Ranji Trophy 2011-12: Super League

[ganeshran]

Will be interesting to see how Sarul Kanwar does. Lets see if he is able to sustain his FC form

[Sidhoni]

Don't know much myself' date=' but I recall this name being discussed by rkt and gang, so has to be pace bowler :winky:[/quote'] thx

[JeffThommo_fan]

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and tyagi are the guyz to watch out for.....in UP team

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a nothing bowler. I saw him last year. There are many who are ahead of him. Sudeep Tyagi will be one to watch out for if he fully fit. I don't think he is fully fit at the moment

[MCcricket]

This Season, we have a few young exciting bowlers, Faizal Doodhat, Anwar Ahmed, Firdaus Bhaja, Shami Ahmed,Rahul Shukla , Parmeswaram, S Sharma, Suyal when he is fit, all seem to have pace, potential.Sudeep Tyagi , VRV, are the experienced campaigners coming back from injury,if fit will be fun to follow their progress. Batsmen I will keep an eye on are, Jaggi, Dhawan, Valthaty, R Sharma,Vijay, Mukund, M Pandey, Suman, Pathan,I Abdulla,Pujara,U Kaul ,we have some younger exciting batsmen coming in too.

[cowboysfan]

Manish pandey has got an unfortunate reputation as a cowlasher because ofthe ipl,i hope he concentrates on fc cricket and has a good season.

[rkt.india]

Manish pandey has got an unfortunate reputation as a cowlasher because ofthe ipl' date='i hope he concentrates on fc cricket and has a good season.[/quote'] agree

[BeautifulGame]

Mnish Pandey performances carry lot more weightage than someone like Rohit Sharma considering the bowling pitches Karnataka played compared to most other teams. His FC average may not as good as some other young other batsmen but his permances are in much tougher conditions and hence of much higher quality IMO. He deserves a chance Indian colours atleast in ODIs considering the likes of Saurab Tiwary had been a chance.

[Feed]

Haladhar Das to lead Orissa in Ranji More... Haladhar Das to lead Orissa in Ranji PTI | Nov 01,2011 Cuttack, Nov 1 (PTI) Under new coach Debasis Mohanty, Orissa today handed the captaincy baton to promising wicketkeeper batsman Haladhar Das who will lead the side in the upcoming Ranji Trophy Super League. 25-year-old Das, who led Orissa T20 side last season, will lead a young 16-member squad that will have Subit Biswal, Paresh Patel, Dhiraj Singh and Basant Mohanty as senior players. The former India seamer Mohanty, who captained the Orissa Ranji side along with Shib Sundar Das, was recently appointed coach after their dismal show in the zonal Twenty20 for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where they failed to make it to the main round. Former Australian batsman Bevan was Orissa coach at the start of the 2011-12 season. Orissa find themselves in a tough group A featuring defending champions Rajasthan, heavyweights Mumbai, Karnataka, Saurashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Railways. The squad has been picked for Orissa's Ranji opener against Saurashtra at the Barabati Stadium from November 3-6. The squad: Haladhar Das (c & wk), Natraj Behera (v-c), Bikash Swarup Pati, Sumitosh Praharaj, Paresh Patel, Biplab Samantray, Abhilash Mallick, Deepak Behera, Basanta Mohanty, Alok Sahoo, Jayanta Behera, Alok Mangraj, Preetamjeet Das, Dhiraj Singh, Subit Biswal, Subhrajit Sahu. Coach: Debasis Mohanty.

[Raghav_12]

What happened to Bevan? He was appointed coach of Orissa some time back only?

[WC2011INDIA]

Mnish Pandey performances carry lot more weightage than someone like Rohit Sharma considering the bowling pitches Karnataka played compared to most other teams. His FC average may not as good as some other young other batsmen but his permances are in much tougher conditions and hence of much higher quality IMO. He deserves a chance Indian colours atleast in ODIs considering the likes of Saurab Tiwary had been a chance.

agreed. Manish Pandey is given unnecessary hard time on ICF. I am pretty confident that if given the chance in the national team, he will come good. Rahane has a great FC record and decent List A record, but absolutely sucks in IPL/T20 format. I know he did well in the T20 game in England, but let's face it...he played a lot of risky shots and it was good day for him. Similarly, Manish Pandey is not good in IPL/T20 format. However, is better than Rahane. Also, his FC record is solid for someone that has played in tougher conditions. The selectors need to give him an opportunity in ODI/Test matches. His average List A record is 29, which tells me that he isn't that good in ODI format. But he has a great strike rate of 89. Another cricketer that needs to be given opportunity is Tanmay Srivastava. If not Test then atleast ODI format.

