Duleep Trophy 2010-2011

[Chandan]

So another Duleep trophy which has been reduced to a farce by BCCI because of IPL, is upon us and players will be trying to get over it without any enthusiasm or purpose! Earlier Duleep trophy was a test foe players who did well in Ranji Trophy and it was a sterner test as country's better players used to be together in lesser number of teams. But now, its just a joke waiting to be get over! Akash Chopra says: The Duleep Trophy needs a revamp Fresh from the Ranji games and straight in to the Duleep Trophy; one can’t help but marvel at the latter’s standard and the quality of cricket on display. Just a look at the net session of a zone team is enough to gauge the palpable difference from a state side. After all, the team which represents a particular zone is made up of the best and most in-form players of all the states falling in its purview. Not too long ago, the Duleep Trophy was the fulcrum around which Indian domestic cricket revolved. While performing for the state, one always had an eye on a possible place in the Duleep Trophy team. You would keep a tab on how your competitors were faring and what exactly was needed to get a look in. Back then, the Duleep Trophy was held on a league basis, which meant you played at least one game against each of the remaining four zones. This was then altered a bit by involving a foreign team to raise the level of competition, and having two groups of three teams. Even then, it meant at least two league games, with the top team from each group making it to the finals. The format has now changed completely, with the exclusion of foreign teams and the tournament being held on a knock-out basis. The finalists from last season, along with a team picked randomly, get a bye to the semi-finals, while the remaining two teams play a quarter-final. While, in theory, a bye is a fitting reward for the defending champions and runners-up, it may not actually be the best situation for the players involved. By playing one less match, their batting and bowling statistics take a hit. One wants to have as many innings under the belt to pile on the runs or increase one’s tally of wickets. But in this case, if your team did well the previous season, you get fewer chances to play. The knock-out matches, with the exception of the final, are four-day games, which in most cases means the match gets decided on the basis of the first-innings lead, unless the track is under-prepared which is very unlikely at this level. A four-day knock-out match doesn’t exactly challenge the teams enough and also mean that you might end up getting only one opportunity to showcase your skills, which may be insufficient and also dull to watch. Just to make matters tougher for the players, there are only three days between the end of the Ranji final and the first Duleep Trophy game. The players who feature in the finals are, quite understandably, a tired lot and seldom find the enthusiasm to raise the bar so soon. Also, since the team has only one or two practice sessions together before the match, the chances of these talented individuals working as a team are not too high. Obviously then, the emphasis is on personal performances with very little regard to the demands of the team. The Duleep Trophy is a great concept, but to ensure that its importance is not wasted on the players, the tournament needs an overhaul. More matches need to be played in order to give everyone a fair chance to make a mark, while a longer gap between the Ranji and Duleep Trophy games would ensure the zones play as teams. Anyway here is the fixture: Quarter-final: Central Zone v East Zone at Cuttack Jan 19-22, 2011 Semi-final 1: North Zone v West Zone in India (venue Vadodara) Jan 26-29, 2011 Semi-final 2: South Zone v TBA in India (venue Hyderabad) Jan 26-29, 2011 Final: TBA v TBA in India (venue Vizag) Feb 2-6, 2011 Duleep Trophy final in Vizag VISAKHAPATNAM: The final of Duleep Trophy tournament 2011 will be played at the ACA-VDCA stadium here from February 2 to 6, according to the Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association. South Africa's Brian Jerling will be one of the on-field umpires for the match. S.S. Ravi from TNCA will be the other on-field umpire. Vineet Kulkarni will be third umpire, Chinmay Sharma the match referee and V.K. Ramaswamy will be umpires' coach for the final. B. Sumanth and A.G. Pradeep from Andhra have been selected for the South Zone team. Manoj to lead East Zone Calcutta: Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary will lead East Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter final against Central Zone to be played in Cuttack from January 19. Six players from Bengal, including wicketkeeper-batsman Sreevats Goswami, all-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla, specialist ’keeper Wriddhiman Saha, pacer Ashok Dinda and left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena, have found a place in the 