Ranji Trophy 2022-23: Jharkhand Review

Jharkhand were placed in the Elite Group C. After a roller-coaster ride in the league stages, the Virat Singh led squad finished second and reached the Quarter-finals. In a repeat of last season’s match-up they again lost to Bengal and ended their campaign.

Once again it was the veterans Saurabh Tiwary and Shahbaz Nadeem who stole the show with Nadeem reaching the milestone of 500 first-class wickets. Anukul Roy had a good outing with both bat and ball, while Kumar Kushagra kept a firm grip on the wicket-keeping gloves in absence of Ishan Kishan who missed most of the season being on national duty.

Here is the game by game summary of the season.

Game 1: Kerala 475 & 187/7d beat Jharkhand 340 & 237 by 85 runs

Points: Jharkhand 0, Kerala 6

• First Class Debut: Manishi
• Ishan Kishan - 132 in 1st innings, 6th First class century
• Shahbaz Nadeem - 5/167 & 5/79, 23rd & 24th 5-wicket and 7th 10-wicket haul

Game 2: Jharkhand 386 & 212/3d drew with Goa 362 & 61/3

Points: Jharkhand 3, Goa 1

• Virat Singh – 100* in 2nd innings, 8th First class century, completes 2000 First-class runs in 38th match
• Utkarsh Singh - 1000 career first-class runs in 25th match

Game 3: Services 367 & 214 lost to Jharkhand 551/8d & 31/1 by 9 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 6, Services 0

• Anukul Roy - 6/67 & 4/63 and 57, 1st 5-wicket haul & 1st 10-wicket match haul
• Saurabh Tiwary - 165, 20th First Class Century
• Shahbaz Nadeem - 60 & 5/78, 25th 5-wicket haul

Game 4: Jharkhand 92 & 470/9d drew with Rajasthan 287 & 194/4

Points: Jharkhand 1, Rajasthan 3

• First Class Debut: Aryaman Sen, Supriyo Chakraborty
• Aryaman Sen - 38 & 119, Century on debut & top scorer in both innings
• Anukul Roy - 125 in 2nd Innings, 3rd First Class Century
• Ashish Kumar - 5/76 in 1st innings, 5th 5-wicket haul

Game 5: Jharkhand 103 & 366 beat Chhattisgarh 113 & 312 by 44 runs

Points: Jharkhand 6, Chhattisgarh 0

• Shahbaz Nadeem - 500 First-class wickets in 129 games
• Ashish Kumar - 5/44 in 1st innings, 6th 5-wicket haul
• Anukul Roy - 5/45 in 2nd innings, 2nd 5-wicket haul

Game 6: Pondicherry 231 & 250 lost to Jharkhand 412 & 73/0 by 10 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 7, Pondicherry 0

• First Class Debut: Monu Kumar
• Virat Singh - 124 in 1st innings, 9th First Class Century
• Saurabh Tiwary - 116 in 1st innings, 21st First Class Century
• Kumar Deobrat - 50th First Class match
• Anukul Roy - 1,000 career runs in 23rd match

Game 7: Jharkhand 164 & 201 lost to Karnataka 300 & 66/1 by 9 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 0, Karnataka 6

• Kumar Suraj - 1,000 career runs in 15th first-class match
• Shahbaz Nadeen - 5/141 in 1st innings, 26th 5-wicket haul

Group Stage: Jharkhand finished with 23 points, and somehow with all their opponents also messing up ended in 2nd spot to qualify for the knockouts.

Quarter-Finals: Jharkhand 173 & 221 lost to Bengal 328 & 69/1 by 9 wickets

Season Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Saurabh Tiwary: 653 @59.36 2x100, 4x50
2. Virat Singh: 498 @38.31, 2x100, 2x50
3. Kumar Kushagra: 429 @33.00, 2x50

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Shahbaz Nadeem: 42 @26.81, 4x5
2. Anukul Roy: 26 @22.77, 2x5
3. Ashish Kumar: 19 @26.89, 2x5

Top Score: Saurabh Tiwary 165 vs Services

Best Bowling: Anukul Roy 6/67 vs Services

Players Used: 21 

First Class Debuts: 4

The Twenty22 LineUp

We are already a few days into 2023 and the laws of cricket have been called into question in the Big Bash League. Before the year gets too far ahead, here is looking back at the year gone by. 2022 was a packed year for cricket with many countries clearing their covid backlogs. It was also the year in which we moved away from Covid with players participating actively in games even after testing positive. A far cry from the days when even those who had potentially come in close contact with them had to be put in isolation.

