Ranji Trophy 2012-13

[Cevno]

KSAOMOAN ,LO squad shouldn't be based on Ranji trophy. And Mukund isn't the most overrated player around.

[Chandan]

Ranji venues asking for improvement : Chopra January 3, 2013 Posted by Aakash Chopra Ranji Trophy, 2012-13 Ranji venues asking for improvement The Nehru Stadium in Guwahati has hosted international matches Goa Mumbai Jammu looked slightly better on paper than our last arduous travel route starting from Guwahati via Kolkata and Mumbai to reach Goa. While the latter had taken about seven hours of total travel time to cover the distance, this one from Goa to Jammu ought to have been a much smoother ride, or so we thought! Cricket, domestic cricket even more so, teaches you the meaning of ÅÕraveling the length and breadth and ÅÍiving out of a suitcase like nothing else does. After a back-breaking ten-hour ride, on the road, in the air, and through the mountains, we reached Jammu. While family and friends envy us for getting to explore a wide array of Indian cities, weÃÅ happily give our right arms to play all our games at home. It isnÃÕ fun, after all, to pack, unpack, catch flights at odd hours, catch sleep on bumpy seats, and still endure the pressure to perform on the pitch next morning. So much for the love of the game. Anyone whoÃÔ played a four-day match would know that sound sleep of seven to eight hours is a major causality on match-days, as you donÃÕ completely switch off until the match gets over. That is why, to most of us, the night of the last day of the match is of utmost importance. It is crucial for recovery; having missed on one, the player might take a lot longer to return to a normal pattern. Since travel to the next venue starts early next morning or even the night of the last day of the match, sleep becomes a victim. Players, though, long ago made peace with such ÁÑeripheral matters. The overarching ÁÄhalta hai attitude had long found its way into Indian domestic cricket, and has since then been more or less made to feel at home.But itÃÔ issues that directly affect a playerÃÔ performance, like the ground conditions at various venues for first-class cricket, that raise eyebrows, and rightly so. A day after reaching Jammu, we decided to get some practice on the ground, and decided to check the venue at the medical college of the city. While the team wanted to acclimatise with the conditions, I, in search of form, looked forward to a good net session. But that was a bit too much to ask for because the pitch provided to us for the net sessions was damp. Soon after taking a blow on the shoulder while playing a forward defensive shot, I realised it was a futile exercise and that I was better off taking a few throw-downs instead. When I enquired from the opposition camp, I was stunned to know that getting a damp pitch for practice was the norm here. I couldnÃÕ help but feel for my colleagues from J&K. But that apart, the match was played on one of the best 22 yards available in the country. There was decent lateral movement and carry for the faster bowlers, and the ball also gripped and turned for the spinners. It was an ideal surface to challenge everyone involved. Wish I could say such flattering things for the outfield and the dressing room too. The outfield had grass in patches and was terribly uneven, so much so that one of the J&K players got hit under the eye while attempting to stop a cover-drive. He needed four stitches, and it meant he would miss the last round of Ranji Trophy. The dressing room was a room only big enough to house 15 kit bags without their owners; the players sat outside under a makeshift tent. It goes without saying it was quite distressing to sit in the open in biting December cold. Moving on to Guwahati. How would you react if youÃÅ walk into a cricket ground, which is also a venue for international matches, to find that two football fields are marked with chalk on either side of the square? In addition, the green on the ground is just weed and not normal grass. As a result, the spikes donÃÕ get firm footing and the ball skids off the surface as if it were glass. The dressing room is just about okay but the lavatory, which is attached to the room, starts stinking after only a few hours into the day because of the lack of good sanitation and water. You are not only advised to keep the lavatory door completely shut, for the food is also served in the same room, but also to use the dressing room as little as possible. Another incredible thing about this particular venue is that thereÃÔ only one strip available for the Ranji matches and therefore the curatorÃÔ job is cut out pretty clearly. Whenever there are two consecutive home games, the thought on top of his mind is to make the strip playable, as there isnÃÕ enough time to prepare a proper pitch for a good game of cricket. And this ground has hosted many international matches. Both JKCA and ACA, like other state associations, get grants from the BCCI that run into several crores every year. It is a pity that even after several years of hosting the Ranji Trophy, these associations donÃÕ have their own ground; the mentioned grounds in Jammu and Guwahati are taken on lease from the Medical College and the State Sports Council respectively by the associations. Perhaps the time has come for the BCCI to hold these associations accountable, since the money distributed to them is for the development of cricket in the state. Where is it being spent? P.S: If someone could, kindly review the logistic departments as well.

