Ranji player watch – bowlers

Who are the players to watch out for in the Ranjis this season? Thought I’d compile my list starting with the bowlers.

Fast/Medium bowlers

• Ishant Sharma, New Delhi 
• Ranadeb Bose, Bengal 
• Munaf Patel, Maharashtra
• VRV Singh, Punjab
• YoMahesh, TN

Apart from Bose and YoMahesh the other fast bowlers have represented India and Munaf Patel (not withstanding his Challenger Trophy performance) looks the most likely to break back in to the team first. But first he has to play a full season without breaking down. Pankaj Singh from Rajasthan didn’t make the cut into my list, but I’ll still be watching how he performs.

There are some notable exceptions in this list, such as Joginder Sharma and Praveen Kumar, but I thought they are better of falling into the allrounder category.

Spinners

• Piyush Chawla (Leg spin/Googly), UP
• Pragyan Ojha (Left arm orthodox), Hyderabad
• R Ashwin (Right arm off spin), TN
• KP Appanna (Left arm orthodox), Karnataka
• Abdulla (Left arm orthodox), Mumbai

Amit Mishra, the legspinner who has played for India missed the cut from my list. He hasn’t had the kind of impact some one like Piyush Chawla has had, but it would be interesting to see how he goes. Chawla  has already broken into the India ODI squad and there is talks that he may eventually replace Kumble when he retires. Ojha has been very impressive for India A and looked the most likely left arm spinner to break into the Indian squad. But that was before Murali Karthik’s comeback. Appanna and Abdulla show a lot of promise and it would be interesting to see how they perform a full season. I would also like to see how Shahbaz Nadeem (another left arm spinner) who is not in my list performs this season.

Every so often during this season, I’ll try and post on how these people are going.

-Mahesh-

RoI win Irani Trophy

Rest of India won the Irani Trophy season opener convincingly. In Mumbai’s first innings, Kukreja (110 off 210 balls) and Abhishek Nayar (118 off 108 balls) scored tons to get Mumbai to a decent total of 453 all out.

Abhishek Nayar is shaping up as a really useful allrounder to watch out for in the future. He bats left handed and is a right-arm fast medium bowler. In this match, Nayar bowled more overs than any other Mumbai bowler. Not that this fact alone counted for much in the end, but it talks of the confidence that the team has in this 24-year-old!

After a shaky start in response to this large total, RoI responded soundly, with Parthiv Patel (179 off 235) and Manoj Tiwary (130 off 184) scoring brisk centuries. Parthiv Patel opened the innings with Akash Chopra and has been in stunning form with the bat! In the end, RoI had a slender 1st innings lead. Badrinath had made 29.

It was around this time that news may have leaked of Badrinath’s impending selection in the India team. He may have hoped for the Irani Trophy match to get over soon so that he could pack up is kit and join Team India! But even Badrinath, — who commented, “I can’t leave till this match gets over. I hope we win it tomorrow.” — would not have expected the swiftness of the RoI victory!

In the second innings, Mumbai folded for 106 off 33.3 overs in a mere 166 minutes! RoI had to make 90 to win, which they did for the loss of only 1 wicket! Parthiv Patel smashed a 48-ball 59 to continue his dream run with the bat.

There were several positives and some questions asked from this match:

• Parthiv Patel will continue to put pressure on Dinesh Karthik for a place in the team, especially since Patel is opening too!
• For Manoj Tiwary, this century represents a timely reminder to the selectors that he can’t be forgotten.
• Mohammed Kaif continues to be the most successful representative captain who probably didn’t play much for his country!
• Ramesh Powar didn’t make any impression on anyone!
• Ajit Agarkar continued to bowl like a millionaire that he is not.
• Young Iqbal Abdullah continues to impress and so does Pragyan Ojha.
• But most interestingly, after an insipid first innings, Munaf Patel bowled with fire in the 2nd innings for RoI. His 5-for-25 off 7.3 overs wrecked Mumbai and caused them to crumble to 106 all out (and his fighting partnership with Ranadeb Bose in the RoI 1st innings to take RoI to a lead will perhaps help his cause too)!

Ps: Who is Omkar Gurav? What happend to Vinayak Mane?

EDIT: Vinayak Mane is injured.

