Indian domestic season 2013/14

First topic message reminder :

This kicks off with the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy on the 26th.  

KP_fan wrote:http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-article/aaron-aravind-comeback-trail/85417

Varun Aaron on a comeback trail.......he looked good in the ODI and test that he played.....was 140+ consistently

He was pacy, and I do hope the injury won't have an adverse impact on his speed.
But when he bowled for India, it always went through gun-barrel straight . Hopefully he'll find ways to stay fit, and also do more with the ball beyond bowling it quick.

ShankyCricket wrote:Saha in Tests (for now, Samson the eventual successor).
Samson in LOIs (he's ready for LOIs I think)

Karthik isn't int'l standard.

Samson though, hasn't been showing much inclination to keep wickets in the longer format. Kerala has been going in with Nikhilesh Surendran this season. Thankfully, Nikhilesh looks a capable bat unlike Samson's predecessors who were pretty poor with the bat more often than not.

ShankyCricket wrote:Bhajji has to be picked now.

Ashwin, despite all the criticism that he has been getting, has been doing well in test matches. He had a less than satisfactory series in Australia where he still did better than Harbhajan had managed in earlier series, and barring 1 average series against England, has done very well at home. And he can bat correctly unlike Harbhajan who is more of a glorified slogger. And Ravindra Jadeja has been a handy 2nd spinner at home, and capable of performing the lead roale in conditions that demand a containing role for the spinner and he can bat and field. As KPF said, the next home assignment seems a fair bit away as of now though the Bully Boys might have a rethink about that any time and so we needn't think too much about Harbhajan at the moment. But if has an absolutely outstanding season, and if Ashwin or Jadeja struggle, then he can be considered.

yeah i hope Aaron comes back as well...an attack of Aaron, Yadav, Shami, would be potent!

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:Bhajji has to be picked now.

I swallow doesn't make a summer...nor do 2 swallows  

Let him deliver one good season....or atleast better part of the season.....I am sure the weight of wickets he will come into reckoning.

after the Windies series.....it's all overseas cricket until the end of English summer..so we aren't gonna be needing beyond Ashwin and Jadeja....
even Mishra is not likely to get much chance

Precisely why I want him back. Not really sold on either of those 3 in non-spinning conditions, certainly not Mishra.

Sorry msp but Ashwin against the likes of Amla and AB? I just don't see it, especially in SA. He couldn't even do well against a nothing more than decent England side at home. Has bullied hopelessly poor sides. WI, NZ, and Aus without Ponting or Hussey on rank turners. With Ponting and Hussey, he strugggled against Aus too. You may say he did better than what Bhajji did in Aus. But Bhajji bowled to a far better Aussie lineup. He toured in 03/04, when they were at their absolute peak and 07/08, when they were still very decent.
More importantly, Bhajji did well on the last tour to SA.

Think it'd be a mistake to leave Bhajji in this sort of form out, especially when the alternative has struggled against half decent batting.
At least have him in the squad and see how things go in warmups, etc and he can come in if Ash struggles in the 1st Test. Just have him in the squad. At least leave the option open of turning to an experienced hand, if needed. I don't see any harm in having him in the squad, in this sort of form.

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:Bhajji has to be picked now.

I swallow doesn't make a summer...nor do 2 swallows  

Let him deliver one good season....or atleast better part of the season.....I am sure the weight of wickets he will come into reckoning.

after the Windies series.....it's all overseas cricket until the end of English summer..so we aren't gonna be needing beyond Ashwin and Jadeja....
even Mishra is not likely to get much chance

Precisely why I want him back. Not really sold on either of those 3 in non-spinning conditions, certainly not Mishra.

 
now ashwin and jadeja have to fail in about 5 to 6 consecutive tests each .........and bhajji has to be performing consistently till that time....then he might be considered.

so the next test that bhajji might get considered for is another year away.

Sorry to change the subject, but guys if Dhoni gave up captaincy who would take the test captaincy??

Kohli...?

Why are so keen to get rid of MSD?

im not mate, im just thinking long-term...he's 32 i believe, he's won a lot if he decided to resign tomorrow, is there a natural replacement in the india side right now to captain the side?

CF wrote:Sorry to change the subject, but guys if Dhoni gave up captaincy who would take the test captaincy??

Kohli...?

 
if dhoni was to go today.... Kohli would take over.
but he won't....he will play anotehr 4 years.
 
and in 4 years there may be many contenders.....Pujara, Dhawan, Rohit, Ashwin, Jadeja....all might be in the race depending on how they and Kohli continues to perform...and which lobbies are in power

ShankyCricket wrote:Sorry msp but Ashwin against the likes of Amla and AB? I just don't see it, especially in SA. He couldn't even do well against a nothing more than decent England side at home. Has bullied hopelessly poor sides. WI, NZ, and Aus without Ponting or Hussey on rank turners. With Ponting and Hussey, he strugggled against Aus too. You may say he did better than what Bhajji did in Aus. But Bhajji bowled to a far better Aussie lineup. He toured in 03/04, when they were at their absolute peak and 07/08, when they were still very decent.
More importantly, Bhajji did well on the last tour to SA.

When Harbhajan first went to Australia in 2003, he was 5 years old in international cricket and had established himself in the side for well over 2 years and had the mental edge over the Australians. And in both 2003 and in 2007, Anil Kumble was way better, in the former tour, Harbhajan in fact went in as the led spinner over Jumbo if you remember!. Ashwin on the other hand, had just made his debut in the series prior to the Australian tour, and the trip downunder was his first overseas assignment for India. And he had to encounter Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey, as also Ponting who played spin very well in Australian conditions. And unlike the previous 2 trips, the batting was pretty average too.
Apart from a support role to Kumble at Headingley in 2002, and a couple of decent series in New Zealand and South Africa, when has Harbhajan been so effective in non-subcontinentel conditions anyway?
You say Ashwin has been bullying sides like New Zealand and the West Indies. But Harbhajan was the least effective bowler when he played against New Zealand at home last time when he played them, and he was almost playing as a batsman who could bowl a bit in that series. And Harbhajan did have a few opportunities against England as well as Australia in the recent exchanges and never suggested that he had a half-decent case to be preferred over Ashwin, though the latter had a not so good series against England.

Yes but given his performances in SA and NZ, I'd still give him one more chance.

Not when Ashwin or Jadeja are performing alright. And India won't need a 3rd spinner in South Africa anyway.
Besides, we have to also see whether Harbhajan will be able to sustain the intensity and form in domestic cricket.

Ashwin isnt alright vs decent teams.

