#PutYourBatsOut

Probably the most elegant way of paying tribute. A tragedy which has united the cricketing world in a manner never seen before.

Above is a mosaic of all the tributes.

Phil Hughes, R.I.P.

A national spot was up for grabs. He was considered as one of the prime contenders. Batting on 63 not out with a national selector watching, he has probably done enough to  make it to the XI for the next Test match. A bouncer is bowled. He goes for the hook. He is through with the shot before the ball reaches him and hits him on the back of the neck. And its all over.

A sudden and terrible end to a promising career. One moment he was fighting for a Test place and next he was gone. Puts some perspective to life when something as mundane as a ball delivered in a first class match turns fatal.

Thoughts with entire Hughes family. And hoping Sean Abbott copes up with this tragedy.

Phillip Joel Hughes. R.I.P.

You will stay 63 not out forever.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2014-15: Jharkhand Review

Here is how Jharkhand's run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy unfolded.

Game 1: vs Tripura - Won by 8 Wickets

Game 2: vs Bengal - Lost by 163 Runs

Game 3: vs  Assam - Lost by 7 Wickets

Game 4: vs  Odisha - Won by 45 Runs

So won 2 and lost 2 and then knocked out on basis of inferior net run rate. The huge defeat against Bengal really hurt them in the final calculations. 

Highlights for Jharkhand

• Saurabh Tiwary's back to the wall century against Assam. He is becoming an expert in playing these kind of knocks.
• New import Rituraj Singh's 5 wicket haul against Tripura

Top Scorers

1. Virat Singh - 170 @56.67
2. Saurabh Tiwary - 154 @77
3. Kumar Deobrat - 128 @42.67

Top Wicket takers

1. Rahul Shukla - 7 @21.57
2. Jaskaran Singh - 7 @29.57
3. Rituraj Singh - 6 @29.17

The disappointing run continues. But lets hope the team performs better in the Ranji Trophy with the first game against Zonal mates Assam starting on December 14th.

Arbit Stats 37 - Rohit 264

2nd November, 2013 - India vs Australia
Virat Kohli is run out for a duck after a mixup with Rohit Sharma who then proceeds to score 209.

1 year later

13th November, 2014 - India vs Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli is run out for 66 after a mixup with Rohit Sharma who then proceeds to score 264.

End of Arbit Stats 37

For other records which Rohit Sharma broke during his multiple record-breaking innings, click here for cricinfo's detailed compilation.

Jharkhand Domestic Schedule: 2014-15 Season

The new domestic season has commenced with the Duleep Trophy which culminated in an exciting finale with Central Zone winning after a 4th innings late collapse by South Zone. This season the sequence of the tournaments has been changed keeping in mind the forthcoming World Cup early next year. Hence the Vijay Hazare trophy has been brought forward and the Ranji Trophy has been pushed back. 

Being probably the only blog following the fortunes of the Jharkhand cricket team, Slisptream Cricket will try to provide as many regular updates as possible on the team's season ahead. The first major change has been the appointment of V Venkatraman as the new coach in place of Subroto Banerjee.

Following is the team's schedule for the season.

Vijay Hazare Trophy - Schedule for the East Zone qualifying rounds. All matches being played in Kolkata.

1. 9 Nov, 2014: vs Tripura
2. 11 Nov, 2014: vs Bengal
3. 13 Nov, 2014: vs Assam
4. 15 Nov, 2014: vs Odisha

These will be followed by knock-outs from 19th to 25th November.

Ranji Trophy - After last year's poor performance, Jharkhand were relegated to Group C. Hopefully we will see an improved performance from the side. A top two finish in the group will be required for a berth in the knock-outs. The team will not be in action in the first round of matches. So they have their task cut out playing in all eight rounds back to back.

1. Dec 14-17, 2014: vs Assam
2. Dec 21-24, 2014: vs Tripura
3. Dec 28-31, 2014: vs Kerala
4. Jan 5-8, 2015: vs Andhra
5. Jan 13-16, 2015: vs Himachal
6. Jan 21-24, 2015: vs Hyderabad
7. Jan 29-Feb 1, 2015: vs Goa
8. Feb 6-9, 2015: vs Services

All venues yet to be confirmed. Knockouts from Feb 15 to March 12 in parallel to the World Cup.

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy - The dometic T20 champiosnhip. Ideal feeder for the IPL scouts though held a quite late in the season. Schedule for the East zone qualifying rounds. Venues are yet to be confirmed.

1. 26 Mar, 2015: vs Tripura
2. 27 Mar, 2015: vs Bengal
3. 28 Mar, 2015: vs Odisha
4. 29 Mar, 2015: vs Assam

These will be followed by knock-outs whose dates are yet to be fixed.

Hoping for a better performance from the team and wishing them the best.

Arbit Stats 36: Misbah Special

In the Abu Dhabi Test, Misbah-ul-Haq created quite a few records.

Fastest Test 50 in 21 balls breaking the record of  Jacques Kallis (!!!)

Fastest Test 100 off 56 balls equalling the record of Sir Viv Richards.

But the award for the  most arbit record goes to - At 40 years and 158 days, Misbah-ul Haq is now the oldest batsman to score two centuries in a Test match breaking the record of Sir Don Bradman by a whole year. 

Mudgal Report - India Player?

The Justice Mudgal Committee has submitted its report into the IPL 6 Spot fixing investigations. The details are yet to be disclosed but rumors from "sources in the know" have started creeping out. And some of them are quite concerning.

As per this news report on Indian Express, the Mudgal Committee has named a key member of the 2011 World Cup winning team for being apparently in touch with bookmakers and match fixers. Very serious allegations here.

So Slipstream cricket started their investigations to uncover this player based on the hints provided in the report which are as follows

1. Part of 2011 World Cup winning team
2. Not a Team India regular anymore
3. Big draw in 2013 IPL
4. Not a part of Chennai or Jaipur frnachisees

First thought was the player named would have been Sreesanth but point 4 above ruled him out.

Above table lists out the 15 member India squad which played in the 2011 World Cup, the franchisee which they represented during the 2013 IPL and their current Team India status.

From the table above 10 out of 15 names still in the spotlight. As an Indian cricket fan, hoping that none of these players are involved. 

P.S. the Indian Team has seen a major change in personnel since winning the last World Cup.

Arbit Stats 35

Australia vs Pakistan Test Series, 2014

9 - Number of centuries scored by the Pakistani batsmen in a 2 Test series.
21 - Number of years that the previous 9 Pakistani Test centuries against Australia took.

Shows the level of complete dominance and break from history that this series has been for Pakistan. They are now on verge of a 3rd successive Test win against Australia after having lost the preceding 13 in a row against them.

Unrelated but comparable factoid.
6 - India's medal haul in 2012 London Games
7 - The number of previous Olympics (from 1984 - 2008) in which India got 6 medals combined.