Here is presenting the Slipstream XI for 2022!

1. Cricketing Term of the Year – BazBall

BazBall is the real deal. Winning multiple improbable 4th innings chases, taking out a dead Rawalpindi pitch and bad light out of the equation, England are showing that Test cricket can be played differently! This after a horror start to the year after another pounding in Australia in the Ashes!

2. The Question of the Laws

Ben Stokes took a DRS Review after being given caught behind. Replays showed ball missed bat, hit the stumps but the bails did not fall off. Given not out on review, everyone had a hearty laugh, but it once again brings into question of LBW is a valid form of dismissal at all?

3. Coach of the Year

Given the headline dominating BazBall, Brendon McCullum should have been a cert for this award. But it goes to the other England coach, Matthew Mott, who in 2022, first lead the Australian women to an ODI World Championship and followed it up by leading the England Men to a T20 World Championship!

4. The Perseverance Award

12 Years after his Test debut, Jaydev Unadkat got to play his second Test for India. He may never play again, but what a story it has been, toiling year after year on the domestic circuit, and finally getting his second Test cap, and first wicket

5. The cricketing moment of the Year

There were a few contenders - Virat Kohli hitting that six off Haris Rauf (18.5), Stuart Broad conceding 35 runs in an over to Jasprit Bumrah, surreal scenes in BPL where the fielder’s throw hit both sets of stumps and the second one was runout. But the most talked about incident turned out to be Deepti Sharma running out Charlie Dean at the non-strikers end. The so called guardians of “Spirit of Cricket” were all up in arms on social media, where the debate raged on and on. The players themselves moved on fast with Deam attempting a run-out the very next day. Only issue was the non-striker had her feet firmly plonked behind the line!

6. Rivalry of the Year

Move over the Ashes, India-Pakistan, England-West Indies or even the Naagin rivalry (Sri Lanka – Bangladesh for the uninitiated). There is a new rivalry in town which has in origins in a Mr. Bean’s Pakistani duplicate being sent to an agriculture event in Zimbabwe a few years back! It came to light only in the T20 World Cup clash between Zimbabwe and Pakistan (won by Zimbabwe). Such was the storm on social media that even the Heads of States of both countries got involved!

7. Friendship of the Year

On the other hand, there were the Argentine fans of Bangladesh cricket, who were reciprocating their support after learning that there were more Albiceleste fans in Bangladesh than in Argentina itself. Result – Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s series winning exploits against India were also written in Spanish across the interwebs! That is one interesting way to grow the game.

8. Karma bites back

In the Ranji Trophy pre-quarter finals, Jharkhand batted on and on, scored 880 runs, shot out Nagaland for 289, then batted again and declared at 417 taking a lead of 1008 runs (first 4-digit lead in first class history). However in their very next game, they were at the receiving end. In the Quarter-finals, Bengal batted first scored 773, shot out Jharkhand for 298 and then batted again to pile up 318 runs. Just a small lead of 796 runs!

9. Ypu Gate

A journalist threatening an international cricketer and getting caught by his typos. Well done Wriddhiman Saha for exposing one rotten apple. But one wonders what else goes on behind the scenes. This ypu can’t be the only one who has indulged in such activities!

10. The Debutantes of the Year

ODI (W): Thailand

T20I (M): Cook Islands, Croatia, Fiji, Gambia, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Mali, Slovenia, South Korea, St. Helena

T20I (W): Bahrain, Barbados, Denmark, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Isle of Man, Malta, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain

11. The New Format of the Year

West Indies compressed the game to 60 balls and made random changes along they way and came with The 6ty. It had its own set of bizarre innovations. Lets see which format comes along in 2023! 

That was the Slipstream selection from 2022. Hoping for an action-packed 2023 with its two World Cups and Test Championship Finals. 

Wishing all readers a Very Happy and statistically fun-filled cricketing Year.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2022-23: Jharkhand Review

Jharkhand placed in Group B with all matches played in Kolkata. The Virat Singh lead squad finished 3rd in the Group. However, they qualified as best 3rd place team to join the 5 Group runners-up in the Pre-Quarter Finals, where they once again met Karnataka and met a similar fate. Overall, it was a decent campaign. Some of the batters were amongst the runs. And in Kumar Kushagra, they have found another wicket-keeper batter who can keep a calm head in a crisis both in chases as well as while rebuilding an innings. Won’t be surprised if some of the franchisees looking for a back-up wicket-keeper show a keen interest in him during the upcoming IPL Auction!

Here is a game by game summary of the tournament.

