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Dravid fails yet again.... Link to comment
fineleg Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 any info on pankaj's bowling speeds? Link to comment
h4te Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 any info on pankaj's bowling speeds? 100-150 kph for the most part................... Link to comment
f.b.m Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 It’s ironical that Muralitharan, who has had to live with the same stigma, would have turned up for Bengal. Two men with a nearly similar action: one has had a glittering career, and the other’s seems to have ended even before it could take off.. :(( Silly. One is born with a certain condition of the arm and the other isnt. Simple as that. I honestly dont get why so many people dont understand that. Link to comment
fineleg Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 100-150 kph for the most part................... h4te :whack: Link to comment
Chandan Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 South Zone 106/6 :yikes: Who is this Umesh Yadav and what kind of bowler is he? He has taken 3 wickets! Link to comment
fineleg Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 South Zone 106/6 :yikes: Who is this Umesh Yadav and what kind of bowler is he? He has taken 3 wickets! as u said 'cricket is a funny game' Link to comment
Rajan Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 pathetic performance. dont know what 2 expect from the new breed of batsmen.when they fail so badly on indian pitches, what can they do on seaming wickets or pitches that aid swing or provide good bounce! at least Laxman and Dravid have it in them to prove themselves when they play tests.this failure would only be an aberration. but the likes of mukund,badri,arjun yadav,robin U,are missing out on very important opportunities to impress the selctors. Link to comment
Tapioca Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 My pet topic : South Zone has gone in with 6 batsmen. Their first class career averages are 55.35 (Badrinath), 55.06 (Dravid), 51.49 (VVSL), 62.04 (Abhinav), 41.02 (Uthappa) and 28.76 (X) More info : X doesn't bowl - 12 wickets in 65 matches. He was 5th in both run aggregate and batting average (a remarkable 33.88) for his team in Ranji Trophy this season - of the five batsmen who are above him in one of those, only one (a Test player) is in the South Zone team. Identify X Link to comment
Tapioca Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Yeah, and it helps if your father is a selector. Link to comment
Brainfade Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Is Murali Vijay hurt? Fellow opens for India, puts on a respectable show, but is not in the SZ XI? I just don't get it. Link to comment
fineleg Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Is Murali Vijay hurt? Fellow opens for India' date=' puts on a respectable show, but is not in the SZ XI? I just don't get it.[/quote'] andha shivlal yadav-kku seruppu adi kudukkanum - bloody hell how does Arjun Yadav keep getting selected. Pathetic :angry_smile: And rest of the A.Mukund, R.Uthappam etc miss out on a fantastic opportunity to establish a good impression. They have no one to blame but themselves. Link to comment
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