15-member squad. The winner of the match will take on South Zone in the second semi-final from January 26. East Zone had failed to progress into the semi-finals last year after conceding a first-innings deficit to Central Zone. Chasing Central’s first innings total of 480, East Zone fizzled out for 290 despite Tiwary’s unbeaten 102 and a useful 52 from Bengal opener Arindam Das. Wriddhiman Saha, Manoj Tiwary and Ashok Dinda, are the only constants from last year’s squad. Surprisingly, veteran Bengal seamer Ranadeb Bose, who picked up 12 wickets with a better economy rate than Dinda (13 wickets) in Ranji Trophy, has not found a place in the team along with Das. The opener was the third-highest run-scorer in the Bengal Ranji team this year. Off spinner Saurasish Lahiri, who contributed with 255 runs and picked up five wickets, also failed to make the cut. Tiwary hoped to do best with his resources and said: “My first duty will be to create a good dressing room atmosphere. We failed to get past Central Zone last season. It is a wonderful opportunity to beat them and qualify for the semis.” The players will have a two-day camp in Cuttack before the quarter final on January 19. East Zone Squad: Manoj Tiwary (capt.), Saurabh Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Sreevats Goswami, Nataraj Behera, Ishant Jaggi, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Niranjan Behera, Ashok Dinda, Basant Mohanty, Timir Chandra, Arlen Konwar, Iresh Saxena, Tejender Singh, Alok Sahoo Six Delhi players make it to the North Zone Duleep squad Despite missing out on a quarterfinal berth, six Delhi players have managed to make the cut for the 15-member Duleep Trophy squad announced in Mohali on Wednesday. Chaired by national selector Yashpal Sharma, the North Zone selection committee also decided that Team India players will automatically make it to the North Zone squad if they make themselves available after South Africa on January 23. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh will be included and Sehwag will lead the side. “A lot of Indian players have shown their interest to play the Duleep Trophy. That’s why we have decided to make Virender Sehwag the original skipper. If he doesn’t make it in time, then Amit Mishra will lead the squad,” Chetan Chauhan, chairman Delhi selection committee and member of the North Zone committee told Sportline. Delhi’s pace duo of Sumit Narwal and Pawan Suyal have both found a place while 18-year old left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra is the second spinner. Delhi skipper Mithun Manhas and Shikhar Dhawan will remain north zone’s batting mainstays that also has Services skipper Yashpal Singh, Himachal captain Paras Dogra in the middle-order. Punjab’s Udal Kaul will don the gloves in the squad that plays its first match on January 26 in Baroda. North Zone Squad: Amit Mishra (captain), Nitin Saini, Sarul Kanwar, Shikhar Dhawan, Mithun Manhas, Yashpal Singh, Paras Dogra, Joginder Sharma, Uday Kaul (wk), Mandeep Singh, Ishant Sharma, Sumit Narwal, Pawan Suyal, Rishi Dhawan. Central Zone: Hrishikesh Kanitkar © Devendra Bundela Deepak Chahar Aakash Chopra Mohammad Kaif Murali Kartik Ashok Menaria Mohnish Mishra Naman Ojha (wk) Pankaj Singh Jalaj Saxena Vineet Saxena RP Singh Akshay Wakhare Umesh Yadav Badrinath is South zone skipper THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: S. Badrinath will lead South Zone in the Duleep Trophy cricket tournament. Sreesanth has been named in the squad which also includes Dinesh Karthik and M. Vijay. The squad: S. Badrinath (capt.), M. Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Manish Pandey, Amit Varma, C.M. Gautham, B. Sumanth, R. Vinay Kumar, P. Ojha, S. Sreesanth, S. Arvind, B. Sandeep, S. Jakati, A.G. Pradeep and Dinesh Karthik. Coach: Biju George; Manager: D. Gopakumar; Physio: Dr. Dileep Singh Jaffer to lead West Zone in Duleep Trophy MUMBAI: Former India opener and Mumbai skipper Wasim Jaffer will lead West Zone in the Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone. Middle-order batsmen Rohit Sharma, who has been left out of India's World Cup squad and Cheteshwar Pujara, who played two Tests against South Africa, are part of the squad. Left-arm pacer Jaidev Unadkat, who recently made his Test debut against the Proteas, and India internationals Ravindra Jadeja and Parthiv Patel are also a part of the team, a statement said on Wednesday. West Zone will take on North Zone at Vadodara from January 26 to 29. The same squad will be retained if the West Zone enters the final, which will be played from February 2-6 at Vishakhapatnam, the statement added. Team: Wasim Jaffer (captain), Parthiv Patel (WK), Jaidev Unadkat, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Sahil Kukreja, Samad Fallah, Bhargav Bhatt, Murtuza Vohara, Kedar Devdhar, Harshad Khadiwale, Pinal Shah, Ajinkya Rahane and Shrikant Munde. Coach-cum-Manager: Pandurang Salgaonkar Physio: Abhishek Thakar.