Game 1: Jharkhand 309/3 (50) beat Sikkim 116/10 (40.1/50) by 193 runs

Highlights: Rahul Shukla 5/19, Utkarsh Singh 52 & 1/4, Virat Singh 75, Saurabh Tiwary 63*, Kumar Deobrat 51*

Game 2: Assam 163/10 (39.4) lost to Jharkhand 166/2 (35) by 8 wickets

Highlights: Vivekanand Tiwari 4/42, Utkarsh Singh 83* & 1/12, Virat Singh 50

Game 3: Jharkhand 107/10 (40.4) lost to Karnataka 108/4 (26.3) by 6 wickets

Highlights: Kumar Kushagra 56

Game 4: Rajasthan 270/10 (49) lost Jharkhand 271/5 (49) by 5 wickets

Highlights: Rahul Shukla 5/53, Utkarsh Singh 91 & 1/31, Saurabh Tiwary 76

Game 5: Jharkhand 321/2 (50) beat Meghalaya 129/10 (40.3) by 192 runs

Highlights: Utkarsh Singh 128*, Virat Singh 112, Vikash Singh 3/17, Sushant Mishra 3/33

Game 6: Delhi 259/5 (50) lost to Jharkhand 260/5 (48.5) by 5 wickets

Highlights: Virat Singh 116*

Game 7: Vidarbha 297/3 (50) beat Jharkhand 288/6 (50) by 9 runs

Highlights: Saurabh Tiwary 138*, Kumar Kushagra 55

Pre-Quarter-Final: Jharkhand 187/10 (47.1) lost to Karnataka 188/5 (40.5) by 5 wickets

List A Debut: Arnav Sinha

Highlights: Kumar Kushagra 74, Anukul Roy 57

Tournament Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Virat Singh: 390 @ 65.00, 2x100, 2x50
2. Utkarsh Singh: 370 @ 61.67, 1x100, 3x50
3. Saurabh Tiwary: 367 @ 91.75, 1x100, 2x50

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Rahul Shukla: 16 @ 16.25, 2x5
2. Shahbaz Nadeem: 8 @ 37.50
3. Sushant Mishra: 7 @ 19.86

Top Score: Saurabh Tiwary: 138* vs Vidarbha

Best Bowling: Rahul Shukla: 5/19 vs Sikkim

Players Used: 17 

List A Debuts: 1

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy 2022-23: Jharkhand Review

Jharkhand were placed in Group E with all matches held in Lucknow. It was a disappointing tourney for the Virat Singh led side, as they started off with a couple of games abandoned and stumbled to two defeats. Two wins at the end redeemed the tournament a bit but overall nothing much to write home about for Jharkhand as they finished 4th in the group.

Here is the game wise summary

Game 1: Jharkhand vs Bengal – Abandoned without a ball bowled

Game 2: Jharkhand vs Chhattisgarh – Abandoned without a ball bowled

Game 3: Jharkhand 106/9 (20) lost to Chandigarh 107/1 (17.3) by 9 wickets

T20 Debut: Aayush Bhardwaj, Rajandeep Singh

Game 4: Tamil Nadu 138/10 (20) beat Jharkhand 126/8 (20) by 12 runs

Highlights: Nadeem 4/12, Vikash Singh 3/22, Virat Singh 52* (38)

Game 5: Jharkhand 188/5 (20) beat Odisha 117/10 (19.2) by 71 runs

T20 Debut: Manishi

Highlights: Ishan Kishan 102* (64), Nadeem 3/21, Anukul Roy 2/19

Game 6: Sikkim 58/10 (17) lost to Jharkhand 61/0 (6) by 10 wickets

Tournament Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Ishan Kishan: 138 @ 69, 1x100
2. Virat Singh: 91 @ 45.50, 1x50
3. Aayush Bhardwaj: 41 @13.67

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Shahbaz Nadeem: 8 @ 7.00
2. Vikash Singh: 5 @ 18.00
3. Vivekanand Tiwari: 3 @ 8.67

Top Score: Ishan Kishan 102* vs Odisha

Best Bowling: Shahbaz Nadeem 4/12 vs Tamil Nadu

Players Used: 17

T20 Debuts: 3 

Overall, nothing noteworthy from the Jharkhand team, It was the proven performers like Ishan and Nadeem who gave decent performances. Hoping for better outcomes in the coming tournaments

Jharkhand 2022-23: Duleep Trophy

The new domestic season kicked off with the Duleep Trophy which is returning after a gap of 2 years. Another sign that the world is returning back to normalcy after the Covid-19 pandemic!