[IKnowU]

Rohit

[Chandan]

Preview of Ranji trophy 2011-12 Who will storm the castle? Aakash Chopra, Hindustan Times November 02, 2011 Last year, around this time, as teams in the Elite and Plate Divisions of the first-class circuit primed for another season of top-quality cricket, we, team no. 27 Rajasthan, last in the tally, only hoped to survive the onslaught. Winning the highest honour The Ranji Trophy, was a preposterous contemplation, what was realistic was to play smart, if not better than the opposition, and sneak our way to the Elite group. Past the league phase, and once among the Elite teams, each game became a bonus. The final race ought to be between the big guns, it always had been. What were the chances of Rajasthan winning the title then? I'd say one in a million. Success stories though are scripted differently. After months of hard labour, Rajasthan lifted the trophy that had eluded them for 77 years. HUNTERS TO HUNTED Regardless of how tough it was to win the title last year, this year, it'll be tougher to defend it. Respect for Mumbai on that account they've won the title 39 times. While there will be an obvious weight of expectations, for the players from Rajasthan, it'll also be a time to see the world from a different vantage point. From watching the proceedings from the ringside, we'll now be watched, scrutinized and tested. Season 2011-12 will also be crucial for Deepak Chahar and Ashok Menaria two youngsters who took the world by storm and caught everyone's eye with their debut last season. The world would be observing their moves closely would they be marred by the quintessential second season blues or will they continue to deliver the headline-making performances? The answer to that would decide their future, largely. ALL EYES ON GANGULY Besides Rajasthan and its players, someone else is all set to receive top billing during this season. Sourav Ganguly is going to play the premier domestic tournament for Bengal, reason enough for everyone to get hooked to the game. Of course, this is no litmus test for him he has nothing left to prove. But whenever a player of his stature takes the field, especially after a prolonged break, it is bound to stir up the proceedings. While some argue if he should play at all for his inclusion means a youngster warming the bench, there is no denying that it would prove to be a great opportunity for the others in the dressing room to pick a lesson or two. Watch out for There's an apparent dearth of quality spinners in India and Iqbal Abdulla has done well in all three formats of the game so far. This season may just be the watershed season in his promising career. Though scouts must watch out if he's flighting the ball in the Ranji Trophy. Also Mandeep Singh of Punjab has made waves in his maiden first-class season and got a place in the North Zone and Rest of India team for the Irani Trophy. Since the selectors have shown so much faith in him, he must make the second season count. ------------------------------------------------ Keeping the previous views if the batlle in mind we can discuss teams of Ranji Super League in a bit of detail through cricinfo's Eye on Ranji : Baroda No one expected an inexperienced Baroda side to make the Ranji Trophy final after nine years without the Pathan brothers and Munaf Patel, least of all then coach Mukesh Narula. That they did, and came within touching distance of taking the decisive first-innings lead against a powerful Rajasthan batting line-up, points to the potential in the relatively thin supply-line of one of the four city-based Ranji teams. While they missed key allrounder Irfan Pathan last season due to injury, they were fortunate to have the services of Yusuf Pathan and Munaf whenever they were free from international duty. The Pathan brothers are available this season but Munaf is out for a couple of months with his injured ankle. The trio missed the dramatic semi-final that Baroda won at home against Karnataka inside two days on a sharp turner which drew all-round criticism. One of the less strident voices was that of then Karnataka and now Baroda coach Sanath Kumar, who had maintained that a team had to be good enough to tackle all conditions and not blame only the pitch. Sanath has now spent a few months with Baroda, including the Buchi Babu and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments, and he said that they have lots of bench strength. Baroda will be starting with a new opening combination with veteran Connor Williams having retired and the young Jaykishan Kolsawala out with knee trouble. Kedar Devdhar, who had a solid last season at No. 3, will open along with either Aditya Waghmode or Anupam Gupta, who made two centuries in the Buchi Babu tournament. The presence of Ambati Rayudu and Yusuf gives firepower to the middle order. Irfan will share the new ball with the impressive Murtuja Vahora who took 30 wickets last season. Last year's top wicket-taker Bhargav Bhatt will lead the spin attack. Wicketkeeper Pinal Shah is in his second Ranji season as captain and Sanath said that his control over match situations has improved. With the added spark that the Pathan brothers provide, Baroda have it in them to go a step further than what they managed against Rajasthan. Sanath's challenge will be to get the rest of the young side to perform at the level it can, something Narula managed capably. What they did last season Baroda were the only side apart from Karnataka to have three wins in the league stage, hammering Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh by an innings. In between, they lost from a winning position against Uttar Pradesh and conceded the first-innings lead to Karnataka and Orissa. Munaf's four-for and Devdhar's century got them the decisive lead in the quarter-final against Railways. Vahora's five-for made short work of Karnataka in the first innings before Pinal rose to the occasion with a superb 83, the only fifty of the semi-final, allowing the spinners to take over. The experience of Rajasthan proved too much in the final though. Men to watch After his no-show last year, this is a big season for Irfan. He showed glimpses of his once-trademark boomerang shape in to the right-hander during the IPL and did reasonably well in the Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament. But bowling long spells on unresponsive tracks in the longer format will be different. Irfan has spoken about being a touch nervous about the transition as he prepares to play his first first-class game since February 2010. His progress will be closely watched. Yusuf has lost out to Ravindra Jadeja for the moment in ODIs but has revealed his bigger ambition of playing Tests, saying that "there is more to my batting than just hitting." Despite seven first-class hundreds and an average of 41.38, the overbearing image of Yusuf is that of a man who can take apart attacks only on the odd day. Can he do something to change that image this season? Vahora has matured enough to be ready for the next level, according to Sanath. Vahora took 30 of his 49 first-class wickets last season, running in hard even in post-tea sessions and pegging batsmen back with pace and bounce. Sanath said his control has developed to the extent that he can now send down eight to ten consecutive yorkers. Team: Pinal Shah ©, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ambati Rayudu, Bhargav Bhatt, Kedar Devdhar, Aditya Waghmode, Anupam Gupta, Rakesh Solanki, Murtuza Vohra, Sankal Vora, Sunit Singh, Firdous Bhaja, Swapnil Singh and Shatrunjay Gaekwad. Karnataka Karnataka's glory years in the late 1990s came during a phase when the state was supplying more than its fair share of players to the national side. They then they lapsed into a decade of disappointment. The last two Ranji seasons - a memorable run to the final where they nearly outlasted Mumbai, followed by a semi-final exit on a poor wicket - suggest that Karnataka have turned the corner, but the time has now come to back their resurgence with silverware. Karnataka's transformation began when they adopted a new direction under coach Sanath Kumar and captain R Vinay Kumar, a move that required some hard decisions including the axing of some senior names. Sanath has now made way for Kartik Jeshwant, but the side's young core remains intact. Vinay, along with fellow seamers Abhimanyu Mithun and S Aravind, have broken into the national side, while Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey also feature in selection debates. Karnataka continue their thrust for young talent, with KP Appanna taking over the lead spinner's mantle from Sunil Joshi, who retired earlier this year, while Bharat Chipli returns to first-class action after three years. Joshi was pivotal to Karnataka's cause in 2010, wheeling his way to 32 wickets at 18.90, making him the third-highest wicket-taker of the season. Aravind (26), Mithun (24) and Vinay (19) were also among the wickets, but the batsmen betrayed a nagging inability to score big hundreds. Amit Verma, who was Karnataka's leading scorer, managed only one century though he racked up 652 runs, while the team's highest score all season was Manish Pandey's 171. It was an aspect of their game that worried Sanath, and could hamper them this time around against sides that bat big and look for decisive first-innings leads. What they did last season Karnataka's bowling unit sparkled all year, while their batsmen took turns getting the runs. Uthappa's 149 set up a comfortable win against Punjab, before Verma led a second-innings fightback to save the game against Haryana. Pandey and CM Gautam punished Orissa to set up a dominant innings victory, while Stuart Binny was the hero in a low-scoring encounter against Himachal Pradesh. Draws in their last two league games ensured Karnataka were one of only three teams to make the knockouts unbeaten. An all-round effort led by Verma and Joshi helped them brush aside Madhya Pradesh in the quarter-final. And then they slipped on a forgettable strip at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara. Eighteen wickets fell on the opening day as Karnataka were rolled over for 107. Joshi scrapped hard with a six-wicket haul to keep Baroda's lead to manageable proportions, but the batsmen fell in a heap in the second innings as well, against Swapnil Singh and Bhargav. Two nightmarish days on a shocking wicket was all it took to undo Karnataka's season, and they will want to be better prepared for such challenges this time around. Men to watch One breakthrough season, followed by a consistent one puts Manish Pandey in pole position to break into the national side. Another fruitful year will pitchfork him to the level currently occupied by Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in the pecking order. Pandey's case is strengthened by his IPL exploits and a raft of big scores in the Emerging Players tournament, but he will know that nothing will shine brighter than big hundreds in the Ranji Trophy. Team: R Vinay Kumar (capt), Robin Uthappa, KB Pawan, Manish Pandey, Ganesh Satish (vice-capt), Amit Verma, Stuart Binny, CM Gautam (wk), KP Appanna, Abhimanyu Mithun, S Arvind, Bharath Chipli, SK Moinuddin, Sunil Raju, SL Akshay, Gowtham K. Uttar Pradesh Prior to last season, Uttar Pradesh had made three finals and a semi-final over the five previous years. After last year's slip, though, the winds of change are blowing. Mohammad Kaif, captain for all six of those years, has stepped down. Suresh Raina will now lead the side, although he will also hope that he doesn't do it for too long, and that he is picked for the Tests in Australia. It can only be good for UP either way: if he gets selected, it will only be through making a bucketful of runs for UP, if he doesn't, he will at least be there for the business end of the tournament. While Raina will strengthen the batting, and Kaif will want to get back to batting form without the pressure of captaincy, UP's strength will continue to remain their bowling. They will miss Praveen Kumar, but will like to think they have one of the best domestic attacks in RP Singh, Sudeep Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Piyush Chawla. The rise of Raina and Praveen, along with a steady support cast including the likes of Kaif, RP Singh and Chawla, has marked the golden age of UP cricket, which started with the title win in 2005-06. Praveen and Raina have hardly looked back since, but RP, Chawla and Kaif have plateaued. This season might be one final opportunity to take an upward turn. What they did last season Despite being - on paper - one of the top three sides of their group, despite having secured 14 points from their first four matches, UP failed to make it to the quarter-finals from a group of six. When even a first-innings lead might have been enough in one of the two last matches, they registered just one point. In all they managed just one century, and that too came off the bat of Chawla. Men to watch Raina will harbour Test ambitions, RP Singh will eye redemption after the embarrassing Test comeback earlier this year, but it's an even more interesting season for Kaif. The selectors' message has been clear that he is not in their plans, and his own dipping returns haven't helped either. With 203 runs at 22.55 the last season was one of the worst for him. Once upon a time, against better attacks in Test cricket, he averaged nearly 33. There is no captaincy now and even fewer selection anxieties. Can that push him to find a second wind? Team: Suresh Raina Prashant Gupta Eklavya Dwivedi Arish Alam Amir Khan Amit Singh Piyush Chawla Rohit Choudhary Mukul Dagar Praveen Gupta Mohammad Kaif Bhuvneshwar Kumar Parvinder Singh Ayush Pathak RP Singh Tanmay Srivastava Sudeep Tyagi Saurashtra Two years of relative satisfaction, during which Saurashtra qualified for the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy, were blighted by a significant decline in the following two, particularly in 2010-11. A side that came close to being a serious contender for the title slipped to the brink of relegation before it was able to pull itself up and remain in the Super League. Though the pitch at their home ground, the Khandheri Cricket Stadium in Rajkot, has contributed to the regrettable trend of high-scoring draws in the tournament, where first-innings leads are a decisive factor, Saurashtra will hope some more depth in their bowling this year will serve them better. They've roped in left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi, as well as seamer Siddharth Trivedi from Gujarat. The absence of key players - Cheteshwar Pujara and Jaydev Unadkat - was a blow to Saurashtra's chances last year, but their coach Debu Mitra was confident of a better show this time. "I think I have the best available Saurashtra side this year," Mitra told ESPNcricinfo. Unlike last year, when they played six matches at home, Saurashtra are playing six away games this year and they'll hope it brings in better fortunes this time round as a spate of high-scoring draws hit them hard the previous season. "This year, my team is in good shape," Mitra said. "We played quite a few four-day games in Bangalore, then in Chennai at the Buchi Babu tournament and had a 14-day camp." What they did last season Saurashtra had a disappointing season in 2010-11, only managing to stay in the Super League by beating Assam in their final league game in an uncharacteristically low-scoring encounter in Rajkot. They suffered one defeat and played out five draws, four of them in Rajkot. Of the five draws, they conceded a first-innings lead in four matches; the other one was rain-affected. Sagar Jogiyani was their highest run-getter, averaging 41 in seven matches; Kotak was second in line. Backing up Jadeja in the bowling was Kamlesh Makvana, who finished with 17 wickets in five games and played a crucial role in the win over Assam. Men to watch The experience of Shitanshu Kotak will be a huge asset but all eyes will be on Cheteshwar Pujara, who has recovered from a knee injury sustained during the IPL. It put him out of action for five months and cost him his place in India's Test side. National selection will be high on his mind as he bats this season. Saurashtra won't have him back in the first round of the tournament but his return could have a major influence on their progress. "Definitely it is a big blow and he's our best batsman," Mitra said. Also drawing much attention will be the performance of Ravindra Jadeja, who was Saurashtra's highest wicket-taker last season. He's made a name for himself of late in limited-overs cricket for India; how he goes with the bat in the four-day version would be something the national selectors will have their eyes on. Team Jaydev Shah Aarpit Vasavada Bhushan Chauhan Nayan Doshi Sheldon Jackson Ravindra Jadeja Sagar Jogiyani Shitanshu Kotak Kamlesh Makvana Sandip Maniar Pratik Mehta Jayesh Odedra Chirag Pathak Siddharth Trivedi Jaydev Unadkat

[rkt.india]

a The selectors need to give him an opportunity in ODI/Test matches. His average List A record is 29, which tells me that he isn't that good in ODI format. But he has a great strike rate of 89. .

Most batsmen who play in middle order at 5-6 wont have a great list record in India because they do not get many opportunities to bat long as usually on Indian flat beds top order batsmen make merry and score lot of runs that is why likes of Jaffer, Mukund, Rahane have great List A record as they either they have been opener or batted in top order.

[WC2011INDIA]

Most batsmen who play in middle order at 5-6 wont have a great list record in India because they do not get many opportunities to bat long as usually on Indian flat beds top order batsmen make merry and score lot of runs that is why likes of Jaffer' date=' Mukund, Rahane have great List A record as they either they have been opener or batted in top order.[/quote'] Agreed. I noticed that Manish usually bats #5-#7. Mostly #6. He needs to be given opportunities in top order.

[WC2011INDIA]

excellent thread. Please post about other teams as well.

[Sir john]

hope this year my fav teams perform well. Haryana,MP,and HP.

[rkt.india]

hope this year my fav teams perform well. Haryana' date='MP,and HP.[/quote'] and Murli bhai team Jailway:nervous:

[Sir john]

@rocket india this year am going to meet with some players.

[rkt.india]

@rocket india this year am going to meet with some players.

ok..post the pics:two_thumbs_up:

[Sachinism]

Sachin talks about upcoming Ranji season http://www.bcci.tv/bcci/bccitv/community/video/videoindex/4eb1743b7e38f