[rkt.india]

Duleep trophy 2010-2011: Quarter-final: Central Zone v East Zone at Cuttack Jan 19-22, 2011 (09:30 local | 04:00 GMT) Fixture: Quarter-final: Central Zone v East Zone at Cuttack Jan 19-22, 2011 (09:30 local | 04:00 GMT) Live Link for the match East Zone VS Central Zone Teams: East zone Manoj Tiwary © Saurabh Tiwary (vc) Basanth Mohanty Niranjan Behera Timir Chanda Ashok Dinda Shreevats Goswami (wk) Ishank Jaggi Arlen Konwar Natraj Behera Wriddhiman Saha (wk) Iresh Saxena Alok Chandra Sahoo Laxmi Shukla Tarjinder Singh Central Zone Hrishikesh Kanitkar © Devendra Bundela Deepak Chahar Aakash Chopra Mohammad Kaif Murali Kartik Ashok Menaria Mohnish Mishra Naman Ojha (wk) Pankaj Singh Jalaj Saxena Vineet Saxena RP Singh Akshay Wakhare Umesh Yadav

[saneindian]

What a dumbass decision to schedule the Duleep Trophy match 3 days after the Ranji final ends. Imagine the toils the players (especially pacers) from Rajasthan, Pankaj, Chahar etc will have to go through. Have just now finished a hectic Ranji campaign where they played 8 matches in a span of 70 days (thats 32 days of cricket, include traveling to all parts of India including many location which dont have a direct air connectivity and imagine the work load). And then we wonder why our pacers dont go at full tilt in domestic cricket. CL and IPL have squeezed our domestic season to a less than 5 month affair while earlier it used to start in September and end in April. But does the BCCI care as long as the coffers are filling up?

[rkt.india]

What a dumbass decision to schedule the Duleep Trophy match 3 days after the Ranji final ends. Imagine the toils the players (especially pacers) from Rajasthan, Pankaj, Chahar etc will have to go through. Have just now finished a hectic Ranji campaign where they played 8 matches in a span of 70 days (thats 32 days of cricket, include traveling to all parts of India including many location which dont have a direct air connectivity and imagine the work load). And then we wonder why our pacers dont go at full tilt in domestic cricket. CL and IPL have squeezed our domestic season to a less than 5 month affair while earlier it used to start in September and end in April. But does the BCCI care as long as the coffers are filling up?

ranji schedule was very busy too...games after 3 days only and so much travelling too dont think Chahar will be able to play this game..he got injured while playing ranji final

[kabira]

Duleep Trophy has become joke of trophy. This can become really good championship if played league basis, everyone playing everyone atleast once, we will have 10 games and 1 final. Two games can be played simuntaneously..so total 30 days of cricket plus 20 days of rest in between.

[Raghav_12]

First Day (36 overs) East Zone 108/2 Vs Central Zone Central Zone definitely looks better side than East, particularly in bowling area. They have 3 pacers, R P Singh, Pankaj Singh and Umesh Yadav and Murali Kartik as sole spinner. Was just wondering how come Suddep Tyagi is not in team? Is he injured or something? He should have been first/second choice seamer for central zone.