[Chandan]

Ranji Quarter Final Preview Ranji Trophy: ready for the knock-out punch G. VISWANATH The Hindu STAR PERFORMER: KarnatakaÃÔ C.M. Gautam was the top run-getter in the league phase, scoring 938 runs at an astonishing average of 134. The countdown has begun for the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy knock-out. Over the next three weeks, seven knock-out matches will be played starting with the five-day quarterfinals at four cities from Sunday (January 6) at Mumbai (Mumbai v Baroda), Rajkot (Saurashtra v Karnataka), Jamshedpur (Jharkhand and Punjab) and Indore (Uttar Pradesh and Services). The final winner, to be known by the end of this month, will immediately get to field its full team in the Zal Irani Cup match against the Rest of India. Coveted trophy The winner will take home a prize money of Rs. 2 crore, the runner-up Rs. 1 crore and the losing semifinalists Rs. 50 lakh each. For obvious reasons teams covet the Ranji Trophy mainly because it provides the players a platform to show their mettle in a major competition. Recent examples of players who excelled in the Ranji Trophy are SaurashtraÃÔ Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, Delhi seamer Parvinder Awana and Bengal seamers Ashoke Dinda and Shami Ahmed. They made maximum use of the opportunities the tournament offered and got the nod from the national selectors. Medium-pacer and a competent batsman Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the latest among the number of players, who by his sheer perseverance and weight of performances was selected for the ongoing limited-overs series against Pakistan. Ultimate aim Pessimistic voices and arm-chair critics have run down the BCCIÃÔ domestic tournaments. Thankfully the majority and this includes many cricketers who have played for India across formats of the game feel that the ultimate aim of the budding youngster is to excel in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy all prestigious first class tournaments that develop a player for Test cricket and other senior tournaments organised by the BCCI. A case in point is the recent league matches played with intensity between Karnataka and Maharashtra at Pune, Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh at Indore, Jharkhand and Services at Delhi, Saurashtra and Madhya Pradesh at Rajkot, Andhra and Kerala at Kadapa and between Delhi and Vidarbha at Nagpur. Karnataka won the match and qualified for the quarter-finals with only ten balls of the mandatory bowled remaining to be bowled. The India Á¢ team for the warm up match against England has successful players of this season like Jalaj Saxena, Ishwar Pandey, Rishi Dhawan, Paras Dogra, Mohit Sharma, Parvez Rasool and consistent players Robin Bist, Kedar Jadhav, Ashok Menaria, Rohit Motwani and Akshay Darekar. The last seasonÃÔ quarterfinalists were, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. This time strong teams like Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Bengal do not figure in the knock-out and the winner of the tournament in the last two seasons, Rajasthan have failed to advance. After mediocre showing in the last few years Punjab has returned to the forefront in style and newcomers in Jharkhand and Services should be delighted with the progress they have made. ItÃÔ after playing hard and focused cricket over a period of 96 sessions and 32 days that these teams of made the cut. LINK Baroda look to surprise favourites Mumbai Jan 05, 2013 Mumbai, the 39-time Ranji Trophy champions, will look to add another trophy to their cabinet when they host Baroda in the quarter-final from Sunday. It's not been a season to remember for the Ajit Agarkar-led side as they huffed and puffed in the league stage, drawing seven of their eight matches while winning just one, before making the knockout stage. Mumbai's batsmen plundered runs, but their bowlers lacked the artillery to take 20 wickets on a regular basis. They got a big boost ahead of the clash as Sachin Tendulkar decided to play the encounter. It will be TendulkarÃÔ first game since he retired from limited-overs cricket. He played the teamÃÔ first game against Railways and scored a century. His presence will add firepower to the already strong Mumbai batting, despite the absence of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. But the unavailability of Zaheer Khan could be a big factor for the hosts. Zaheer's five-for played a vital role in their victory against Madhya Pradesh. And the absence of the veteran bowler means more burdens on skipper Agarkar and the other pacemen - Dhawal Kulkarni, Javed Khan and allrounder Abhishek Nayar. Nayar has been in a rich vein of form with both bat and ball, scoring the most runs for Mumbai - 730 at 121.66 - and picking up 16 wickets, second best after left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan's tally of 28. His versatility helps the side include an extra bowler or batsman to the side. It will be tough for the team management to replace Zaheer as the options available are too inexperienced. Shoaib Shaikh hasnÃÕ played a first-class match yet, while Shardul Thakur has taken just one wicket in his two matches. Going with two pacers and two spinners, with Nayar being employed as a third seamer, could be the order of the day for Mumbai. Baroda, too, have jostled their way through to the knockouts, winning two and drawing five of their eight matches. Ambati Rayudu has done a commendable job in leading the side after regular skipper Yusuf Pathan was ruled out the season with a finger injury. Rayudu's 558 