Jump to content

Ranji Trophy, Super league, 2007-08 [Ranji SS available]

Chandan

By Chandan
in Cricket Talk

Recommended Posts

Chandan Newbie

Chandan

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Before the third round commences from 23th Nov., here are some "on and off the field" news during and after the 2nd round matches: Ranji Trophy, 2nd round, 2007-08 Ian Botham in disguise Yusuf Pathan went into the match against Bengal with a highest score of 92* and three five-fors to his name. It must be the confidence that comes with having won the World Twenty20 on your international debut, because by the time the match got over he had taken two more five-fors, scored his personal best - 183 runs in 150 balls, and had almost single-handedly taken Baroda to an innings win. When he came in to bat, Baroda were 180 for 5 in reply to Bengal's 370 (thanks largely to his effort after Bengal were 221 for 0 at one stage), and when he left Baroda were 86 runs in the lead. Then he opened the bowling in the second innings and struck in the first over, and then four more times as Bengal were bowled out for 86. The power of one At the Roshanara Club Ground in Delhi, Cheteshwar Pujara scored a typical grind-to-save-the-match unbeaten 148 against Delhi. Set 327 runs in a day, Saurashtra were 33 for 2 when Pujara came in to bat in the seventh over. He saw the state worsen to 107 for 8 with more than 40 overs to play. That's when he found able support from Sandeep Jobanputra. The partnership frustrated Delhi for 157 minutes and after Jobanputra got out, Sandip Maniar came in to do more of the same. Bad light helped too, as play was called off with five overs to go and a wicket still standing. So frustrated were Delhi they bowled five different bowlers for the last five overs. A year ago, Saurashtra would have got nothing for the fight they put up in the second innings. But a change in the points system, which awards one point for drawing a match even though the team has lost on first-innings basis, meant they were also playing for something on the final day. A good suggestion, then, by Sanjay Bangar in the pre-season captains' conference. For more of Bangar's thoughts, read his blog on Cricinfo on the train journeys he has made while playing domestic cricket over the years. Bundle of nerves After eight years of having excelled in Indian first-class cricket, Ramesh Powar was nervous going into a second-round match against Tamil Nadu in Chennai. Dropped from both the Indian ODI and Test sides, Powar, according to team-mates, was upset, kept to himself and often cursed his fate, the Indian Express reported. None of the nerves were on show, though, once the match started as he picked nine wickets to get Mumbai an outright win against Tamil Nadu. The performance followed his impressive show against Karnataka in the first round. Although the Indian team seems to have moved on, Pravin Amre, the Mumbai coach, can't get enough of Powar. "Experience can't be bought in a super market," he reminded us. Lest we forgot it since the last time he said it, which can't be more than a fortnight ago, at the most. spacer.gif320699.jpgRamesh Powar may have been nervous before Mumbai's match against Tamil Nadu, but his performance - 9 for 123 - did not reveal the same © Cricinfo Ltd 300 Sreekumar Nair became the first triple-centurion for Kerala and only the second in Ranji Trophy overall since the 2000-01 season. Nair's unbeaten 306 against Services overtook the previous best for Kerala - 262 set by Balan Pandit in 1959. The Kerala Cricket Association was quick to recognise the effort and gave him a grand cash award of Rs1 lakh. The cash award was more than thrice what Shiv Sunder Das, the last triple-centurion got from his state association - Rs30,000. And before Nair starts splurging, may we remind him that Das was fined 25% of his match fee in the very next game, because he got the sightscreen to move a few times too many. The milestone man Nair is not the only one raking in the moolah: Pankaj Dharmani, the Punjab captain and wicketkeeper, was also awarded for becoming the highest run-getter for Punjab in Ranji Trophy. After he became richer by a lakh during the lunch break on day one against Hyderabad, he showed more of the greed by getting his 8000th run in first-class cricket, when he scored his 42nd run during the second day's play. And with 258 dismissals to his name, a little help from his bowlers will take him to 300 soon. The PCA better start saving. Baroda outdoes BCCI Baroda gave the BCCI a gentle wake-up call last week. While the BCCI is still inviting applications for creating and managing its website, the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) became the third state association in India to have a website of its own. Baroda follows the example of Mumbai and Punjab state associations: Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president is also MCA president, and MP Pandove, the BCCI joint secretary, is also the PCA joint secretary. We're right behind you, captain "Laxmi Ratan Shukla, incidentally, opened his account as a skipper. Having got out for two ducks in his previous two knocks, Shukla in his third innings as Bengal captain lasted two balls and scored one." Thus read the Telegraph's match report after Bengal lost to Baroda. They are not missing anything, are the Telegraph? spacer.gif318462.jpgPankaj Dharmani is currently Punjab's highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy © Cricinfo Ltd Even before the match started, the paper had labelled it as a "battle of coaches", keeping the captain aside. Paras Mhambrey, the Baroda coach, had coached Bengal to two finals over the last two year. And the Bengali papers had gone as far as to suggest that Bengal were up against the "Mhambrey factor". Mhambrey had chosen a spin-friendly track and eventually the Baroda spinners did get 15 wickets, they even took the new ball in the second innings. Quote hanger "You can't take any team lightly these days. You don't know which bush will throw up what snake." Turned out Karnataka coach Vijay Bharadwaj's caution was unfounded as Karnataka beat Himachal Pradesh easily by an innings and 126 runs.

Link to comment
Chandan Newbie

Chandan

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Wow' date=' Laxmi Ratan is now captain? Kid's come a long way.[/quote'] Looks like you did not read any of the pre-season previews of all the teams. If you haven't, read first 3 pages of the thread. It is quite informative about Ranji Trophy and the squads this season! PS: Have you chosen your SS team for Ranji? Varun has allowed the forummers to enter even before this round, if they could not enter earlier. If you haven't done it, do it now!!
Link to comment
Gambit Collaborator

Gambit

Posted
Posted
Looks like you did not read any of the pre-season previews of all the teams. If you haven't read first 3 pages of the thread. It is quite informative about Ranji Trophy and the squads this season!
Will do.
PS: Have you chosen your SS team for Ranji? Varun has allowed the forummers to enter even before this round, if they could not enter earlier. If you haven't done it, do it now!!
Was going to. Thanks for the reminder :top:
Link to comment
theguyinallblue Newbie

theguyinallblue

Posted
Posted

Rads..suppose you have 1000 points at the end of 2nd round.. and you substitute two players....A,B with YZ.. no matter what points these 4 players have got... you will have 900 points with 2 substitutions.. i changed 5 players after 1st round..and 250 points were deducted from my score... need to substitute 2 more this time.. so fear not...and substitute players...:two_thumbs_up:

Link to comment
Chandan Newbie

Chandan

Posted
  • Author
Posted

ROUND THREE, Preview Delhi vs Mumbai The feelings between the Mumbai and Delhi camps are mutual on the eve of their third-round Ranji Trophy clash at the Wankhede Stadium. Both sides respect each other and agree it will be a keenly-contest game, given their traditional rivalry. While Vijay Dahiya, Delhi's coach, and Amol Muzumdar, the Mumbai captain, back their teams, they both know that neither can afford to take the other lightly. 320699.jpgWith 15 wickets in two games, Ramesh Powar is Mumbai's trump card on a flat Wankhede pitch © Cricinfo Ltd. Dahiya, who kept wicket for Delhi till last season, and is in his first season as coach, said the clash with Mumbai has always been about pride. "Delhi-Mumbai is always a big game. This match will decide where we end up at the end of the league," he said, dressed in a red tee-shirt and shorts, and visibly more active than some of his players. Muzumdar didn't agree that this game carried such crucial weight, but felt the contest had always been "fantastic". Both teams have eight points from the two games so far, but Mumbai have looked the more convincing unit. If not for Rahul Dravid's classy double century in the second innings in the first round, they would've been sitting pretty with the full points to be earned. This will be Delhi's first big clash after getting past Rajashtan in the first round and then struggling to wrap up the Saurashtra tail last week. On paper Delhi have a strong batting line-up with three international openers in Virender Sehwag, Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir, with strong support from the young hands of Virat Kohli and veteran Mithun Manhas in the middle order. Chopra, Kohli and Manhas have already scored centuries this season, while for Mumbai only Abhishek Nayar has reached the landmark. Like Delhi, Mumbai bat deep but the absence of Wasim Jaffer, away on national duty, would be a gaping hole very hard to fill for the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, who will be opening with Sahil Kukreja. Rohit Sharma, who has impressed with the composure and confidence of his strokeplay in the shorter versions of the international game, will have to take over the role that Jaffer has successfully carried out for Mumbai season after season. Muzumdar says Jaffer can't be replaced but that Mumbai "have individuals who can step up to do the job". Some of those individuals are Prashant Naik, who has got some handy scores down the order, and Nayar. Both teams are likely to field two spinners given the assistance the Wankhede pitch provides. Muzumdar hinted legspinner Bhavesh Patel might make his debut ahead of Iqbal Abdulla, the slow left-arm spinner, but said a final decision would be taken on the morning of the match. spacer.gif320726.jpgVirender Sehwag has a shot at impressing the national selectors, with the third Test squad yet to be announced © AFP Delhi have already picked their team. With Ishant Sharma not picked in India's final XI at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the new-ball attack is likely to be headed up by him and Pradeep Sangwan, the left-arm medium-pacer. Even if thin on experience the duo could use their pace and swing to unsettle Mumbai's batsmen, especially in the morning. Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a century in the last game against Saurashtra, and Mayank Tehlan, will make way for Sehwag and Gambhir. Delhi have also decided to hand Narinder Singh, an offspinner who impressed the selectors with some fine displays in the Under-19 games, his maiden cap. For Mumbai it could be the same team that played last week against Tamil Nadu, with the exception of Jaffer. Avishkar Salvi impressed with his display in the second round and has Muzumdar's confidence, so he will be Ajit Agarkar's new-ball partner with allrounder Nayar coming in at first change. Ramesh Powar will once again be the lynchpin on a flat Wankhede pitch devoid of any grass. Powar has been the match-winner in the first two games with 15 wickets - six against Karnatka and nine in the last game against Tamil Nadu. As a senior Delhi player said, in the end it all boils down to what a player does on the given day, no matter if he's an international player or a rookie. Sehwag will be hoping to emulate Dravid's feat for Karnataka in the first two rounds - pile big runs and wait for his opportunity. Ditto with Gambhir, the Sharmas - Rohit and Ishant - and Powar. There in no way this is a straight ticket to the Indian dressing room, but this is a pathway. Teams: Mumbai (from): Sahil Kukreja, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Amol Muzumdar (capt), Prashant Naik, Abhishek Nayar, Vinayak Samant (wk), Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Aavishkar Salvi, Iqbal Abdulla, Bhavesh Patel. Delhi: Aakash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Mithun Manhas (capt), Puneet Bisht (wk), Chetanya Nanda, Narinder Singh, Amit Bhandari, Ishant Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan. --------------------------------------------------------- I think this is going to be a cracking contest!! Will Delhi change its openers and go back to Sehwag-Gambhir pair or will Dhawan and Chopra hold on their respective numbers?

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...