[Chandan]

Preview: Central to clash with East CUTTACK: Central Zone teams had a dream run this season with Rajasthan emerging as the Ranji Trophy champion for the first time and Madhya Pradesh's qualifying for the Super League. Railways, the third team from this zone, figured in the knockout phase. Central enjoys the upper hand against East Zone when the two teams meet at the Barabati Stadium here on Wednesday for the Duleep Trophy. Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Aakash Chopra, the men who inspired Rajasthan's historic triumph, were top run getters in the National championship behind peerless S. Badrinath of Tamil Nadu. It was heartening to note the emergence of India under-19 skipper Ashok Menaria as a frontline batsman. Deepak Chahar's swing, Pankaj Singh's raw pace and Murali Kartik's guile will add spice to its zonal campaign. East, on the other hand, will heavily depend on the two Tiwarys, Manoj and Saurabh. Its bowling will look to Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda and Orissa's Basant Mohanty, who is capable of moving the ball both ways provided the conditions help him. Terrible run On the other hand, East had a terrible run with Bengal failing to reach the knockout phase and Assam returning to the Plate division. Orissa, Jharkhand and Tripura failed to make an impact. East coach Manash Roy admitted that his team's strength was batting. “East is a young team and it is looking forward to make a mark,'' he said and added “Central's pace attack is very good.'' His counterpart, Abhay Sharma, felt his team looked a lot more balanced than East. The teams: Central Zone (from): Hrishikesh Kanitkar (capt.), Aakash Chopra, Jalaj Saxena, Naman Ojha (wk), Mohnish Mishra, Mohammad Kaif, Ashok Menaria, Vineet Saxena, Devendra Bundela, Deepak Chahar, Murali Kartik, Pankaj Singh, R.P. Singh, Akshay Wakhare and Umesh Yadav. Coach: Abhay Sharma. East Zone (from): Manoj Tiwary (capt.), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shreevats Goswami, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Natraj Behera, Niranjan Behera, Arlen Konwar, Tarjinder Singh, Ashok Dinda, Basant Mohanty, Iresh Saxena, Alok Sahoo, Abu Nachim Ahmed and Timir Chanda. Coach: Manash Roy .

[zaheer]

Live Link for the match East Zone VS Central Zone

[zaheer]

End of Day East Zone are 328/5 with M. Tiwary and Jaggi scoring tons.

[The Outsider]

First Day (36 overs) East Zone 108/2 Vs Central Zone Central Zone definitely looks better side than East, particularly in bowling area. They have 3 pacers, R P Singh, Pankaj Singh and Umesh Yadav and Murali Kartik as sole spinner. Was just wondering how come Suddep Tyagi is not in team? Is he injured or something? He should have been first/second choice seamer for central zone.

Think both Tyagi and Chahar are injured.

[Raghav_12]

Think both Tyagi and Chahar are injured.

Don't think both of them would have been in, even if they were fit. Central seem to have good pace options which are performing currently. Central will be doing good in this Dullep Trophy I reckon.

[pensionplan]

Was bowling at full tilt in the Ranj final 3 days ago. Don't see any reason why he should be unfit. Perhaps lost out to Umesh Yadav. In fact the entire Central zone squad is full of players with no (or minimal) national hopes, Chopra, Kanitkar, Kaif , Bundela, RP Singh, Murali Kartik..Defeats the purpose of such an elite tournament where youngsters doing well in the Ranji trophy should be playing ahead of these veterans. P.S: Going through the match thread, it does look like Chahar is injured.

It makes no sense to not play Chahar after all he did this season with the ball for Rajasthan and be part of the historic Ranji trophy Championship victory. And wait a minute do I see 'His Uselessness' a.k.a Kaif name there in the playing XI. This guy has now gotten to a stage where he cannot even put bat to ball even at the Ranji trophy level and gets to play in the Zonal XI all because he represented India once upon a time. I guarantee that there are atleast 7-8 players that has outscored him this season in the Ranji trophy in the central zone that did not get selected to play. What a sorry state of affairs when players like Chahar are kept out despite performing number one and number two non-performing batsman like Kaif taking the place of more deserving batsman that have earned it through performances in Ranji trophy. Utter shame.