ShankyCricket wrote:Ashwin isnt alright vs decent teams.

 
100 wickets in 18 tests....he has grabbed his chances...with both hands....Ashwin.
even in Aus he picked a decent 10 wickets in 3 tests he played....ina  complete blackout series....where he probably bowled in onl 1 inning as Aussies weer winning by an innings margin
 
It would be whimsical if selectors throw out a 100 wkts in 17.5 tests Ashwin or 27 in 5 tests jadeja.....for one who failed even in the extedned run given to him based on the past credits ( Bhajji)....and make a mockery of principles of fair selection and consistent run.
Just becuase he has picked wickets in 2 ranji games.
 
I like Bhajji......and would like to see him play again....but throuhg a fair and consistent process.....picks loads of wickets in ranji this season, go on A tours...pick wickets there also....grab his chance if he gets an odd ODI game and deliver telling blows.
 
Breathe down the neck of Ashwin and jadeja.......so that they find it impossible to slip in performance and he steps in the moment they slip a little bit through his weight of wickets.
 
He has used up all his gifts and credits......Bhajji now needs to earn his way back...on merit with weight of wickets...and respecting the consistency / fairness processes in selections.

KP_fan wrote:

ShankyCricket wrote:Ashwin isnt alright vs decent teams.

 
100 wickets in 18 tests....he has grabbed his chances...with both hands....Ashwin.
even in Aus he picked a decent 10 wickets in 3 tests he played....ina  complete blackout series....where he probably bowled in onl 1 inning as Aussies weer winning by an innings margin
 
It would be whimsical if selectors throw out a 100 wkts in 17.5 tests Ashwin or 27 in 5 tests jadeja.....for one who failed even in the extedned run given to him based on the past credits ( Bhajji)....and make a mockery of principles of fair selection and consistent run.
Just becuase he has picked wickets in 2 ranji games.
 
I like Bhajji......and would like to see him play again....but throuhg a fair and consistent process.....picks loads of wickets in ranji this season, go on A tours...pick wickets there also....grab his chance if he gets an odd ODI game and deliver telling blows.
 
Breathe down the neck of Ashwin and jadeja.......so that they find it impossible to slip in performance and he steps in the moment they slip a little bit through his weight of wickets.
 
He has used up all his gifts and credits......Bhajji now needs to earn his way back...on merit with weight of wickets...and respecting the consistency / fairness processes in selections.

Can't agree more, KPF.

Ranji Trophy round 3, day 1.
Group A.
Traditional domestic rivals Delhi and Mumbai more or less had an even day at stumps. Mumbai ended the day at 252-6. Siddhesh Lad, Wasim Jaffer and Aditya Tare all made some runs, but none could play the decisive hand. Ashish Nehra and Parvinder Awana kept at it for Delhi, who were missing Sumit Narwal who has been their best bowler in the last game.
Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul and Kunal Kapoor, all got starts against Gujarat but none could go beyond Kapoor’s 57, as Karnataka ended the day at 226-7. The Gujarat bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah and Akshar Patel would now hope to carry on their good work and restrict Karnataka to well under 300. G Satish, who swung them towards a clear first innings lead against Jharkhand last week will be the key for Karnataka, as he’s 36 not out overnight.
Sunny Singh and Rahul Dalal scored 50s and a few others got starts, but the Jharkhand bowlers kept taking wickets as Haryana ended the day at 296-8. Ajay Jadeja isn’t playing this game and Haryana are led by Harshal Patel, who is batting on 22 with India seamer Mohit Sharma. India seamer Varun Aaron picked up a couple of wickets for Jharkhand.
Odisha ended the day at 226-3 against Vidarbha. Niranjan Behera is batting on 90.
Group B.
Railways seamer Ranjitkumar Mali picked up his first 5for and stretched it into an 8for as Baroda were shot out for 176. Munaf Patel, playing a first Class game in over 2 years, then struck in his 2nd over as Railways ended the day at 24-1.
An unbeaten 102 from Sheldon Jackson helped Saurashtra reach 235-4 against UP at stumps. Piyush Chawla picked up 2 wickets and RP Singh and Imtiaz Ahmed accounted for 1 each. Wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani gave Jackson good support with a patient 74.
Naman Ojha’s unbeaten 101 helped Madhya Pradesh to 293-4 at stumps against Bengal. Mohnish Mishra made 64.
Rajat Paliwal fought his way to 71 not out as Services ended the day at 275-6 against Rajasthan. Rajasthan seamer Pankaj Singh, consistently ignored by the national selectors for whatever reasons, picked up 3 wickets.
Group C.
Parwez Rasool scored 97 at close to a run-a-ball, but there was no real support for him from the rest of the batting lineup as Jammu & Kashmir were bowled out for 178 against Himachal Pradesh. Rishi Dhawan yet again led the way with 4 wickets. Vikramjeet Malik and the rest of the bowling supported their skipper very well. HP are 92-1 at stumps, with Sangram Singh and Paras Dogra at the crease.
Kedar Jadhav smashed an unbeaten 175 to propel Maharashtra to 337-4 at stumps. Harshat Khadiwale scored his 2nd ton of the season, scoring 107. Vijay Zol was out for only 4.
Andhra are 231-5 against Assam. B Sumanth is batting on 56.
In a rain curtailed match, Tripura are struggling at 136-9 against Kerala. Sandeep Warrier, yet to make an impression this season, finally found form and picked up 3 wickets for Kerala. Vinoop Manoharan picked up 2 wickets so did Prashanth Parameshwaran.

Harbajhan and Zaheer havent beeen given grade A contracts, when the likes of Raina have, so i think that shows that these two arent really in the thinking anymore..

Round 3, day 2.
Group A.
Zaheer Khan took out the frustrations of missing out on a central contract on the Delhi bowlers as he smashed 51 including 4 6s, one of which found a window, to stretch Mumbai’s first innings to 324. Parwinder Awana picked up 5 wickets for Delhi. But Zaheer couldn’t replicate his performance with many wickets, though he bowled very well throughout the day and made all the Delhi batsmen struggle against him. Zaheer had only 1 wicket to show for all his efforts, as he took out Virender Sehwag early. Half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir(64) and Mithun Manhas(60 not out) have provided Delhi with a strong platform as they ended the day at 191-3.
Ganesh Satish scored 75 as Karnataka managed to stretch their first innings to 306. Satish put together a crucial 56 run partnership for the last wicket with Srinath Aravind, and that might prove to be decisive tomorrow, as Gujarat ended the day 90 runs behind with 5 wickets remaining. Skipper Parthiv Patel made 83. Manpreet Juneja failed to make an impression, despite a 50 in the last game, Juneja hasn’t been at his best in the early season exchanges in the Ranji this time though he come into it on the back of some terrific performances for the India A team. Abhimanyu Mithun picked up a couple of wickets for Karnataka, and even Vinay Kumar was among the wickets.
Hundreds from Neranjan Behera and Subhrajit Sahu and a half-century from Deepak Behera helped Odisha post 453-6 declared in their first innings against Vidarbha. Vidarbha are struggling at 14-2 in response at stumps.
Varun Aaron ended up with 4 wickets as Jharkhand managed to restrict Haryana to 309 in their first innings. But Mohit Sharma replyed with a 4 wicket haul of his own as Jharkhand were bowled out for 231, handing Haryana a crucial 78 run lead. Saurabh Tiwary scored 95 for Jharkhand.
Group B.
Rajat Paliwal went on to score an unbeaten hundred as Services were bowled out for 325 in their first innings against Rajasthan. Pankaj Singh led the way for Rajasthan with 5 wickets. Vineet Saxena scored a half-century to take his side to 131-2 in response at stumps.
Sheldon Jackson extended his innings to 140, and then Arpit Vasavada scored double ton (205), and with contributions from Chirag Jani and Kamlesh Makvana, Saurashtra reached an imposing 570-7 at close against Uttar Pradesh. Piyush Chawla picked up 3 wickets.
Naman Ojha couldn’t add much to his overnight 102 but a half-century from Udit Birla took MP to 431 against Bengal. Bengal are 122-1 in response.
It has been slow progress from Railways, but they have gone pass Baroda’s first innings total of 176 without much problem and are 32 a head with 7 wickets remaining in the first innings. Munaf Patel couldn’t add to the one wicket he picked up yesterday.
Group C.
Rishi Dhawan is winning the all-rounders’ contest so far against Parwez Rasool. After taking 4 wickets in the J&K innings yesterday, Dhawan added a 45 ball 50 that together with 96 from veteran Paras Dogra and half-centuries from Abhamanyu Chauhan and Bipul Sharma took Himachal to 454 in their first innings. Though he had scored 97 with the bat, Rasool wasn’t able to pick up a single wicket. J&K are 14-1 at stumps, still needing another 262 to make HP bat again.
Kerala’s Rohan Prem found form at last to score 80, and with contributions from the rest of the lineup, Kerala took a significant 157 run first innings lead over Tripura. Sanju Samson made 42.
Assam are 116-4 against Andhra who were bowled out for 297. Abu Nechim picked up 5 wickets for Assam.
Kedar Jadhav went on to score a double hundred and Rohit Motwani scored a hundred, and with a 98 from Sangram Atitkar also into the mix, Maharashtra ended up with 616 in their first innings against Hyderabad. Hyderabad are 53 without loss at stumps in response.

--Aaron has picked a 7-fer...and gone throuhg 2 games intact.
WisdenIndia says his pace is back

very heartening is he can continue his progress

--Jalaj Saxena picks a 6-fer and reminds the selectors he is around along with Rasool as the spin bowling allrounders

--Awaana picks a 5-fer for Del and Zaheer for Mumbai in the battle of seamers.

Zaheers deserves one mnore shot at at playing test matches...

Round 3, day 3.
Group A.
Zaheer Khan bowled without luck yesterday, but he was sensational and mighty effective today with the ball, completing his 34th 5for in First Class cricket that denied Delhi the points for the first innings lead that looked their’s for the taking. Veteran Mithun Manhas withstood an early breakthrough and some testing bowling from Zaheer in the morning to score yet another Ranji ton for his side, and Rajat Bhatia and Ashish Nehra offered him valuable support. Delhi reached 309-6, just 15 away when Zaheer stepped up. He demolished Manhas’ stumps first, and ran through the Delhi lower order, eventually bowling them out for 324, meaning that the first innings ended with both teams tied, thereby denying Delhi 2 extra points the’d have taken had they taken a leed. Aditya Tare then scored a brisk unbeaten ton and Siddhesh Lad, playing his 2nd First Class game, scored his 2nd 50 of the game to take Mumbai to 198-2 at close. If Mumbai bats an hour with intent, they can set a challenging total for Delhi, and with only 2 points in 2 games, Delhi might have to go for it.
Bhargav Mehrai scored an unbeaten hundred, and Rakesh Dhurv gave him excellent support as Gujarat established a 67 run first innings lead over Karnataka. They were 373-6 when the rain arrived to force an early close to the day’s actions. The match is moving towards a draw, and to add to the possibilities, the weather might have a part to play tomorrow as well.
The Jharkhand-Haryana game is excitingly poised going into the final day. Though they took a 78 run first innings lead, like in the last game, the Haryana batting fell apart in the 2nd innings. Sachin Rana played a priceless innings of 84, but there was very little else. After collapsing to 16-5 and briefly resisting, Haryana were eventually bowled out for 123. India seamer Varun Aaron picked up 3 wickets and Shankar Rao led the way with 4 wickets. Jharkhand lost 3 early wickets chasing 202 for victory, but Bhavin Thakkar on 29 and Ishank Jaggi on 27 have taken them to 74-3. They need another 128 to win tomorrow, Haryana need 7 wickets.
Replying to Odisha’s strong total of 453, Vidarbha are 199-3 at stumps. Faiz Fazal is batting on 124.
Group B.
Railways opener Arindim Ghosh scored a double ton as they took a 265 run lead over Baroda. Baroda are 33-1 in their 2nd innings.
Bengal opener Arindam Das scored 104, but that wasn’t enough to avoid the follow-on against Madhya Pradesh. Jalaj Saxena picked 6 wickets and Ankit Sharma picked 3 as Bengal were bowled out for 263, conceding a first innings lead of 168. Bengal openers batted out 27 overs to score 43 in the 2nd innings. Ishwar Pandey has gone wicketless so far in the match, MP would need him to come to the part to produce an outright result tomorrow.
The national highway on which Saurashtra play their home games has lived up to its atrocious reputation as Saurashtra racked up 632-7 in their first innings. Besides Arpit Vasavada who scored a double ton and Sheldon Jackson scored a ton, Kamlesh Makvana, the number 8 batsman added a unbeaten hundred of his own to their score. Mukul Dagar replied with 92 for UP, but Mohammed Kaif couldn’t convert a start and Suresh Raina failed. UP are 226-4 at close, India seamer Jaydev Unadkat picked up 2-15 in his 15 overs, but he and the Saurashtra bowlers have their task cut out for tomorrow if Saurashtra are to take the 3 points for the first innings lead on this track.
Rakesh Bishnoy scored 112 and Robin Bist is batting on 107 as Rajasthan has comfortably moved into the lead against Services. They are 345-3 at stumps, leading by 20.
Group C.
Rishi Dhawan ripped through the Jammu & Kashmir batting yet again to set up a massive innings and 192 run win for Himachal Pradesh that has taken them to the top of the table in group C. Dhawan, on top of his 4 wickets in the first innings, added a 5for, his 2nd of the season, and with support from Vikramjeet Malik and the rest of the bowlers, he bowled J&K out for only 88.
The 2nd outright result of this round also came from group C itself, when Kerala defeated Tripura by 9 wickets. CP Shahid picked up 7 wickets to help bowl Tripura out for 202, setting Kerala a target of 46, which they achieved with the loss of only 1 wicket. But that 1 wicket has cost them a bonus point though. Kerala are now 2nd in the group.
Dheeraj Jadhav’s hundred propelled Assam to a first innings lead over Andhra. But a result seems difficult in that game, as Assam are 352-7 at close, only 55 ahead. .
The high-scoring game between Maharashtra and Hyderabad is yet to complete the first inningses. Hyderabad are 290-4, still 326 behind Maharashtra.

--aaron for jharkand and Mohit sharma for Haryana pick 7 and 8 wickets....I am happy at the pace back-up options these guys provide

--gambhir gets a 50 in each inning but retired after getting a 50 in the 2nd instead of completing a hundred...that's inexplicable.
Many of his actions defy logic......left a test match to attend seister's wedding instead of scheduling sister's wedding after the test.
walked out of Essex within a week or two of joining county circuit without an explanation.
Howeevr he is atleast in selector's scheme of things unlike Sehwag, Zaheer and Bhaj who are completely out of central contrats.

Round 3, day 4.
Group A.
The Mumbai-Delhi game, despite much expectations, ended in a not very exciting draw. Siddesh Lad extended his half-century to 85 and Abhishek Nayar found form at last to score a quick half-century of his own as Mumbai declared their 2nd innings on 347-6. Delhi didn’t really press hard in the chase. Unmukt Chand scored a hundred and Gautam Gambhir scored his 2nd 50 of the game, a much more solid effort compared to the first innings one, and Virender Sehwag also had a bit of time to play a few shot before they settled for the draw.
Gujarat extended their first innings to 411, and Karnataka, despite losing 2 early wickets, batted out the day rather merrily with Stuart Binny scoring a ton at better than a run-a-ball as the game ended in another draw.
Lali continues to produce challenging tracks for the batsmen, and Jharkhand failed to close out the game against Haryana. Despite collapsing for 123 in their 2nd innings, the first innings lead of 78 came handy for Haryana as they bowled Jharkhand out for 172 to earn a 30 run win, their first of the season. Overnight batsmen Ishank Jaggi and Bhavin Thakkar both scored half-centuries, but couldn’t quite get their side over the line. India seamer Mohit Sharma picked up his 2nd 4for of the game to lead Haryana’s charge with the ball.
Odisha bowled Vidarbha out for 382 and earned a first innings lead of 71 to take the 3 points for the first innings lead from a pretty borring game that saw the first 2 inningses finishing only towards the close of the game.
Group B.
Railways thumped Baroda by an innings and 48 runs as the Baroda batting failed for the 2nd time in the match. Ranjitkumar Mali picked up 2 wickets in the 2nd innings to take his match haul to 10, and his fellow seamers Krishnakant Upadhyay picked up 4 wickets and Anureet Singh picked 3 as Baroda were bowled out for 217. Ambati Rayudu made only 9.
Jalaj Saxena added 4 more wickets in the 2nd innings to take 10 in the match, but the Bengal batting lineup put up a much better show 2nd time round to deny Madhya Pradesh their first win of the season. Following-on after conceding a 168 run lead, Bengal reached 308-5 when the game was called off. Wriddhiman Saha made 69.
Rajasthan lost 7-31 to collapse from 393-3, and then trailing by 99, Services lost 3-33 to creat sudden interest in the game, but Nakul Verma’s hundred, and his partnership with veteran Yashpal Singh who scored a half-century saved the day for Services as they batted out the rest of the day without much discomfort.
Parvinder Singh scored a hundred to stretch Uttar Pradesh first innings late into day 4, but Saurashtra’s first innings score of 632 proved a bit too much, and as India seamer Jaydev Unadkat picked up 3 wickets, Saurashtra walked away with the 3 points from the borfest of a game on a road of a track.

Group C.
Assam took a 135 run first innings lead over Andhra but Andhra batted out the day quite comfortably to reach 176-1 in the 2nd innings as we had yet another borring draw.
But the worst was to come in the game between Maharashtra and Hyderabad. 4 days weren’t enough to get 2 inningses completed in the game as Hyderabad replied to Maharashtra’s 616-9 declared with 528-7. Both sides took a point each from the game.
In Group A, Mumbai and Gujarat both have 13 points at the top. Railways and Saurashtra are on top in group B with 11 points, while Himachal Pradesh are topping Group C with 16 points followed by Kerala with 12.

The 4th round of the Ranji Trophy 2013-14 started today. Mumbai from group, Baroda from Group B and Kerala from Group C aren't playing in this round. The round-up is below.

Ranji Trophy, round 4, day 1.
Group A.
Both Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag failed yet again as Delhi had a tough day against Haryana. As bad light brought the day to an early close, Delhi were 194-8. Gambhir managed a rather edgy 29 while Sehwag was out for only 3 after an almighty struggle at the wicket. For Haryana, Sanjay Budhwar picked up 4 wickets and Joginder Sharma took 2.
Bowlers enjoyed conditions in Mohali as the Punjab-Gujarat game produced 16 wickets in the day. Punjab were bowled out for 172 as 19 year old Gujarat seamer Jasprit Bumrah picked up his first 5for in first class cricket. Jiwanjot Singh, who wasn’t at his best in the earlier games, scored a fine 86 for Punjab. After getting bowled out for a low total, Punjab bowlers hit back for their side, reducing Gujarat to 61-6. Sandeep Sharma, who didn’t play the last game, picked up 3 wickets while Siddarth Kaul and Manprit Goni have taken 1 each. Gujarat’s key batsman and captain, Parthiv Patel got run-out as his side slumped to a real mess.
Saurabh Tiwary and Bhavik Taker scored half-centuries, but Jharkhand batting collapsed again as they were bowled out for 221 by Odisha. Basant Mohanty led the way for Odisha as he picked 5 wickets, including 2 early ones before a run was scored. Varun Aaron’s quick 44 helped Jharkhand to go pass 200 after they lost 7 wickets even before reaching 150, but his side would need Aaron to be at his best with the ball to come back into the game as Odisha have already reached 37-1 in response.
Faiz Fazal led the way for Vidarbha against Karnataka with an unbeaten 139 as they closed the day at 244-2. Abhimanyu Mithun struck for Karnataka in the first over, but they didn’t have too many moments to enjoy after that, as skipper Shalabh Shrivastava gave Fazal solid support with 75 not out.
Group B.
When Laxmi Ratan Shukla made his debut for India in the previous century, he came with the tag of the next Kapil Dev. He couldn’t reach those levels in international cricket, but does remain a very valuable player for Bengal. He struck a fine 155 at close to a strike rate of 100 as Bengal recovered to 303 all out against Saurashtra after being reduced to 77-5. Saurashtra, who are missing Ravindra Jadeja and Jaydev Unadkat on India duty thrived on a collective bowling performance.
R Prasanna scored an unbeaten ton to rescue the day for Tamil Nadu as they ended the day on 258-7. Prasanna is batting on 104 and Aswin Crist is giving him company on 54. Earlier Baba Aparajith scored 60 after the other big names in the top order utterly failed. Abhinav Mukund was out for a golden duck, Murali Vijay played out 13 more balls but couldn’t score any more. S Badrinath made 4 and Dinesh Karthik 5 on a track that had some life for the bowlers. RP Singh picked up a couple of wickets for UP, Piyush Chawla went wicketless on the first day.
Naman Ojha scored 63 but Madhya Pradesh struggled their way to 236-9 against Services. Suraj Yadav picked up 4 wickets.
Pankaj Singh continues to put in the performances for Rajasthan, as they reduced Railways to 223-7 despite the railway men getting a decent start through half-centuries from Nitin Bhille and Shivkant Shukla. Pankaj picked up 3 wickets and Deepak Chahar and Rituraj Singh supported him well.
Group C.
Rishi Dhawan is continuing to build on an outstanding start to his season as he picked up yet another 5for, his 3rd of the season as Himachal bowled Hyderabad out for 237. Dhawan has picked up 26 wickets for the group leaders so far this season and his performance today helped restrict Hyderabad who had managed a decent start with opener T Suman scoring 65.
Arup Das picked up 4 wickets and Abu Nechim and Pritam Das picked 3 each as Assam bowled Tripura out for 136. Tripura are making a habit of getting bowled out for sub-150 totals this season as Abhijit Dey’s half-century went unsupported from the rest of the lineup.
Parwez Rasool failed with the bat as Jammu & Kashmir struggled their way to 173-6 by stumps against Andhra. Bandeep Singh is unbeaten on 68, and the hero from the Goa game, Samiullah Beigh is giving him company.
Maharashtra, who played an absolute borfest in the last game where 4 days weren’t enough to get the first inningses completed, had a run-filled first day yet again, this time against Goa as they reached 360-3 at stumps. Harshad Khadiwale is unbeaten on 147, and Kedar Jadhav made 106. Vijay Zol missed out, as he was out for 20.

Round 4, day 2.
Group A.
Haryana’s batting failed yet again, continuing the pattern of the hardwork of the bowlers being squandered by the batsmen. They bowled Delhi out for 201, but then proceeded to collapse for only 138. India discard Ishant Sharma picked up 5 wickets and veteran Rajit Bhatia took 4. Delhi openers Gautam Gambhir and Unmukt Chand batted out the last hour, reaching 35 without loss, stretching Delhi’s overall lead to 98.
Gujarat lower order performed better than the top order, but that wasn’t enough to prevent Punjab taking a 45 run first innings lead as Gujarat were bowled out for 127. Punjab opener Jiwanjot Singh scored his 2nd half-century of the game as he and fellow opener Ravi Inder Singh put together a hundred run opening partnership before both got out in quick succession. Punjab ended the day at 127-2, with Taruwar Kohli and Mandeep Singh at the crease.
Bikas Pati scored 94 before being dismissed by Varun Aaron, and skipper Biplab Samantray added a half-century as Odisha took a 24 run lead over Jharkhand. Aaron had just the one wicket as Odisha went to stumps at 245-5.
Following Faiz Fazal, Shalabh Shrivastava also completed his hundred and ended up with 187, as Vidarbha ended the day at 457-6 against Karnataka. It has been slow going from Vidarbha, and Karnataka do have a decent batting unit, and the injured Robin Uthappa is back after rehabilitation to add to their strength. Umesh Yadav will have to produce something special to provide the game with some life.
Group B.
Cheteshwar Pujara is back in domestic cricket and did what he’s best at, scoring another hundred for Saurashtra (102). But the rest of the batting wasn’t up to it as Saurashtra were bowled out for 225, conceding a significant 78 run first innings lead to Bengal. Ashok Dinda picked up 4 wickets, and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who had played a terrific innings with the batt, picked up 2. The Bengal openers batted out the one remaining over of the day and added 5 runs.
Tamil Nadu Lower order continued to resist the Uttar Pradesh bowlers and stretched their first innings to 297. Then they kept taking regular wickets as UP slumped to 171-5 in response. Mukul Dagar made 69 and Prashant Gupta is batting on 55. R Aushik Srinivas picked up a couple of wickets for TN.
Rajat Paliwal and Yashpal Singh combined well and added on the platform given by Pratik Desai as Services have taken a 17 run first innings lead over Madhya Pradesh with 7 wickets remaining. MP’s last wicket partnership could add only 3 more to their overnight score as they were bowled out for 239. Services are 256-3, with Paliwal on 92 and Yashpal on 81. Jalaj Saxena picked up all the 3 wickets for MP, after a fine opening game, Ishwar Pandey seems to have lost form, as he again went wicketless.
Vineet Saxena is batting on 73, but Rajasthan are in serious trouble against Railways. A half-century from wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat helped Railways stretch their first innings to 283. Pankaj Singh took 4 wickets for Rajasthan. Railways seamer Anureet Singh struck in the first over itself, and then added 2 more wickets and received good support from the rest of the bowlers as Rajasthan slumped to 142-6 at close.
Group C.
Bipul Sharma made 91 from number 7, as Himachal Pradesh took a 59 run first innings lead against Hyderabad. Rishi Dhawan made 47, and there were contributions from Sangram Singh and Vikramjeet Malik as HP were bowled out for 296. Seamer Alfred Absolem picked up 4 wickets for Hyderabad. Hyderabad are 40 without loss in the 2nd innings.
The fight for the first innings llead is pretty much on in the Andhra-J&K game. Replying to J&K’s first innings score of 225, Andhra are 191-8 at close. Parwez Rasool took 2 wickets for J&K.
Dheeraj Jadhav made 194 and Tarjinder Singh fell 1 short of his ton as Assam took a firm grip over their game against Tripura. Assam ended the day at 420-4, leading by 286.
Harshad Khadiwale converted his overnight hundred into 262, as Maharashtra scored 635 in their first innings. Goa are 73-1 in response when stumps were drawn. Maharashtra scored over 600 in the previous game as well, but had to be satisfied with the 1 point as they couldn’t bowl the opposition out even by the end of 4 days. Goa’s batting isn’t the strongest, and Maharashtra did bat quickly. But don’t be surprised if both teams share 2 points in this game as well.

dhawan continues to have a good show with bat and ball.....he is ripe for am a~tour or odi slot.
aparajith is the other one very consistent.
the ranji seasons so far has been nails in the coffin of sehwag and gambhir and chand's techinacal defecencies stand exposed also

KPF, the way ODIs are played in India, I'd rather hope Dhawan's picked in the test squad or A team squads. He has 26 wickets and over 250 runs this season with 3 5fors and 3 50s.
On another note, has the Man with Potential given the selectors the reason they've been looking for to bring him back into the national setup? Hope not, but I suspect that's the way its going to be......

Think its all done for Sehwag, but Gambhir is just about managing to keep the door ajar for a comeback with a few starts though he hasn't looked all that convincing as yet.
aAnd I do agree, Unmukt Chand is just not ready for international cricket, and he doesn't fill one with confidence regarding his test prospects. Jiwanjot, despite his apparent limitations with strokes, looks a much better option, he seems to have a fine temperament for the longer format.

Chand has fallen away since under-19 world cup, which is sad to see.

Round 4, day 3.
Group A.
Gautam Gambhir batted with the typical Gambhir determination of old and despite struggling to find the middle of the bat regularly, held on for dear life and scored a very important hundred, and after reaching 3 figures, set about taking charge and scored his next 50 runs in 34 balls before eventually getting out for 153, as Delhi set a stiff winning target of 375 for Haryana. Rajit Bhatya’s 56 not out and contribution from Mithun Manhas complimented Gambhir’s determination, as Delhi declared their 2nd innings at 312-5. Virender Sehwag failed yet again, scoring only 6. Haryana are in massive trouble at 63-5 in the 2nd innins, as debutant spinner Varun Sood has taken 3 wickets.
Uday Kaul and Taruvar Kohli made half-centuries as Punjab scored 309 in their 2nd innings to set Gujarat a target of 355. Uday made an unbeaten 52 and Kohli made 50. Jasprit Bumrah picked up 3 wickets. Gujarat lost Smit Patel to the first ball of the 2nd innings, and lost 2 more wickets before close to find themselves in serious trouble at 33-3.
Saurabh Tiwary made his 2nd half-century of the game(57) and wicketkeeper Papu Singh is batting on 56 not out as Jharkhand are battling hard for survival against Odisha. Odisha lost their last 5 wickets for not many as the innings came to an end at 307. Jharkhand are 149-6 2nd time round, ahead by 63. Basant Mohanty carried the Odisha bowling all by himself, taking all the 6 wickets that have fallen.
The Vidarbha-Karnataka game continues to be a horrible borfest. Vidarbha batted almost 200 overs, in a 4 day game, a Ranji record to post 542. Even Umesh Yadav enjoyed himself with the bat, striking 34. As expected, there was nothing that Yadav and co could do on the road as Karnataka batsmen replied in kind, reaching 252-2 at close. Robin Uthappa on first class return couldn’t have asked for an easier pitch to bat on, and he duely took advantage scoring 86. Mayank Agarwal played his part with 71, and KL Rahul is batting on 59 with Manish Pandey for company. Hope the bloody BCCI is taking note of this abomination.
Group B.
Piyush Chawla has been lackluster with the ball, but he scored a crucial hundred as Uttar Pradesh took an important 114 run first innings lead against Tamil Nadu. TN could manage only 2 wickets the whole day, things not helped when Abhinav Mukund put Chawla down when he was on 9, Chawla went back 114 not out at the end of the day.
Wriddhiman Saha and Anustabh Majundar scored half-centuries to save the day somewhat for Bengal against Saurashtra, though the Saurashtra bowlers kept at it through out and took 8 of the Bengal 2nd innins wickets for 189, as Bengal go into day for 272 ahead with 2 wickets remaining.
Rajat Paliwal missed out on his hundred by a single but Yashpal Singh scored 142 as Services were bowled out for 391, 152 ahead of Madhya Pradesh. Jalaj Saxena picked up 4 wickets, and Jatin Saxena also added 4 wickets. Naman Ojha scored a 50 and is unbeaten at close, but Madhya Pradesh have lost 3 wickets already, and are 25 runs away from making Services bat again. First session going to be very crucial tomorrow.
Rajasthan were bowled out for 178 as Railways seamers Ranjitkumar Mali, Anureet Singh and Krishnakant Upadhyay all chipped in with 3 wickets each. But life was to become hard for the Railway men, as they were bowled out for only 150 in their 2nd innings, setting Rajasthan a 4th innings target of 256. Deepak Chahar and Aniket Chaudhary picked up 3 wickets each for Rajasthan. They are 5 without loss at stumps.
Group C.
The Andhra-J&K game had a day full of drama. Andhra lost the remaining 2 wickets quickly and were bowled out for 205, conceding a 20 run first innings lead to J&K. But P Vijaykumar hit back hard, taking 5-52 to help bowl J&K out for only 121, thus setting Andhra a target of 142. But Andhra batting continued to let the bowlers down, they started losing wickets from the very first over, and ended the day at 79-8, still 63 runs away from victory. The 9th wicket partnership has survived almost 11 overs, but they have their task cut out for tomorrow.
Akshay Chouhan took 5 wickets and Rishi Dhawan added 2 more, but Hyderabad are fighting hard against Himachal Pradesh. They wiped out the first innings deficit of 59 without much discomfort, and thanks to knocks of 77 not out from Syed Quadri and 73 from Dwaraka Ravi Teja, reached 319-7 at close, leading by 260.
Assam built a massive 390 run first innings lead over Tripura as they declared their first innings at 526-5. Neeraj Patel and Gokul Sharma added half-centuries today. Tripura have been a lot more solid than they were in the first innings, as they reached 159-3, still 231 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat.
Goa’s not so solid batting lineup is holding up well on the Pune-Mumbai national highway, and their nightwatchman Harshad Gadekar batted through the day to score 86 not out as they reached 297-5 in response to Maharashtra’s 635. Makes for atrocious reading. Vidarbha and Maharashtra don’t have cricket pitches so that they play on highways, it would be better if the 2 teams are merged so that we have one less problem....

thanks for the updates msp.

jasprit Bumrah's name is shining in every game...we saw a bit of him in the IPL for Mumbai where he shocked the opponents with his ram-rod staright arm delivery action...coming very close to the stumps...and an unexpected nippy pace touching 135kph.

good to see there is fire and life left in Gambhir.....if he gets one more BIG one he might put himsefl in contention.
already we can see Vijay feeling a bit insecure and talking about peforing overseas here http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/691999.html

he got 2 innnings vs WI in test and would have done himself good had he converted one of those into a hundred.

neverthles he will open in first and second test in SA...if he fails.....and if Gambhir is still doing well...then gambhir might be on his way to NZ

KP fan with Vijay...i think the issue is sorted without Gambhir...

Dhoni rates Jadeja but with the emergence of Rohit his place seemed to have gone...however if Vijay dosent find form soon, then Pujara could go up to open, with everybody going up one again with Jadja back in the side...

Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Rohit
Dhoni
Jadeja
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Shami
Ojha

Round 4, day 4.
Group A.
Haryana batted much, much better than they did yesterday, and gave Delhi a bit of a scare but lost steam and eventually couldn’t recover from the top order collapse of 5-61. The lower order, particularly Sachin Rana and Jayand Yadav fought hard, but Delhi bowlers, despite conceding over 170 runs in the morning session, eventually bowled Haryana out for 270, to earn a 105 run win to take 6 points from the match. India discard Ishant Sharma cleaned up the lower order and picked up 4 wickets in the 2nd innings. Varun Sood took 4 as well, and Parwinder Awana took 2. Sharma finished the match with 9 wickets.
Odisha finished off the challenge from Jharkhand without fuss to take away 6 points from a 9 wicket win. Jharkhand were bowled out for 194 in their 2nd innings as Alok Sahu took the last 4 wickets on top of the 6 taken by Basant Mohanty yesterday, setting Odisha a target of 109 to win. Varun Aaron dismissed Bikas Pati early, but girjia Raut made an unbeaten 67 to close out the win.
Punjab were in charge of their game against Gujarat at stumps yesterday as Gujarat had lost 3 for 33 in their chase of 355. But after a wicket fest for 3 days, the game changed its nature altogether on the 4th day as Punjab’s quality bowling lineup couldn’t separate the overnight pair of Gohel Sharma and Rujul Bhatt through the entire day. Although Gujarat had conceded the first innings lead, they didn’t take a chance in the last session despite Sharma batting out the first 2 session and opted for safety and the game was called off after both the batsmen reached their respective hundreds.
Even the borfest between Karnataka and Vidarbha had some excitement on the last day. Though Karnataka’s top order, led by KL Rahul’s 158 and contributions from Mayank Agarwal, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey set about pursuing Vidarbha’s 542 with gusto, they lost their way in between. But a 72 run 9th wicket partnership between debutant Abrar Kazi and spinner KP Appanna got them pass Vidarbha’s score and ensured 3 points. The Vidarbha side deserved all that they got for preparing such an abomination of a track.
Group B.
Chasing 255, Rajasthan were 87 for 2 at one stage, but then proceed to lose their next 8 wickets for 49 runs as Railways won the game by 119 runs to go top in the group. Anureet Singh took 5 wickets and Ranjitkumar Mali picked up 4 wickets.
Saurashtra took out the 2 remaining Bengal wickets without letting them add to the overnight score of 194, but found themselves in serious trouble in the chase of 273 as they slumped to 38-4. Cheteshwar Pujara was one of the 4 when he was out to Ashok Dinda for 9. But skipper Jaydev Shah and Arpit Vasavada saved the day for Saurashtra with a 151 run partnership. The captain scored an unbeaten 104 and Vasavada was not out on a patient 50 when the game was called off.
Naman Ojha scored a double hundred (211) and steered Madhya Pradesh to safety against Services. After conceding a first innings lead of 152, MP ended their 2nd innings at 387-7 as the match ended in a draw.
Uttar Pradesh were happy with the 3 points for the first innings lead as they batted on on the final day before declaring the innings at 500-9 with Piyush Chawla extending his knock to 153. TN ended the day at 128-2. Murali Vijay made a rather chancy 38 and Abhinav Mukund found some runs at last, scoring 56 not out.
Group C.
Tabletoppers Himachal Pradesh crashed to a huge 185 run defeat against Hyderabad. Though HP had taken the first innings lead, Hyderabad batted with determination in their 2nd innings and declared it closed at 351-8 as Syed Quadri made an unbeaten 101. Then seamer Ravi Kiran picked up 4 wickets to lead a Himachal collapse with support from Alfred Absolem and Pragyan Ojha who both picked up 2 wickets. Rishi Dhawan was out for a golden duck as HP were bowled out for only 111 2nd time round.
M Suresh fought hard with a half-century, but he was run-out as the last wicket, as Jammu & Kashmir won their close contest with Andhra by 17 runs. K Harish and P Vijay Kumar, the number 10 and 11 gave Suresh some valuable support, but the top order collapse proved to be too much in the end.
Tripura’s much improved 2nd innings wasn’t good enough to paper over their pathetic first innings effort as they crashed to an innings and 55 run defeat against Assam. Yogesh Takawale added a half-century to the efforts of the top order batsmen, but Abu Nechim took 4 wickets and with support from the rest of the bowling unit, Tripura were bowled out for 334 to help Assam earn a bonus point win.
Seamer Domnic Joseph and left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar managed the unthinkable, by picking up 4 wickets each! in the road cricket game between Goa and Maharashtra as Maharashtra helped themselves to 3 poins with the first innings lead.

The team for the South Africa series might be picked tomorrow. It was impeccable timing from Gambhir with that 153, the question is, is that good enough to get him a ticket to South Africa? We'll have to wait and see. Though he was not very convincing, he had a couple of 50s in the last game, and scored a hundred for the A team as well early this season. So I won't be surprised if he's picked. I wouldn't complain if the call goes either way though.

msp83 wrote:The team for the South Africa series might be picked tomorrow. It was impeccable timing from Gambhir with that 153, the question is, is that good enough to get him a ticket to South Africa? We'll have to wait and see. Though he was not very convincing, he had a couple of 50s in the last game, and scored a hundred for the A team as well early this season. So I won't be surprised if he's picked. I wouldn't complain if the call goes either way though.

i don't think gambhir will be picked now...for no way can Vijay be dropped yet...he has to get two tests.
and if they aren't going to play Gambhir...they won't put him in the 15.

Gambhi's best chance is to keep performing in Ranji and if Vijay fails in SA then Gambhir goes to NZ

Gambhir was picked as Shikhar Dhawan's replacement for the 4th test againt Australia when Shikhar got injured. Vijay will certainly start the series, but he didn't score big in the West Indies, there has been questions about his abilities in seaming conditions, and he has been in pretty bad form at the domestic level. There is Rohit Sharma, and there is Pujara who can open, but I believe they might just go in with a reserve opener. Jiwanjot doesn't look ready, and Chand hasn't had the First Class record to pick him.

Vijay, Dhawan, Pujara, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rahane, Dhoni, Jadeja, Ashwin, Shami, Bhuvneshwar, Yadav. They pick themselves. Think Zaheer too should be in there. I don't think there is any need to select more than 2 spinners for South Africa. Dinesh Karthik has been in terrible form in the Ranji, so I think they should go for Saha as the reserve keeper. Ishant Sharma is someone in whom the management seems to have lots of hope, he picked 9 in his last Ranji game. Don't think it'll be a good call, but I think Ishant will keep his place in the squad.

Vijay, Dhawan, Pujara, Kohli, Sharma, Rahane as batsmen. Dhoni the wicketkeeper. Saha the reserve keeper. Gambhir the reserve opener. Jadeja the all-rounder. Ashwin the spinner. Zaheer, Umesh, Shami, Bhuvneshwar and Ishant the seamers, I'd prefer Rishi Dhawan as the 16th player in the squad.

Rishi Dhawan ahead of Ishant, you mean? Else, it would make it 17.

ShankyCricket wrote:Rishi Dhawan ahead of Ishant, you mean? Else, it would make it 17.

Yeah, exactly, Dhawan ahead of Sharma. But I doubt the selectors would go that way.

No, they won't. I'd drop Vijay too but again, won't happen. Gambhir has probably done enough for a recall.

msp83 wrote:Gambhir was picked as Shikhar Dhawan's replacement for the 4th test againt Australia when Shikhar got injured. Vijay will certainly start the series, but he didn't score big in the West Indies, there has been questions about his abilities in seaming conditions, and he has been in pretty bad form at the domestic level. There is Rohit Sharma, and there is Pujara who can open, but I believe they might just go in with a reserve opener. Jiwanjot doesn't look ready, and Chand hasn't had the First Class record to pick him.

 
Vijay will defnitely play..and get atleast 2 tests before he is dumped.
 
Inside reports/ gossips from CI
CI reports reserve opener will be Karthik because he doubles up as a WK reserve also.
CI also reports Gambhir will not be taken unless he is confiremd to be in the playing 11
CI also reports Zaheer selection has been left as a prerogative with the team management( read Bhai)
CI also reports selectors are considering putting Raina in the squad expanding it to 16 under suggestions from team management....shock, horro:furious: r...BUT he has recently been promoted to grade player list:shock:  ( Bhai loves him)

KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:The team for the South Africa series might be picked tomorrow. It was impeccable timing from Gambhir with that 153, the question is, is that good enough to get him a ticket to South Africa? We'll have to wait and see. Though he was not very convincing, he had a couple of 50s in the last game, and scored a hundred for the A team as well early this season. So I won't be surprised if he's picked. I wouldn't complain if the call goes either way though.

i don't think gambhir will be picked now...for no way can Vijay be dropped yet...he has to get two tests.
and if they aren't going to play Gambhir...they won't put him in the 15.

Gambhi's best chance is to keep performing in Ranji and if Vijay fails in SA then Gambhir goes to NZ

Do you rate Vijay?

KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:Gambhir was picked as Shikhar Dhawan's replacement for the 4th test againt Australia when Shikhar got injured. Vijay will certainly start the series, but he didn't score big in the West Indies, there has been questions about his abilities in seaming conditions, and he has been in pretty bad form at the domestic level. There is Rohit Sharma, and there is Pujara who can open, but I believe they might just go in with a reserve opener. Jiwanjot doesn't look ready, and Chand hasn't had the First Class record to pick him.

 
Vijay will defnitely play..and get atleast 2 tests before he is dumped.
 
Inside reports/ gossips from CI
CI reports reserve opener will be Karthik because he doubles up as a WK reserve also.
CI also reports Gambhir will not be taken unless he is confiremd to be in the playing 11
CI also reports Zaheer selection has been left as a prerogative with the team management( read Bhai)
CI also reports selectors are considering putting Raina in the squad expanding it to  16 under suggestions from team management....shock, horro:furious: r...BUT he has recently been promoted to grade player list:shock:  ( Bhai loves him)

I think Saha is ahead of DK in Tests. He kept wickets in both the Tests for India A in SA even though DK was there too. Scored a fighting 77 when everyone else, Rahane aside, failed in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test. DK's Ranji form hasn't added much to his case either.


I'd break a few windows if Raina is picked.

ShankyCricket wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:The team for the South Africa series might be picked tomorrow. It was impeccable timing from Gambhir with that 153, the question is, is that good enough to get him a ticket to South Africa? We'll have to wait and see. Though he was not very convincing, he had a couple of 50s in the last game, and scored a hundred for the A team as well early this season. So I won't be surprised if he's picked. I wouldn't complain if the call goes either way though.

i don't think gambhir will be picked now...for no way can Vijay be dropped yet...he has to get two tests.
and if they aren't going to play Gambhir...they won't put him in the 15.

Gambhi's best chance is to keep performing in Ranji and if Vijay fails in SA then Gambhir goes to NZ

Do you rate Vijay?

I believe he has more potential than people give him credit....or under-rated

I think Saha is ahead of DK in Tests. He kept wickets in both the Tests for India A in SA even though DK was there too. Scored a fighting 77 when everyone else, Rahane aside, failed in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test. DK's Ranji form hasn't added much to his case either.


I'd break a few windows if Raina is picked.

saha doesn't open and iof there is no reserved opner than selectors might put DK in.....that is pathetic IMO
Rahane or Rohit or Pujara should open in case in those two tests the first choice opner gets indisposed due to an injurxy

Raina has been promoted to A grade contrcat so anything is possible

I would pick Gambhir and indeed go with him ahead of Vijay too,