— Mohan

Team India for ODI against Scotland and England Lions

India plays Scotland today (Thursday 16 August) in a ODI match at the Clydesdale Cricket Club grounds in Glasgow. Not surprisingly, it has been raining in Glasgow and a tinge of optimism is required to believe that this match will run its full course. If the weather does not have a say in curtailing the match duration, the Indian team might! Scotland are definitely not pushovers and since the World Cup, they have shown some improvement. But I can’t really see them offer the Indian team anything more than a pleasant sightseeing opportunity!

India follow this game with a ODI against England Lions at the County Ground, Northampton.

After that the 7-match circus commences on 21 August at The Rose Bowl (Southampton).

From the Team India contingent for the Test matches, Anil Kumble, Sree Santh, Wasim Jaffer, Ranadeb Bose, V. V. S. Laxman and Ishant Sharma have departed for India while Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel have joined the squad.

It is likely that all of the above will play in the game against Scotland and also in the game against England Lions on the 18th. It is also likely that the players with minimal work-rate in the Test series will also play both games — namely, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Ramesh Powar.

We could add to this list Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Karthik and Sourav Ganguly for the game against Scotland and Sachin Tendulkar, M. S. Dhoni and R. P. Singh for the game against the Lions.

So the likely teams for the games are:

Against Scotland:
Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Karthik, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel.

and

Against England Lions:
Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, M. S. Dhoni, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, R. P. Singh and Munaf Patel

It is likely that Zaheer Khan will sit out both games.

— Mohan
— Mohan

Indian Team for the Oval Test

Team India have a nine-day gap between the end of the 2nd Test match and the start of the 3rd and final Test at The Oval. The 3rd Test commences 9 August.

In between, from the 3rd to the 5th of August, India plays Sri Lanka ‘A’ at Leicester! This is a bit wierd! I am not aware of a touring team playing another touring team — and that too an ‘A’ team — in a 3-day practice match! Could well be a first?

India have a few questions to answer, notably:
– Whether Sree Santh plays at The Oval, and if he does, what his mental state is.
– Whether Yuvraj plays at The Oval.

Sri Lanka ‘A’ have some decent players in its ranks. Its one-down player, Michael Vandort, has already played 9 Tests for Sri Lanka (including those against Bangladesh recently) for an impressive average of 52.91 including 3 centuries. Thilan Samaraveera, the ‘A’ Team captain, has played 39 Tests for an average of 41.53. He has also snared 14 Test wickets with his off-spin bowling. Kaushal Lokuarachchi is said to be a useful all-rounder. He bowls legspin, bats well and has played in 4 Tests and 19 ODIs. Dammika Prasad and Akalanka Ganegama are useful fast-medium bowlers who are rated quite highly. They have both played a handful of ODIs. They will be able to offer a good practice for the Indians ahead of The Oval.

I believe India needs to play the following in their XI for this game (in batting order):

Wasim Jaffer
Dinesh Karthik
Gautam Gambhir
Yuvraj Singh
VVS Laxman
Rahul Dravid (c)
MS Dhoni (wk)
Ramesh Powar
Ranadeb Bose
S Sreesanth
Ishant Sharma

Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, R. P. Singh and Sachin Tendulkar should earn a break and get some R&R.

Despite the win in I do believe India needs to sort out the Yuvraj Singh question. I do feel that the process of future-building needs to commence now — and not in the future. The Fab Four will not be around for ever. Yuvraj Singh needs to be blooded and the time is now.

Despite Laxman’s fighting 50 in the 2nd Test and despite Dhoni’s match-saving innings at The Lords’ I believe one of them need to make way for Yuvraj Singh for The Oval game. Apart from being an opportunity to play a future middle-order bat for India, Yuvraj Singh lends greater agility to the fielding and is also able to bowl a containing line of left-arm spin — if needed. One of the drawbacks in Team India in the 2nd Test was that there was virtually no one who could bowl an Ashley-Giles-type or even a Monty-Panesar-type of containing-line at one end. Yuvraj Singh may give India that option.

Moreover, if Sree Santh appears to be still undercooked in the Sri Lanka ‘A’ game, I feel he should make way for either Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma or Romesh Powar. The Oval does afford spin on days 3 and 4 and so, Powar would be a tempting option to go with. It depends, however, on how Bose, Sharma and Powar bowl in the tour game.

— Mohan

My team for the 1st Test

I am the captain of the Indian team. I have had just 2 practice games and the 1st Test is already on to me. Too many questions have been left unanswered as far as my team selection goes. Even if I get 2 more games I don’t think I will get answers. So I better sit down and choose my best team. Firstly the openers. Karthik has done well. But apparently Dhoni is not keeping as well. He has dropped straightforward chances in the practice games. But again if Karthik, who is also keeping well these days, is to be my main keeper, then can he also open the batting? Ok, so Jaffer is incosistent. Gambhir has scored in the practice game and deserves a chance. So if Dhoni is to be dropped, Karthik to bat down the order and keep wickets, I can play only one of Laxman or Yuvraj. Of course the media always likes to mention that “Yuvraj can be handy with his left arm spin” because he is their darling over someone like Laxman. But I am pragmatic. I think Laxman, is more dangerous down the order. e is the better player of spinenrs, and if the new ball is blunted, he is one of the best in the team to take on Monty. Now come the bowlers. Zaheer, Sreesanth and Kumble are automatic. Ishanth Sharma is not in the reckoning. Should I play the 2nd spinner o go for the third seamer. I think the 3rd seamer is a better bet. Of course the media will say “Powar can bat a bit” like they used to about Agarkar, even after he had scored a dozen ducks in Australia! Now should I play RP Singh  or Ranadeb Bose? I will take the risk and play Bose. Do you know the guy has never noballed in first class cricket! And for rolling their arms over I do have Sachin & Sourav. So here is my team

Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman,  Dinesh Karthik, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Ranadeb Bose.

– Dravid (Oops! Sanjay)

India’s XI for the First Test

From this rather forthright set of statements by captain Rahul Dravid, it appears as if Team India’s playing XI for the first Test against England (at Lord’s from July 19 to 23) has been virtually decided.

Rahul Dravid indicated that he was expecting big things from V. V. S. Laxman and appears to have given the stylish middle-order batsman the all-clear to play in the starting XI.

We can connect the dots between the following two statements and surmise that Laxman will play.

“I back Laxman to have a big tour this time. The last time he didn’t have as great a tour as the other guys. I can see that he’s determined to correct it this time. He looks hungry.”

“I know my best top order. I’m pretty clear about the top six going into the first Test match. In the next game (against England ‘A’) we will be playing our top six batsmen.”

Any lingering doubts may have been sealed by the sparkling 95 that Laxman scored in India’s tour opener against Sussex.

Given Dinesh Karthik’s impressive outing and given the fact that Jaffer scored a century in his last outing — albeit against Bangladesh — I don’t believe the opening combination will be tampered with. So, we can expect a top-six of: Karthik, Jaffer, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman.

The only question would be if India will play five bowlers or M. S. Dhoni and four bowlers.

Here again, Dravid puts paid to any speculation on the matter with yet another forthright comment. That the team expects to play both Karthik and Dhoni and four bowlers is sealed in the following two comments:

“We will probably go in with four bowlers. Depending upon the weather and the pitch we will have to decide whether it’s two spinners and two fast bowlers, or three pacers and a spinner.”

“Dhoni is coming here for the first time and the people here will be seeing him for the first time. Dinesh Karthik too has been very impressive in his short career. Had a lot of success in South Africa. We will be expecting both of them to deliver the goods.”

Given this scenario, we can expect that the only selection conundrum would be whether India plays two pacers and two spinners (unlikely) and if they play three pace-men, who these will be. Although most scribes are pointing to Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan and R. P. Singh as the combination, I’d like to see them play Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan and Ranadeb Bose.

So, my team for the First Test would be:

Karthik, Jaffer, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dhoni, Kumble, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Ranadeb Bose.

— Mohan

Team for match against Sussex…

India play their first game of their tour of England against Sussex today (Saturday 7 July 2007). It is an opportunity to test the form and conditioning of a few of their players. And I suspect this will provide Rahul Dravid and the team management an opportunity to answer a few unanswered questions.

The Indians will come up against three Pakistan players who are playing for Sussex: Mushtaq Mohammed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Rana Naved-ul Hasan

They will also come up against Murray Goodwin, former Zimbabwe player. Goodwin has also played for Western Australia and Zimbabwe with credit. Sussex is led by Chris Adams, who played 5 Tests for England, making his debut against South Africa. Sussex also has James Kirtley in its stable. Kirtley’s action was called into question a few times in his career and he was eventually banned from bowling for a while. He got his action corrected at the National Cricket Centre. He too has played for England and showed much initial promise. Matt Prior, the current England ‘keeper also plays for Sussex. Prior had a great start to his Test career and it seemed that Englands’ almost continuous search for the ‘keeper had ended. It will be interesting for Team India to run against such strong opposition in its tour opener. Michael Yardy is also an interesting player for Sussex. He is a good striker of the cricket ball and bowls slow-left-arm to boot.

Hopefully Sussex will field a strong team. And hopefully the fickle weather will allow a match to be played!

For India, some of the unanswered questions are (possibly):

Does Dinesh Karthik play as opener or does Gautam Gambhir play?
Does India play both Dhoni and Karthik?
Which of V. V. S. Laxman or Yuvraj Singh (if either) should play?
Which of the pacers should India play?
Should India play two spinners?

With this in mind, I suspect India will go in with the following team composition:

Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, V. V. S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Romesh Powar, Anil Kumble, Sreesanth, R. P. Singh, Ranadeb Bose

I do hope the team is able answer some of these questions in this game — weather-willing!

— Mohan

First steps on a long road to recovery…

Team India took a few strong steps on its road to recovery after her exit from the World Cup 2007 Tournament left her many fans in a state shock and disbelief.

India first beat Ireland and then, South Africa. The 2-1 win over South Africa must give the team hope, resolve and confidence. The matches were played in Ireland in conditions that would have probably suited South Africa’s game more than it did, India’s. Moreover, India were without some of their key players for all three games. And let’s not forget that South Africa is currently the #2 ranked ODI team in the world — to India’s sixth.

But the road to recovery is long and it is arduous. Sterner tests await — first against Pakistan and then against England.

Moreover, I believe that this tour has not answered as many questions as it ought to have.

In the main, the one un-answered issue is around team-balance. There seems to me to be some confusion on whether or not the team goes in with 4-bowlers or 5-bowlers. At the risk of sounding like a boring parrot, I think that this is where the lack of an all-rounder option hurts the team. If only Irfan Pathan was in better form/fitness. If only Dinesh Mongia was more consistent (or had someone in the team-think-tank whose trust he had). If only.

This dilly-dallying can hurt the team and its long-term chances badly.

It seems to me that the team has almost decided on Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar as its main two bowlers. The team will chose between R. P. Singh and Sree Sreesanth for the 3rd seamer. While this is fine, in theory, this reliance on Agarkar is somewhat frightening to me. One just can’t predict which of the Agarkars will turn up on match day! The sooner Team India makes up its mind on this, the better things will be, in my view! The back-up bowling strength looks strong — even considering Ishant Sharma’s not-too-bright start. With Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose, Munaf Patel and Rakesh Patel waiting in the wings, one could suggest that there is reasonable bench strength. Moreover, in Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar, India has two steady spin bowlers. They will be tested severely in the game against Pakistan though. One mad over to Afridi or Pietersen may be enough to wreck either of these two spinners! It will be good to see how they fare in that game. Neverthelsee, signs are there that the bowling is pulling things together. They need to bowl in the right areas and with far greater discipline. Hopefully the appointment of Venkatesh Prasad is helping here.

It seems to me that the team has reverted to the old-firm of Tendulkar-Ganguly at the top. While that is fine in theory, I’d need to see the middle-order play with more fire and grit than it had in the past when Tendulkar and Ganguly fell cheaply and early. The last match yielded some signs that, with Dravid coming in at #4 and with a more responsible Yuvraj and a dependable Karthik to follow, there are promising signs for the future. For this reliance, Yuvraj’s role is extremely vital. He has to be the clinical finisher that Michael Bevan was; the finisher that Mike Hussey is! But there are signs of the batting holding together. However, one swallow does not make a summer. Time will tell whether reverting to the Ganguly-Tendulkar old-firm is a good move. If Tendulkar and Ganguly open, it is in my view necessary for Dravid to come in at #4 to hold things together in the face of a mini-collapse. This then makes the role of the #3 quite crucial. And this is where, I think, the team needs to invest.

And this brings into question Gautam Gambhir’s role! I am not sure if his role has been either decided or clarified. He seems to me to be caught in a shall-I-attack or shall-I-defend frame mind. And this results in a rabbit-caught-in-headlights type situation. Not the best situation for anyone to be in.

Oh! How we yearn for a fit and strong Irfan Pathan at #3! The advantage of a person like Pathan at #3 is that, along with the 4 other bowlers (8, 9, 10 and 11) he will make the bowling complement. Moreover, he has the ability to hit out — if the start has been brisk — or buckle down with tight defense — in the event of a disaster start.

And mind you, we haven’t talked yet of a fit and fighting Virender Sehwag!

Sigh! If wishes were horses, pigs would fly!

Mohan

Rakesh Patel gets called-up; might even play!

On the back of the piece yesterday on Team India struggling without a coach, a fully-fit-physio and a few players, who are down with a cold-flu-virus, comes this announcement that Rakesh Patel has been called-up as reserve bowler. Apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it appears that S. Sreesanth, R. P. Singh and Ramesh Powar are all down with a bad bout of flu that has afflicted the Indian camp.

In what could be seen as a welcome development, it appears that Ajit Agarkar caught the flu bug too and can, hence, not play either! 🙂

Ishant Sharma and Ranadeb Bose, who were both selected only for the Tests against England, have left India to join the team.

The only fit bowlers in the camp appear to be Zaheer Khan and Piyush Chawla!

With this in mind, the team has called up Rakesh Patel, who was playing league cricket in Liverpool. Twenty-eight year-old Rakesh Patel had an impressive 2006-07 Ranji Trophy domestic season. He was the third highest wicket taker, behind Ranadeb Bose and Joginder Sharma, with 37 wickets from 8 matches, at an average of 21.0! In the Ranji ODI competition, he only played 4 matches for 9 wickets at an impressive average of 18.22!

From another report, it appears that Arjun Yadav, son of Shivlal Yadav — former India player — has also received a call-up. Twenty-five year-old Arjun Yadav is an all-rounder. He plays for Hyderabad, bowls off-breaks and bats right-handed. He too was working the League circuit in England.

If Sreesanth is not fully fit for tonights’ match against South Africa, it is likely that both Patel and Yadav might play!

Likely India team for tonights’ game against RSA:

Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautham Gambhir, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Piyush Chawla, Arjun Yadav (or S. Sreesanth), Rakesh Patel, Zaheer Khan,

If Tendulkar hasn’t fully recovered from his flu-bug, Robin Uthappa might get a game!

— Mohan

Ps: Are there no Mumbai players playing in the English League circuit? 🙂

Future Team Prospects IV

In this series on prospective players, we had earlier covered Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Piyush Chawla and S. Badrinath. In the fifth post, we talk about Ranadeb Bose, the fast bowler from Bengal and Joginder Sharma, the budding allrounder from Haryana.

Ranadeb Bose

Ranadeb Bose, the tall 6 foot 4 medium fast bowler from Bengal has been the highest wicket taker in domestic cricket for India this year. For this achievement, he won the Domestic Indian Cricketer of the Year award.

He relies more on accuracy than speed (he bowls around the 130km/hr mark) to get wickets. His run up and long hair evokes comparisons with Jason Gillespie and one highlight of his career has been that he has never bowled a “no ball” in first class cricket. That is quiet a feat, considering the fact that he has sent down over 12500 deliveries.

In 8 matches this season, he has taken 57 wickets (including 6 five-fors and two 10 wicket hauls in a match) at an average of 14.22. Whether he can carry this kind of form into international cricket remains to be seen, but he is a sure prospect and I am sure the selectors are taking note. The selectors consider him more of a “test” bowler and he was ignored in the World cup shortlist.

Some people may complain that for a fast bowler, he is too old to get into the international side. To them, I give just one example – Stuart Clark from Australia, who debuted at the age of 30.

Joginder Sharma

In a time when India lacks a genuine all rounder, we may just have the answer in Joginder Sharma. Joginder was the second highest wicket taker in Ranji Trophy this year with a tally of 39 wickets and although his batting average of 24.50 (294 in 13 innings) may not be impressive, he aggregated 309 runs at an average of 77.25 in the Duleep Trophy with back-to-back centuries.

Joginder who hails from Haryana may not be in the same league as the other all rounder who hails from the same place – Kapil Dev, but he is the best we have at the moment in domestic cricket. Being just 23 years of age, he has time on his side to grow and get better.

Jogi, as he is popularly known, has already been made captain of Haryana and has been performing consistently since his debut in 2004. He averages around 33 with the bat (1907 runs in 65 innings) and 19.71 with the ball (184 wickets in 39 games).

He has been given a few chances (just 4 actually) to represent India and he hasn’t done anything spectacular in those outings. However, the selectors need to persist with him. With Pathan woefully out of sorts, Joginder may be able to get back in the team.

(Also read Cricinfo’s article on Joginder)

-Mahesh-