[Chandan]

EZ vs CZ, DAY ONE EZ vs CZ Tiwary and Jaggi score contrasting centuries CUTTACK: Two contrasting centuries by East Zone skipper Manoj Tiwary (109) and Ishank Jaggi (118) and the duo's 208-run partnership for the third wicket mocked Central Zone's decision to field first in the Duleep Trophy quarterfinals at the Barabati Stadium here on Wednesday. By close on the first day of the four-day match, Central, however, recovered much of the lost ground with three quick wickets as the home team ended the day at 328 for five. The duo put on 208 runs for the third wicket as East Zone finished the first day at 328 for five. At stumps, Wriddhiman Saha was batting on 18, while Alok Sahoo was unbeaten on 4. Wayward bowling The green tinge on the wicket prompted Central Zone captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar to send East Zone in. Central’s pacers Pankaj Singh, Umesh Yadav and India discard RP Singh tried utilising the spongy bounce on offer and got reward when opener Nataraj Behera was dismissed cheaply. Central needed early wickets. Despite good bounce and carry, the three-man pace attack was a little wayward, especially, Umesh Yadav. The day's best bowler, Pankaj Singh, who looked threatening throughout the day, was the first to taste success as he removed Natraj Behera. The Orissa player was caught by Aakash Chopra off Pankaj on an individual score of 12. But the other opener, Bengal’s Sreevats Goswami, along with Jaggi ensured that there were no further hiccups as they began milking the attack quite efficiently. In the company of Jaggi, Goswami (37, 5x4) found left-arm spinner Murali Kartik's line and length too stifling and tried to hit his way out and paid dearly. Sreevats fell on an individual score of 37 when he was caught by Yadav off spinner Murali Kartik. That brought captain Manoj to the crease. The stylish right-handed batsman, who has been in a good form this season, mixed caution with aggression to deal with the tricky wicket. Tiwary joined Jaggi in the 26th over. As the Central pacers tried to bounce out Tiwary and Jaggi, the Bengal player attacked with hook and pull shots. As Tiwary picked up the rhythm, shots flowed from his bat as the two took the team to lunch at 108 in 36 overs. The post lunch session was the most entertaining as Tiwary opened up with fluent shots on either side of the wicket. The 21-year-old Jaggi was cautious but solid and was the first to reach the three figure mark, his fourth in 15 first class games. Tiwary followed suit shortly by tucking Pankaj Singh to backward square-leg for a couple to complete his 13th hundred in his 50th first class match. Both Manoj and Jaggi punished the loose deliveries, staying away from the potentially dangerous ones, and took East Zone to a commanding position. Their swift stroke play also handed East Zone a healthy run rate. Manoj’s 109 came off 160 balls and was studded with 15 boundaries and one six. Jaggi, on the other hand, played 221 balls for his 118. When finally, Jaggi fell to Pankaj, caught by former India player Mohammed Kaif, he had shared a 208-run third wicket partnership with Manoj. Jaggi fell, taken by Mohammad Kaif at second slip off Pankaj Singh for a well-made 118 (292m, 221b, 17x4, 1x6), in the 79th over. For the addition of five runs, Central tasted the most important success when Tiwary fell leg before to Pankaj Singh to a sharp incoming delivery. Tiwary's 108 came in 230 minutes off 160 balls with 15 fours and a huge six. The younger Tiwary, Saurabh, who began very promisingly, was the last man to get out in a bizarre circumstance. When an Umesh Yadav delivery to Saha was misfielded by wicketkeeper Naman Ojha, the Jharkhand captain charged down for a non-existent single. Saha sent him back and Saurabh was declared run out by umpires' coach Jasbir Singh when the dismissal was referred to. As per the rule, the umpires' coach will adjudicate such referrals in the absence of the third umpire. Later, the replay clearly showed bowler Yadav did not have the ball in his hands when he broke the wicket. Saurabh ruled out Saurabh's who injured his left shoulder while diving to get into the crease has been ruled out of the game. He was helped out of the ground. Later an MRI scan revealed soft tissue injury to the left shoulder and was advised three weeks rest. For Central Zone, Pankaj returned the best figures as he claimed three for 87. Manoj, however, feels that they need at least a 500-run cushion in the first innings as the pitch has eased out. “I’m a little disappointed that we are five down at the end of the day… Would have been happy if it was three. But we need to score a minimum of 500 in the first innings… The pitch has eased out quite a lot. But it is never easy to chase,” Manoj said. “With Wriddhi there at the crease, it’s not impossible. The others are also capable of making a few runs,” he added. Speaking about the twin centuries, Manoj said: “The secret of our success was that we applied ourselves. Initially, the pitch was helping the seamers… But I made sure that we (Jaggi and himself) had the required patience and not take any risks. Also, we made it a point to punish the loose deliveries. It was a challenge and I’m happy I did well… My team did well.” Asked what approach he would like his bowlers to take, Manoj said: “As I said, it’s always difficult to chase… But we have to be disciplined. We need to bowl according to our plans and hit the right areas.” Brief score: East Zone (I Innings): 328/5 from 90 overs (Shreevats Goswami 37, Ishank Jaggi 118, Manoj Tiwary 109; Pankaj Singh 3-87) vs Central Zone.

[rkt.india]

good pace bowling options but still they couldnt stop them score more than 300 in a day...looks to be a very flat deck

[Chandan]

It wasn't flat earlier, easpecially in the first session. As per Akash, it was doing a lot in the forst 30 overs as they are playing the Duleep trophy with kookaburra ball, not SG ball. But in the next two sessions, the bowlers went completely clueless as they couldn't reverse with this ball and couldn't even utilise the bounce or movement with softer ball.

[rkt.india]

It wasn't flat earlier' date=' easpecially in the first session. As per Akash, it was doing a lot in the first 30 overs as they are playing the Duleep trophy with kookaburra ball, not SG ball. But in the next two sessions, the bowlers went completely clueless as they couldn't reverse with this ball and couldn't even utilise the bounce or movement with softer ball.[/quote'] I think SG ball is better than kookabura..becasue SG ball does more and stay good for bowlers to use and reverse longer than kookabura...kookbura gets old early and becomes soft after 20-30 overs...

[Chandan]

I think SG ball is better than kookabura..becasue SG ball does more and stay good for bowlers to use and reverse longer than kookabura...kookbura gets old early and becomes soft after 20-30 overs...

I think so. A soft kookaburra ball is of no use to either seamers or spinners where as the protruded seam of SG helps both seamers as well as spinners. Anyway, EZ is dismissed for 427 runs, So Manoj's dream of reaching 500 remains just that...dream!! And who is this MD Mishra from Central Zone? He couldn't even survive 2-3 overs and went back without opening his or team's account. CZ is already 0/1.

[rkt.india]

He is Mohnish Mishra...he is a good batsman..mainly an aggressive player who likes to hit fours and sixes...he is made for T20s and List-As..i think he had good ranji season this year...plays for MP and central has quite a good pool of medium pacers better than any other zone...i name a few other than the ones playing in this match 1. Deepak Chahar 2. Sudeep Tyagi 3. Anand Rajan 4. Ankit Sharma 5. Bhuvneshvar kumar 6. T. Sudhindra 7. Srikanth Wagh

[rkt.india]

I think so. A soft kookaburra ball is of no use to either seamers or spinners where as the protruded seam of SG helps both seamers as well as spinners. Anyway, EZ is dismissed for 427 runs, So Manoj's dream of raching 500 remains just that...dream!! And who is this MD Mishra from Central Zone? He culdn't even survive 2-3 overs and went back without opening his or team's account. CZ is already 0/1.

are you watching it live? Can anyone tell me the speeds of the fast bowlers in this match..how quick Yadav bowled?..he was certainly erratic as per the report, but I don't mind if he was trying to bowl fast and got erratic...bowling fast should be his first goal...line and length can come later like it happened to many pacers when they where starting their career likes of Steyn, Morkel, Lee were all like this initially...

[Chandan]

It is not shown live.