Duleep Trophy reverted back to the inter-zonal format. Much better than being part of Elite/Plate A/B/C or India Red/Blue/Green!

From Jharkhand, Virat Singh, Nazim Siddique, Kumar Kushagra & Shahbaz Nadeem made the East Zone squad, with Virat being named the vice-captain. In the Quarter-final against North Zone, only Virat and Nadeem made the playing XI. Virat top-scoring with 117 (his 7th century in first-class cricket) in the first innings and 7 in the 2nd. Nadeem had figures of 2/124 in the only North Zone innings. North Zone making it to the semis on the basis of 1st innings lead.

Meanwhile, our star fast bowler Varun Aaron has decided to shift to Baroda after having been part of Jharkhand squads for 18 seasons! Wishing him the best for his new stint. 

So, overall, a sedate start to the season. Let's see what the rest of the season holds for the team.

Ranji Trophy 2021-22 Quarter-Finals: Jharkhand vs Bengal

Bengal 773/7d 318/7d drew with Jharkhand 298/10. Bengal qualify for semi-finals

Karma is real. That must have been the feeling of Jharkhand team as Bengal did to them what they themselves had done to Nagaland in the previous game. i.e., bat till the 3rd day, then skittle out the opposition, take a big lead, bat again into the 5th day, declare and then shake hands.

This was another game more for the statistically obsessed.

Highlights:

• 9 – First ever instance of 9 batters scoring a 50 in the same first-class innings. Well done Bengal!
• Virat Singh – 6th first-class century & 3rd of the season. Maybe Sunrisers made a mistake by letting him go
• Shahbaz Nadeem – 22nd career 5-wicket haul. Unfortunately, it came in the second innings when it was all over.

Season Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Kumar Kushagra 439 @ 62.71, 1x200, 2x50
2. Virat Singh 391 @ 55.86, 3x100
3. Nazim Siddiqui 322 @ 35.78, 1x100, 2x50

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Shahbaz Nadeem 25 @ 24.96, 3x5, 1x10
2. Sushant Mishra 16 @ 30.94, 1x5
3. Anukul Roy 12 @ 33.67

Best Batting: Kumar Kushagra 254 vs Nagaland

Best Bowling: Sushant Mishra 5/27 vs Chhattisgarh

Player Count: 15

Captain Count: 2

First-Class Debut: 3

Coming Up Next: Wait for the next season to start, which should be a full one

IPL 2022: Jharkhand & Bihar Performances

IPL 2022 is done and dusted with Gujarat Titans winning the title in their first appearance in the tournament. Here is a short summary of the representatives of Jharkhand & Bihar teams at this edition of the IPL.

1. MS Dhoni (CSK) – 14 Matches, 232 runs @33.14 with 1 fifty, 9 catches. After having stepped down had to take over the captaincy midway through the tournament. And he has announced that he will be back next season
2. Ishan Kishan (MI) – 14 matches, 418 runs @32.15 with 3 50s, 13 catches. This was an ordinary season for Ishan, yet he scored over 400 runs and was the top run-getter for MI.
3. Varun Aaron (GT) – 2 matches, 2 wickets @26 & ER of 10.40. Did not really make much use of his two outings for the eventual champions, but he has an IPL trophy now.
4. Anukul Roy (KKR) – 2 matches, 1 wicket @55 & ER 7.85. Finally got some game time but no special performance.

No games for Shahbaz Nadeem (LSG) and Bihar's sole representative Anunay Singh (RR).

Nothing out of ordinary from the Jharkhand players in the limited outings they got. Slightly disappointing to see that given the league had expanded and teams were playing locals more often. 

Next up – Ranji Trophy Quarter-finals for Jharkhand.

IPL 2022: Jharkhand & Bihar Representation

IPL 2022 is around the corner. It is expanded, still impacted by the pandemic but most importantly back in India. All matches in its own bubble though instead of going all over the country.

Here are the representatives from Jharkhand and Bihar who will be appearing in this edition

Jharkhand

1. MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – he may have retired from all other formats and tournaments, but Dhoni continues to a vital cog in the CSK juggernaut.
2. Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) – MI broke the bank for Ishan. As expected, he was the highest valued player in this year’s auctions. And now has to live up to this price tag as well.
3. Varun Aaron (Gujarat Titans) – Should get a few games during the tournament
4. Anukul Roy (Kolkata Knight Riders) – moved from Mumbai Indians where he was playing more as a specialist substitute fielder. Lets see what opportunities he gets with KKR
5. Shahbaz Nadeem (Lucknow Super Giants) – A new franchisee for Nadeem. Should get a few games here.

Bihar - Anunay Singh (Rajasthan Royals) – first ever representative of Bihar team to be picked by an IPL team. Hope he gets some game time.

There were no takers for the likes of Saurabh Tiwary (quite surprising), Virat Singh & Utkarsh Singh who were part of last year’s squads. There could be some injury/withdrawal replacements opening up during the tournament. 

Good luck to all the players! Hope they use these opportunities to further their careers.

Ranji Trophy 2021-22: Pre-Quarter Final - Jharkhand vs Nagaland

Jharkhand 880/10 & 417/6d drew with Nagaland 289/10

What a weird match. Played on a non-responsive pitch showing the gulf between the Elite and Plate groups. Jharkhand could be accused of not showing “intent” to win, but what would they even gain had they tried winning. Better to just bat on rather than field in these hot conditions! And they did take 100 overs to get Nagaland out in the first innings.

This was also a game for the record keepers and statisticians. And it also got the social media attention helped by the fact that it was the only Ranji game on.

Small mercy for Nagaland – everyone agreed to a Draw much before the scheduled close, otherwise they had a small matter of 1,009 runs to chase in the final innings.

And spare a thought for the Jharkhand top order who did not really join this run-feast like their middle and lower order did! And credit to Saurabh Tiwary and Virat Singh for not batting in the second innings! Meanwhile wondering how Sushant Mishra would feel for getting a pair in this match

Highlights:

• 880 – 4th highest Ranji Trophy score ever and the highest in this millennium
• 1297 – Jharkhand’s combined tally – 3rd highest match tally. I guess the team minght not have been aware of this record when they called in the second innings.
• Kumar Kushagra – 254 & 89 – Maiden first-class century. Scoring big runs in the true tradition of a Jharkhand wicket-keeper (Dhoni, Ishan Kishan, Indrani Roy)
• Virat Singh – 5th First-class century
• Anukul Roy – 2nd first-class century & personal best of 153
• Shahbaz Nadeem – 2nd first-class century & personal best of 177
• Rahul Shukla – 85* coming in at No. 11. He certainly missed out on century

Season Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Kumar Kushagra 437 @ 72.83, 1x200, 1x50
2. Anukul Roy 283 @ 35.38, 1x100, 1x50
3. Virat Singh 278 @ 39.71, 2x100

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Shahbaz Nadeem 18 @ 21.67, 2x5, 1x10
2. Sushant Mishra 13 @ 23.62, 1x5
3. Anukul Roy 10 @ 23.50

Best Batting: Kumar Kushagra 254 vs Nagaland

Best Bowling: Sushant Mishra 5/27 vs Chhattisgarh

Player Count: 15

Captain Count: 2

First-Class Debut: 3

Coming Up Next: Quarter-Finals which will be held post IPL

Ranji Trophy 2021-22: Jharkhand Group Stage Review

Ranji Trophy returned after a season off due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with the Omicron wave and restrictions still in place it was a short season with all teams getting just 3 games! But at least we had some action.

One team which certainly enjoyed this run was Jharkhand. They lost their first game against Chhattisgarh but then roared back with wins against Delhi and Tamil Nadu to top the group. However, having the worst record amongst all 8 group toppers, they will have to enter the play-off against Nagaland (who finished top of the Plate Group). But I guess the players wouldn’t complain as this gives them one more game!

Jharkhand’s season was headlined by the older warhorses – Saurabh Tiwary & Shahbaz Nadeem who each played a stellar role in getting the victories. They also had good support from the likes of Virat Singh, Rahul Shukla, Nazim Siddique and relative newcomer Kumar Suraj and debutante Sushant Mishra. Suraj is currently averaging over 50 although its still early days in his career!

Here is a game-by-game summary of the season so far.

Captains: Saurabh Tiwary Game 1 & 3, Virat Singh Game 2

Game 1: Jharkhand 169 & 133 lost to Chhattisgarh 174 & 129/2 by 8 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 0, Chhattisgarh 6

Highlights:

• Sushant Mishra 5/27 in 1st innings on debut
• Saurabh Tiwary completed 7000 runs in first-class cricket in his 101st game

Game 2: Jharkhand 251 & 307/7d beat Delhi 224 & 319 by 15 runs

Points: Jharkhand 6, Delhi 0

Highlights:

• Virat Singh -103* in 1st innings, First-class Century #4
• Shahbaz Nadeem – 5/58 & 5/83, First-class 5-wicket haul #20 & #21 and 10-wicket haul #6
• