Vizay Hazare Trophy, 2008-09

[rahulrulezz]

i think last post of mine deserves its own thread.... otherwise this innings of theirs will be lost in this thread...dont think ppl will get to know about one more heroics of Pathan Brothers ...

[h4te]

Balaji is useless in ODI/T20, but I feel he can be handy in Tests in NZ, SA, or ENG as a third seamer. His FC record this season clearly shows. Both Kulkarni and Balaji picking up that many wickets while being slow and playing in super uber ultra mega flat pitches shows how valuable they were. Let's not write them off until we see them in tests....pace is not everything if you're not accurate....

[Chandan]

Some news round-up of the second round: Badrinath and Karthik make merry TN beat Kerala by 185 runs, K'taka beat Hyderabad by 50 runs Pitch farce in Rajkot as Mumbai go down again, this time to Gujarat Maharashtra beat Saurashtra by six wickets

[Chandan]

Some interesting observations from the tournament so far: Antigua ‘fever pitch’ reaches Rajkot Bivabasu Kumar, Hindustan Times Rajkot, February 17, 2009 First Published: 00:07 IST(17/2/2009) Last Updated: 00:12 IST(17/2/2009) The visiting teams aren't happy with the Saurashtra Cricket Association's arrangements for this year's West Zone Ranji One-Day league matches and their annoyance reached a climax on Monday when Mumbai's match against Gujarat was stopped after just 6.1 overs because of a poor pitch at the SCA stadium, Khanderi in Rajkot. Players, umpires and the match referee termed the pitch under-prepared and dangerous after Gujarat had won the toss and elected to bat. The pitch had little holes and every time Mumbai pacers, Dhawal Kulkarni and Avishkar Salvi, would hit them, puffs of duct would come out. The SCA stadium, Khanderi, situated on the outskirts of Rajkot, is one of the two venues hosting the West Zone Ranji One-Day league matches even though the stands are still under construction. The players are miffed over SCA's decision to host matches at a venue where even basic facilities are unavailable. Lack of a proper dressing room and the stands under-construction make the ambience unsuitable for cricket. Both the skippers, Wasim Jaffer and Parthiv Patel, decided against continuing with the match after Gujarat opener Jesal Karia was hit in the belly by a Dhawal delivery. Nearly an hour was wasted in deliberations and both the teams agreed to play a new 41-over game on the adjacent pitch. Besides, the food served here has also been criticised, with the Gujarat manager, Girish Mehta, calling it unhygienic. "We played our first game against Maharashtra at the same venue. Parthiv and Bhavik Thakar got out in similar fashion (caught behind) as the pitch showed uneven bounce. We are not happy with the entire arrangement," said Mehta. Mumbai manager Nitin Dalal, also expressed disappointment over SCA's arrangements. "From accommodation to the playing conditions, nothing is in place. The match against Baroda was delayed by half-an hour as breakfast was not served on time." SCA tournament director, Madhukar Worah, accepted that Mumbai's game against Baroda was delayed because of catering problems, but refused to accept that accommodation for the players was not upto the standard. "We have been hospitable and given them accommodation in good hotels. The BCCI has approved the SCA Stadium for Ranji games. The players have whatever they need here. I don't know what they are complaining about." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looks like Delhi supporters are quite confident this time! Cool climes, but Delhi warmed up Subhash Rajta, Hindustan Times Dharamsala, February 16, 2009 First Published: 23:51 IST(16/2/2009) Last Updated: 23:53 IST(16/2/2009) The sheet of snow covering the mighty Dhauladhar is rather thin for this time of the year. It has, however, not affected the scenic effect the snow-clad range provides to the stadium here; it’s still as breathtaking and grandiose as ever. Now, while the locals and the environmentalists could grumble over the less-than-normal snowing and the resultant higher-than-normal temperature, it would suit just fine to the game of cricket, as players would find themselves more comfortable in the relatively warmer climate. Delhi would be liking the pleasant weather and scenic setting even better after their easy win over J&K, and Punjab too would have surely found their agony of losing a close match waning gradually after they arrived here for their next game against Delhi on the morrow. The victory against minnows like J&K can’t be a reliable yardstick to judge the form and momentum of a side like Delhi, but then the victory as comfortable as Delhi notched up is certainly the start any team would want to have. And Delhi is not shying away from drawing in as many positives as possible from the easy win, evident in Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya’s refusal to see it as a win offered on a platter. “I don’t think it was an easy win, we simply played well. One has to play well to win matches, irrespective of the opposition,†he said. “Two of our batsmen got hundreds and a bowler picked up five wickets. So it was obviously a good outing for us and we are looking forward to putting in a similar effort against Punjab as well, the coach said. Punjab, on the other hand, would be under pressure for they just can’t afford to lose two games in a row. Besides, they are now without Jaskaran Singh who almost saw them through in the last match. The sturdy youngster has been sent home after he got hit in the face in the last game. His absence will further weaken the Punjab pace attack that has already lost quite a bit of sting following the unavailability of Manpreet Goni and VRV Singh. Given their inexperienced and depleted pace attack, Punjab would rely heavily on their batsmen to put up a fight against the well-balanced Delhi. The batting line-up too is quite inexperienced in comparison to Delhi, but they did show promise and potential when they almost chased down 290 against Haryana. They will need to fire again if Punjab don’t want to see themselves lagging further behind in the race for knock-out stage.

[Chandan]

Results : Day3 East Zone Bengal defeats Assam by 8 wickets (with 27 balls remaining) Orissa defeats Tripura by 7 wickets (with 97 balls remaining) Central Zone Uttar Pradesh defeats Madhya Pradesh by 7 wickets (with 67 balls remaining) Railways defeats Vidarbha by 8 wickets (with 89 balls remaining) North Zone Himachal Pradesh defeats Haryana by 7 wickets (with 70 balls remaining) Services defeats Jammu and Kashmir by 4 wickets (with 0 balls remaining) Delhi defeats Punjab by 7 wickets (with 67 balls remaining) Round-up of Ranji Trophy one-day tournament, Day 3 : Nehra and Kohli star in Delhi's win

[Cricketics]

Another Century by Virat Kohli 2 games 2 tons.. It's all happening..

[cowboysfan]

Another Century by Virat Kohli 2 games 2 tons.. It's all happening..

:two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up:

[Show_stopper]

Anureet Singh again comes out with top class performance..really looking forward to seeing him in the IPL if he plays any games for KKR.

[Chandan]

Some interesting reports from Day 3 Dominant Delhi pulverise Punjab Nehra hat-trick, Kohli century power Delhi Nehra hat-trick, Virat ton drive Delhi to 7-wkt win JK suffers yet another defeat in Ranji Trophy, this time against Services Saha helps Bengal thrash Assam Saha wants to bat at the top

[Chandan]

Results : Day 4 South Zone Andhra defeated Kerala by 4 wickets (with 2 balls remaining) Karnataka defeats Goa by 4 wickets (with 24 balls remaining) Tamil Nadu defeats Hyderabad by 92 runs West Zone Gujarat defeats Baroda by 5 wickets (with 30 balls remaining) Mumbai defeats Saurashtra by 3 wickets (with 33 balls remaining) ----------------------------------------------------------- No Sreesanth yet again and an excellent inning by Pujara against Mumbai. Round-up of Ranji Trophy one-day tournament, Day 4 : Badrinath and Vidyut extend TN's winning run

[Sachinism]

Another big ton for Badri

[h4te]

Another big ton for Badri

that's how you respond for being unfairly dropped/not picked......instead of making dumb@ss comments like "give me a chance to fail" 1 50 @ ~100 s.r. then 2 straight 100s @ 100+ s.r.

[Show_stopper]

Another big ton for Badri

Really feel bad for the guy..even though there is no place for him in our current set-up.

[Chandan]

Some more interesting news about the on going Ranji One Day championship: Second century on the trot by Badrinath fetches TN its third successive victory Mumbai win by three wickets Pujara ton in vain as Mumbai triumph Gujarat beat Baroda by five wickets Now something to put BCCI to shame again after Rajkot pitch farce: No service for Services in Una Organisers fail to book rooms, team spends hours on street We were tired after the night-long journey, but no one seemed to care. They told us to 'ad- just' in groups of 4-5 in different hotels —A SERVICES PLAYER Arjun Sen New Delhi FOR CLOSE to three hours on the morning of February 14th, the entire Services team was left stranded on the streets of Una where it had gone to play the North Zone Ranji one-dayers. The reason? The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association's (HPCA) inability to book a hotel for them. The players reached Una at 8 am on the 14th where, to their dismay found no , hotel booked for them. What fol- lowed was an agonising wait for the HPCA to accommodate the team in another hotel. "Suddenly no one from the , HPCA was available, and when we finally did get through, they blamed the confusion on the wedding season," a Services player told HT from Una. "We were tired after the night-long journey but no one , seemed to care. They told us to 'adjust' in groups of 4-5 in different hotels," he added. It was only after the team trainer Vikram Yadav threatened a pullout from the tournament that the HPCA sprung to action. "They first kept us at a lodge which was easily the worst and dirtiest I have ever seen. Finally after a long wait, , they checked us in to this hotel about 10-15 kms away from the town," the player said. But their problems hadn't ended yet. On reaching the venue of their first game against the hosts, the players found a dilapidated ground with a makeshift sight screen and no provisions for the mandatory cam eras for the BCCI coach - umpire. "The so-called sight screen was a tent held up by a couple of bamboos. Predictably , it collapsed in a heap leading to a 30-minute delay in play starting after lunch," another player said. The HPCA, on its part, blamed it on the lack of facilities in the small town. "What can we do? There are only two decent hotels in Una," said HPCA member Sunil Chauhan. "We had told the teams about this quite a while ago. It does get a little difficult for us to accommodate four teams in such a small place, but we are trying our best." As far as the complaints Services made about the ground, Chauhan said, "It's funny how none of the other sides are complaining about anything. It's more than a mere coincidence that the team losing is blaming everything else, isn't it?" -------------------------------------------------- And a preview now: Delhi face buoyant HP Subhash Rajta Una NOT TOO long back, a Delhi-Himachal Pradesh (HP) match would have been a foregone conclusion. Not now. One wouldn't be far off the mark in saying it would probably be the best match of the competition. That HP are lying second behind Delhi in the points table, well ahead Punjab and Haryana, is a significant indicator of the changing fortunes of the hill state. HP know that upstaging a strong Delhi outfit would lend further credence to their rise and should spare no effort to turn the tables on the favourites. It's not going to be easy though. Delhi are here on , the back of two comfortable victories. They smothered J&K, and then humbled Punjab. Delhi, if at all, could be slightly worried about their openers who have failed to give them the desired start. Ashish Nehra, who pulled up with a side strain in the last match, won't be available for today's match. "We don't want to take any chance with him, we have decided to rest him," said Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya. Other than that, Delhi are firing on all cylinders and are virtually unstoppable. But they aren't taking it easy "We aren't . taking any team lightly and are concentrating on doing our things right. “We have the maximum respect for Himachal in this group; they are a very good side and are doing well.” Himachal, on the other hand, are brimming with confidence following their two victories against Services and Haryana. Their batsmen are amongst the runs and the bowlers, especially their spinners Vishal Bhatia and Sarandeep Singh, are posing tough questions.

[kirtan]

Two successive tons with 100+ strike rate! Can any one of the selectors/dhoni hear the ball hitting sound from badri's bat!!

[msb1991]

The issue is that the attacks that who these runs are scored against are not respected. Once you take the ODI squad members (and Test squad members, it would appear) from the Ranji OD teams, they become very weak simply because there are so many teams. The talent is so diluted that runs scored against them are not taken seriously.

[Sachinism]

The issue is that the attacks that who these runs are scored against are not respected. Once you take the ODI squad members (and Test squad members' date=' it would appear) from the Ranji OD teams, they become very weak simply because there are so many teams. The talent is so diluted that runs scored against them are not taken seriously.[/quote'] It doesn't matter how weak the attack is, to score runs this consistently is something special

[msb1991]

It certainly is, but if we had a more refined domestic system, there would be no question and Badrinath would be straight in the side - which is how it should be.

[Sachinism]

How do you refine the system? Less teams consisting of only the best players? Have 2 divisions? Premier and one below it?

[msb1991]

How do you refine the system? Less teams consisting of only the best players? Have 2 divisions? Premier and one below it?

I'm not too sure about specifics, tbh but I am inclined toward less teams consisting of only the best players, whether this means an expansion of the Deodhar Trophy or introduction of IPL franchises, I'm not too sure, but this dilution of talent and facilities needs to stop.