runs at 50.75 are third highest by a Baroda batsman this season. Only Aditya Waghmode (584) and Abhimanyu Chauhan (566) have scored more runs than the acting skipper. Medium-pacers Murtuja Vahora and Gagandeep Singh did well for the side in the absence of Irfan Pathan, who played just one game this season before being sidelined due to a knee injury. Vahora and Gagandeep have taken 22 and 18 wickets for the side respectively. Like Mumbai, the pick of the bowlers for Baroda has also been a left-arm spinner - Bhargav Bhatt. The 22-year-old has a leaked a few more runs, but his 24 wickets were instrumental in taking the side to the quarters. Fans from both sides will hope to watch an exciting contest with Mumbai taking another step towards the 40th title while Baroda aiming to clinch their sixth Ranji Trophy. : Probable XIs Mumbai: 1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Kaustubh Pawar, 3 Aditya Tare (wk), 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Hiken Shah, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Abhishek Nayar, 8 Ajit Agarkar (capt), 9 Ankeet Chavan, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Javed Khan/Nikhil Patil Baroda: 1 Saurabh Wakaskar, 2 Abhimanyu Chauhan, 3 Aditya Waghmode, 4 Ambati Rayudu (capt), 5 Kedar Devdhar, 6 Pinal Shah (wk), 7 Ketan Panchal, 8 Gagandeep Singh, 9 Ketul Patel, 10 Murtuja Vahora, 11 Bhargav Bhatt --------------------------------- Rampant Uttar Pradesh face spirited Services Jan 05, 2013 After demolishing the field in the league stages, runaway Group B winners Uttar Pradesh will be up against the upbeat Group C toppers Services in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy quarter-final encounter at Indore's Holkar Stadium on Sunday. With 32 points and big wins over heavyweights Delhi and last season's runners-up Tamil Nadu, UP dominated the league stages holding on to the top spot by the fourth match. Without their regular experienced frontline bowlers, Parveen Kumar and Sudeep Tyagi, not many had envisioned the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy winners would be able qualify for the knockouts with the likes of Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Vidarbha in the fray. But a total team effort from the veterans, led by Mohammad Kaif, and the young guns did the trick for UP this season. On the other hand, Services, who dwelled at the bottom of the table more often than not for a good part of the last decade, came into the season with a totally new approach and attitude that was evident from their first game where despite being in trouble early on, they walked away with three points against Andhra. The Delhi-based team were never able to dominate in the league season unlike UP, but always managed to do a tad better than their opponents both in their home and away games. This was largely due the effort sof old hand Yashpal Singh (724 runs) and talented 21-year-old batsman Rajat Paliwal (629 runs). The season has seen UP score heavily with the bat whereas Services played a lot of low-scoring matches with their bowlers triumphing on most occasions. Opener Mukul Dagar will be the main batsman for UP whereas Services will be relying on their three-pronged pace attack of Suraj Yadav (32 wickets), Nishan Singh (20 wickets) and Shabhab Nazar (25 wickets) to deliver the goods against in-form batsmen. UP will miss the services of their talismanic allrounder Bhubaneswar Kumar, who did brilliantly both with the bat and ball at the start of the season, but 27-year-old Imtiaz Ahmed has been successful in spearheading the bowling attack. He has 34 wickets so far. Services' batting has failed to click as a unit with Yashpal and Paliwal forming the nucleus, but their lower order has done reasonably well, often employing counter-attacking methods whenever the team was in trouble. Numbers 3, 4 and 5 have scored more than half of the team's total runs so far with the openers Pratik Desai and captain Soumik Chatterjee having indifferent form. For UP, Ali Murtaza and Arish Alam came up with crucial all-round performances during the league stages but Services lacked that all-round player who could bring balance to the team. The rookie Shadab Nazar was drafted into the team as an allrounder but he has proved more of a frontline bowler. After two fifties in his first two games, Nazar's form has dipped drastically and he now plays at No.11. The lower order, lead by veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Sarabjit Singh, will play an important role in keeping the UP bowlers at bay if the top order fails. This match is being held at neutral venue because of the Palam ground will be staging a warm-up match involving England on January 6. The Indore pitch is known to have something in it for the batsmen and bowlers. "UP is a very strong team and it would be a good contest. Playing at Indore would be good for us for us as it is a much better batting wicket than our home ground of Palam and our bowlers have put up strong performances even in unfavourable conditions," said Yashpal before departing to Indore. Probable XIs Services: 1 Nakul Verma, 2 Soumik Chatterjee (capt), 3 Ansuhl Gupta, 4 Soumya Swain/Penta Rao, 5 Yashpal Singh, 6 Rajat Paliwal, 7 Sarabjit Singh (wk), 8 Avishek Sinha, 9 Suraj Yadav, Nishan Singh, 11 Shadab Nazar Uttar Pradesh: 1 Tanmay Srivastava, 2 Mukul Dagar, 3 Mohammad Kaif, 4 Umang Sharma, 5 Parvinder Singh, 6 Arish Alam/Akhsdeep Nath, 6 Eklavya Dwivedi (wk), 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Ali Murtaza, 9 Imtiaz Ahmed, 10 Ankit Rajpoot, 11 Sudeep Tyagi

[Number]

Sachin and Indian team will be playing different games on the same day. :) First time since his debut in 1989 ?

[Cevno]

BCCI sigh!

[Magneto]

Supporting Punjab wholeheartedly :two_thumbs_up: Hope Midgetjot Singh shines again And Sandeep Sharma and Manpreet Gony take a 5er each. Manduck Singh should do well too! :good:

[Chandan]

LINK Jharkhand spinners aim to thwart Punjab Jan 05, 2013 Jamshedpur: Punjab will start as favourites when they take field against Jharkhand at Jamshedpur on January 6 in the quarter-final of the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, but the hosts are a dangerous proposition on what is expected to be a rank turner. Punjab's strength lies in their fast bowling which has enabled them to garner four outright victories on their home ground in Mohali. On the pitch tailor-made for seamers, Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul cobbled together to demolish Hyderabad, Bengal, Saurashtra and the defending champions Rajasthan. Jiwanjot Singh, playing in his debut Ranji season, grabbed the opportunity and cracked four centuries beginning with a double century on debut against Hyderabad - as Punjab dominated the Group A points table. However, they lost their last two league matches against Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat when they moved out of Mohali. Jharkhand, on the other hand, had a roller-coaster ride. They won three matches and lost two. While their batting was inconsistent - with the exception of Saurabh Tiwary who scored 601 runs at 50.08 - their spinners Shahbaz Nadeem and Sunny Gupta bowled well in tandem and chalked up 40 and 25 wickets respectively. The inclusion of medium-pacer Ajay Yadav in the middle phase of the tournament proved a masterstroke as he snapped up 23 wickets - with two 10-wicket hauls - in four matches to orchestrate victories against Tripura and Services. The pitch at Keenan Stadium is more suited to Jharkhand. It is expected to assist spinners, and left-arm spinner Nadeem and offspinner Gupta have snaffled 15 wickets each in two matches played at this ground in this season. It will be a challenge for the Punjab seamers to claim wickets on this surface. Harbhajan Singh is expected to play in the match and his presence will give a huge fillip to the visitors. Punjab have a clear upper hand as far as batting is concerned. Along with Jiwanjot, Uday Kaul is in terrific form (501 runs at 62.62) while Mandeep Singh smashed a double-century against Mumbai to get some runs under his belt. For Jharkhand, only Tiwary has been consistent. Opener Manish Vardhan and Ishank Jaggi have performed sporadically. Taking all the factors into account, it seems to be a contest between the Punjab batsmen and JharkhandÃÔ spinners. Probable XIs Jharkhand: 1 Akash Verma, 2 Manish Vardhan, 3 Rameez Nemat, 4 Saurabh Tiwary, 5 Ishank Jaggi, 6 Shiv Gautam (wk), 7 Sunny Gupta, 8 Shahbaz Nadeem (capt), 9 Shankar Rao, 1- Ajay Yadav, 11 Samar Quadri Punjab: 1 Jiwanjot Singh, 2 Karan Goel, 3 Ravi Inder Singh, 4 Mandeep Singh, 5 Mayank Sidhana, 6 Uday Kaul (wk), 7 Rahul Sharma, 8 Harbhajan Singh ©, 9 Manpreet Gony, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Siddharth Kaul -------------------------------------- LINK Can Cheteshwar Pujara drive Saurashtra into semis? Jan 05, 2013 In the absence of star allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, away on India duty, Saurashtra will be reliant on an in-form Cheteshwar Pujara as they host Karnataka in the 2012-12 Ranji Trophy quarter-final at Rajkot from January 6-9. Saurashtra have been overly dependent on Jadeja, who has had an outstanding season with 794 runs at 113.42 and 24 wickets in just five matches. But with Jadeja in India blues as the home team attempt to avert a 3-0 defeat to Pakistan in Delhi on Sunday, Saurashtra will now look to Pujara to make a mark as they aim at place in the final four. The 24-year-old returned to the side and stroked an unbeaten double-century it took him 17 balls to move from 150 to 200 in the win over Madhya Pradesh and is the most important player on either side. Saurashtra displaced Gujarat from the No. 2 spot in Group A after beating MP and this is this their first trip to the knock-out stage since 2008-09, when they lost to eventual winners Mumbai in the semi-final. The previous season they reached the final four and lost to Uttar Pradesh. Two seasons prior, Saurashtra lifted the Ranji Trophy by beating Rajasthan. Of the side that won the title seven years seven seasons ago, only the captain Jaydev Shah, wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani and offspinners Kamlesh Makvana remain. Of the three, two have left a mark. Jogiyani has topped 500 runs, starting the season with a career-best 282 out of a mammoth partnership of 539, the highest for a third wicket in Ranji Trophy history, with Jadeja. Makvana made a century and took six wickets in draw against Railways, and his 18 wickets are second to Jadeja's 24. Shah has struggled for consistency, averaging 24 in 12 innings, but remains a central figure due to his leadership experience. Each will need to deliver around Pujara if Saurashtra are to beat a spirited Karnataka, who have a far better bowling attack. Karnataka's road from defeat to Odisha before the halfway mark to reaching the knockouts in thrilling fashion has become one of the talking point of the season. At one stage, defeat to Odisha threatened to derail their campaign and then when they lost their captain R Vinay Kumar to injury, Karnataka were robbed of their strike bowler. But the team rallied, beating Delhi and hanging on for a thrilling draw against Haryana. They needed victory in their final match and achieved it, and with a bit of help from some other teams reached the quarter-finals. Having made the knock-out stage for the fourth year running, the Stuart Binny-led side will no doubt be brimming with confidence. They possess a strong batting line-up, featuring Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Ganesh Sathish, Amit Verma, Binny and this season's leading run-getter, the wicketkeeper CM Gautam. Their bowling is also multi-faceted, with Binny's deceptively skillful medium pace complimenting Abhimanyu Mithun and HS Sharath. Mithun was crucial to the qualifying win over Maharashtra last week, while the rookie Sharath has left a mark in his debut season with a team-high 21 wickets. Two batsmen Karnataka blooded in the second half of the season, Kunal Kapoor and Lokesh Rahul, have performed admirably and now face a test of nerve in the quarter-final. Where Karnataka lack is in the spin department, and that is where they could really struggle on a docile Rajkot pitch. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna was preferred to fellow left-armer SK Moinuddin in the last league match, but the debutant managed just two wickets. Having been named in the squad for the quarter-final, Appanna could return though he has managed just 15 wickets in seven matches. Probable XIs Saurashtra: 1 Shitanshu Kotak, 2 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Jaydev Shah (capt), 5 Rahul Dave, 6 Aarpit Vasavada, 7 Chirag Jani, 8 Kamlesh Makvana, 9 Vishal Joshi, 10 Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, 11 Jaydev Unadkat Karnataka: 1 Lokesh Rahul, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Kunal Kapoor, 4 CM Gautam (wk), 5 Ganesh Satish, 6 Stuart Binny (capt), 7 Amit Verma, 8 Krishnappa Gowtham, 9 Abhimanyu Mithun, 10 HS Sharath, 11 KP Appanna

[India-KXIP fan]

Supporting Punjab wholeheartedly :two_thumbs_up: Hope Midgetjot Singh shines again And Sandeep Sharma and Manpreet Gony take a 5er each. Manduck Singh should do well too! :good:

Midget in Punjab maybe since everyone is at least 6'1 but remember rest of country has average male height of 5'5 so he would be fine :nice: Nice to know your supporting the team though. :two_thumbs_up:

[Magneto]

Midget in Punjab maybe since everyone is at least 6'1 but remember rest of country has average male height of 5'5 so he would be fine :nice: Nice to know your supporting the team though. :two_thumbs_up:

Actually with a 5'5 height, he is one of the taller guys in the Punjab team. Only Karan Goel and Manpreet Gony are taller than him. :giggle: Yes, Punjab has all my support. I've made a banner and will personally be in the Keenan Stadium to support them.

[India-KXIP fan]

Actually with a 5'5 height, he is one of the taller guys in the Punjab team. Only Karan Goel and Manpreet Gony are taller than him. :giggle: Yes, Punjab has all my support. I've made a banner and will personally be in the Keenan Stadium to support them.

Coolstorybro. Such a thing is not possible, everyone is at least 6'1. Get your eyes checked, Yuvi is the manlet of the team and he must be 6'1 or 2. Yuvi, Bhaji, Goel, Sidhana, Gony list goes on... Good for you, Im not sure if that's good thing, you better be lucky this time. :nervous:

[vayuu1]

LINK Jharkhand spinners aim to thwart Punjab Jan 05, 2013 Jamshedpur: Punjab will start as favourites when they take field against Jharkhand at Jamshedpur on January 6 in the quarter-final of the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, but the hosts are a dangerous proposition on what is expected to be a rank turner. Punjab's strength lies in their fast bowling which has enabled them to garner four outright victories on their home ground in Mohali. On the pitch tailor-made for seamers, Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul cobbled together to demolish Hyderabad, Bengal, Saurashtra and the defending champions Rajasthan. Jiwanjot Singh, playing in his debut Ranji season, grabbed the opportunity and cracked four centuries beginning with a double century on debut against Hyderabad - as Punjab dominated the Group A points table. However, they lost their last two league matches against Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat when they moved out of Mohali. Jharkhand, on the other hand, had a roller-coaster ride. They won three matches and lost two. While their batting was inconsistent - with the exception of Saurabh Tiwary who scored 601 runs at 50.08 - their spinners Shahbaz Nadeem and Sunny Gupta bowled well in tandem and chalked up 40 and 25 wickets respectively. The inclusion of medium-pacer Ajay Yadav in the middle phase of the tournament proved a masterstroke as he snapped up 23 wickets - with two 10-wicket hauls - in four matches to orchestrate victories against Tripura and Services. The pitch at Keenan Stadium is more suited to Jharkhand. It is expected to assist spinners, and left-arm spinner Nadeem and offspinner Gupta have snaffled 15 wickets each in two matches played at this ground in this season. It will be a challenge for the Punjab seamers to claim wickets on this surface. Harbhajan Singh is expected to play in the match and his presence will give a huge fillip to the visitors. Punjab have a clear upper hand as far as batting is concerned. Along with Jiwanjot, Uday Kaul is in terrific form (501 runs at 62.62) while Mandeep Singh smashed a double-century against Mumbai to get some runs under his belt. For Jharkhand, only Tiwary has been consistent. Opener Manish Vardhan and Ishank Jaggi have performed sporadically. Taking all the factors into account, it seems to be a contest between the Punjab batsmen and JharkhandÃÔ spinners. Probable XIs Jharkhand: 1 Akash Verma, 2 Manish Vardhan, 3 Rameez Nemat, 4 Saurabh Tiwary, 5 Ishank Jaggi, 6 Shiv Gautam (wk), 7 Sunny Gupta, 8 Shahbaz Nadeem (capt), 9 Shankar Rao, 1- Ajay Yadav, 11 Samar Quadri Punjab: 1 Jiwanjot Singh, 2 Karan Goel, 3 Ravi Inder Singh, 4 Mandeep Singh, 5 Mayank Sidhana, 6 Uday Kaul (wk), 7 Rahul Sharma, 8 Harbhajan Singh ©, 9 Manpreet Gony, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Siddharth Kaul -------------------------------------- LINK Can Cheteshwar Pujara drive Saurashtra into semis? Jan 05, 2013 In the absence of star allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, away on India duty, Saurashtra will be reliant on an in-form Cheteshwar Pujara as they host Karnataka in the 2012-12 Ranji Trophy quarter-final at Rajkot from January 6-9. Saurashtra have been overly dependent on Jadeja, who has had an outstanding season with 794 runs at 113.42 and 24 wickets in just five matches. But with Jadeja in India blues as the home team attempt to avert a 3-0 defeat to Pakistan in Delhi on Sunday, Saurashtra will now look to Pujara to make a mark as they aim at place in the final four. The 24-year-old returned to the side and stroked an unbeaten double-century it took him 17 balls to move from 150 to 200 in the win over Madhya Pradesh and is the most important player on either side. Saurashtra displaced Gujarat from the No. 2 spot in Group A after beating MP and this is this their first trip to the knock-out stage since 2008-09, when they lost to eventual winners Mumbai in the semi-final. The previous season they reached the final four and lost to Uttar Pradesh. Two seasons prior, Saurashtra lifted the Ranji Trophy by beating Rajasthan. Of the side that won the title seven years seven seasons ago, only the captain Jaydev Shah, wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani and offspinners Kamlesh Makvana remain. Of the three, two have left a mark. Jogiyani has topped 500 runs, starting the season with a career-best 282 out of a mammoth partnership of 539, the highest for a third wicket in Ranji Trophy history, with Jadeja. Makvana made a century and took six wickets in draw against Railways, and his 18 wickets are second to Jadeja's 24. Shah has struggled for consistency, averaging 24 in 12 innings, but remains a central figure due to his leadership experience. Each will need to deliver around Pujara if Saurashtra are to beat a spirited Karnataka, who have a far better bowling attack. Karnataka's road from defeat to Odisha before the halfway mark to reaching the knockouts in thrilling fashion has become one of the talking point of the season. At one stage, defeat to Odisha threatened to derail their campaign and then when they lost their captain R Vinay Kumar to injury, Karnataka were robbed of their strike bowler. But the team rallied, beating Delhi and hanging on for a thrilling draw against Haryana. They needed victory in their final match and achieved it, and with a bit of help from some other teams reached the quarter-finals. Having made the knock-out stage for the fourth year running, the Stuart Binny-led side will no doubt be brimming with confidence. They possess a strong batting line-up, featuring Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Ganesh Sathish, Amit Verma, Binny and this season's leading run-getter, the wicketkeeper CM Gautam. Their bowling is also multi-faceted, with Binny's deceptively skillful medium pace complimenting Abhimanyu Mithun and HS Sharath. Mithun was crucial to the qualifying win over Maharashtra last week, while the rookie Sharath has left a mark in his debut season with a team-high 21 wickets. Two batsmen Karnataka blooded in the second half of the season, Kunal Kapoor and Lokesh Rahul, have performed admirably and now face a test of nerve in the quarter-final. Where Karnataka lack is in the spin department, and that is where they could really struggle on a docile Rajkot pitch. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna was preferred to fellow left-armer SK Moinuddin in the last league match, but the debutant managed just two wickets. Having been named in the squad for the quarter-final, Appanna could return though he has managed just 15 wickets in seven matches. Probable XIs Saurashtra: 1 Shitanshu Kotak, 2 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Jaydev Shah (capt), 5 Rahul Dave, 6 Aarpit Vasavada, 7 Chirag Jani, 8 Kamlesh Makvana, 9 Vishal Joshi, 10 Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, 11 Jaydev Unadkat Karnataka: 1 Lokesh Rahul, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Kunal Kapoor, 4 CM Gautam (wk), 5 Ganesh Satish, 6 Stuart Binny (capt), 7 Amit Verma, 8 Krishnappa Gowtham, 9 Abhimanyu Mithun, 10 HS Sharath, 11 KP Appanna

:hysterical::hysterical:

[saneindian]

Hope to see 4 outright results and not that first innings crap deciding the semi finalists. Also these QFs will be played with the new rule of an extra day being added for getting at least one innings for each team completed. No more run rate logic to be used to decide the winner in case even first innings are not completed and hence hopefully no dead tracks.

[Cricket Tragic]

So we're got the quarters, ODI vs Pak and the selection meeting tomorrow.

[Number]

So we're got the quarters' date=' ODI vs Pak and the selection meeting tomorrow.[/quote'] India A vs England practice match as well. Sreesanth is back for that game. Big day:hysterical:

[Chandan]

So we're got the quarters' date=' ODI vs Pak and the selection meeting tomorrow.[/quote'] Don't forget the India A match vs England XI. Even that is tomorrow. Hope we find some bowlers. Meanwhile Harbhajan is eyeing a comeback: Harbhajan eyes comeback to national squad PTI Out-of-favour India off-spinner and Punjab skipper Harbhajan Singh on Saturday said he is determined to perform in the upcoming Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash against Jharkhand and stage a comeback to the national side for the one-day series against England. ŪÃÍl put my best in the quarter-final match against Jharkhand and try to return to the Indian team, the 32-year-old cricketer said on the sidelines of his teamÃÔ practice session at Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur. Harbhajan, however, refused to comment on the recent performances of the Indian team in the ongoing ODI series against Pakistan. Asked about the possibility of a come back to the Indian team for the forthcoming limited-over series against England, to be decided on Sunday, Singh said his responsibility would be to perform in the Ranji match against Jharkhand. Ū have come here to play cricket and my responsibility is to perform to my best, he said. Ū am looking forward to tomorrowÃÔ match against Jharkhand, which is an important match for either of the team to move forward, he added. Ÿe have been performing well and reached this stage. WeÃÍl have to keep the momentum and did not want to take the host team lightly, he said. Asked about the home team, Singh said he knew some of the players such as in-form left-handed batsmen Saurabh Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi. ŵiwary belonged to Mumbai Indian team in the IPL, while I played against Jaggi. They are good cricketers, he said. ----------------------------------- But Jharkhand skipper Nadeem is not overawed by Bhajji's presence! LINK Harbhajan Singh's presence will make no difference, says Jharkhand captain Shahbaz Nadeem Jan 05, 2013 Jamshedpur: Jharkhand Ranji team captain Shahbaz Nadeem on Saturday said presence senior spinner Harbhajan Singh in the rival Punjab team would not be a factor in their quarter-final match, starting here from Sunday. "I don't think that a single player alone can affect the outcome of the match," Nadeem said when asked about the presence of the off-spinner in rival camp. "We have five to six cricketers, who have been playing in Indian Premier League for different franchises, including me and off-spinner Sunny Gupta for Delhi Daredevils, batsman Saurabh Tiwary for Royal Challengers, Bangalore, and Ishank Jaggi for Decan Chargers," the left-arm spinner said. Nadeem said the team was in good form and had a good track record of performing well at the upper stages of the tournament. Referring the team composition, Jharkhand captain said it was yet undecided, but he would like to field four bowlers in the match against Punjab. He hailed the performance of openers Akash Verma and Rameez Nemat, who struck aggressive half-centuries to share 151 runs against Services in the last league encounter. "We have no plan to disturb the opening pair even though the regular opener Manish Vardhan, who was out of the team due to injury, will be included in the team against Punjab, he said, adding that Vardhan would likely play one-down. Stating that he would opt for batting if he won the toss, Nadeem said a 300 plus run at Keenan wicket would provide a bright opportunity to the home side to mount pressure on the rivals.

[Magneto]

Nadeem trolling Bhajji now. :hysterical: Nadeem is surely the superior spinner ATM.

[Number]

Nadeem trolling Bhajji now. :hysterical: Nadeem is surely the superior spinner ATM.

:hysterical: Without Bhajji Punjab had 4 outright wins in 5 games. Then these rockstars were kicked out of Indian team to ruin the Punjab Ranji team. :cantstop:

[Chandan]

Looks like Services are mentally stronger this time and seem prepared for the tougher battles ahead: LINK Ranji Trophy: Real battle starts now, says Soumik Chatterjee Amit Kumar | Cricketnext.com | Updated Jan 04, 2013 After almost eight years, Services stormed into the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals. Despite a disappointing performance in the second innings against Jharkhand in their last group match, Services qualified for the knockouts on the basis of their good work earlier in the season. Now they will face Uttar Pradesh at Indore on January 6. Sarabjit Singh, the teamÃÔ wicketkeeper, had led Services to the quarter-finals in the 2004-05 season. This year, it is the rookie captain Soumik Chatterjee who has taken them this far. A proud leader, Chatterjee shared this seasonÃÔ experience with Cricketnext. What has the road to the quarter-finals been like? The journey has been awesome. I am really happy with the way team performed. ItÃÔ a total team effort. After a span of almost eight years we have qualified for the quarter-finals. I would have been really happy if we had won our last group stage match against Jharkhand, but as we all know cricket is a funny game and anything can happen. Jharkhand took the game away from us. The journey was excellent but going to be really tough now. How would you rate your teamÃÔ bowling? Who were the key players? Our bowling department was really strong in comparison to our batting. I would like to credit Suraj Yadav, who bowled magnificently. Nishan Singh and Shadab Nazar have really performed well. The trio has performed excellent so far and I hope they keep up the good performance in the upcoming matches. And what about the batting? We batted really well in almost all the matches except against Jharkhand. We were short of a few runs otherwise we could have registered victory. Out batting collapsed in both innings. We scored 185 in the first innings but thanks to our bowlers, especially Suraj Yadav who took six wickets to restrict Jharkhand for 120. We had a good chance to bounce back but ended up all out for 152. If we could have scored some more runs, we would have won. Nakul [Verma] and Anshul [Gupta] are our best opening batsmen. Anshul has the ability to give the team a solid start. A lot will be expected from them. Out middle is comprised of experienced Yashpal Sharma, Rajat Paliwal, and Sarabjit Singh. The real battle will start now and we are sure of a good show. What were the key moments for you in the tournament? (Laughes) There were a lot of moments. In the first match against Andhra we were tottering at 73 for 5, but cautious innings by Rajat, Sarabjit and [Muzzaffaruddin] Khalid propelled the score. Shadab Nazar made an unbeaten 56 in that match and took the score to 297. That was the magic moment for us and after that we wrapped up Andhra for 251. The match against Assam will be unforgettable as we registered an outright win. We scored 326 runs in the first innings, credit to RajatÃÔ century. He played a brilliant innings [167] in that match. Against Jammu & Kashmir, we registered our second win of the season, defeating them by five wickets. Which was your favourite match? Every match was a favourite for me but I will rate the match against Assam as the most interesting and memorable as we registered an outright win against them. That match was the key for us to qualify for the quarter-finals. In 2004-05, Sarabjit Singh led Services to the quarters and after almost eight years you did the job for the team. How is the feeling? Eight years is a long span. We tasted this victory after a long period. Though we lost the last group match of the season, we are capable of playing in a higher group. But there is a long way to go. The battle has just started now. We will plan differently now. The quarters will be an uphill task for us. The top eight teams will be playing. We will be doing a lot of net practices. We will play our normal game. Our main aim will be put up a good show. Do you think something lacked in the teamÃÔ performance? Batting is a concern for us. We have to work on that. Our bowlers have impressed with their superb show. Suraj Yadav, Shadab Nazar and Nishan Singh have performed really well. ----------------------------------------- This BCCI also thinks that way, that the real matches start now. Hence they've taken this step: LINK BCCI names foreign umpires for Ranji Trophy knockouts "Umpires Adrian Holdstock from South Africa, and Rob Bailey from England, are presently in India to officiate in the Ranji Trophy knockout matches, under the Umpires Exchange Programmes that the BCCI has signed with Cricket South Africa and the England and Wales Cricket Board respectively," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement. Saturday, 05 January 2013 "Umpires Adrian Holdstock from South Africa, and Rob Bailey from England, are presently in India to officiate in the Ranji Trophy knockout matches, under the Umpires Exchange Programmes that the BCCI has signed with Cricket South Africa and the England and Wales Cricket Board respectively," BCCI Secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in a statement. Holdstock will be one of the umpires in the Ranji quarterfinal between Mumbai and Baroda, to be played at Mumbai, from January 6 to 10. Bailey will officiate in the quarterfinal between UP and Services, to be played at Indore on the same dates. Both umpires will subsequently officiate in the Ranji semi-finals.

[Magneto]

Get Soumik Chatterjee into the Bengal team now :clap: :clap:

[Old guy]

punjab winning this round for sure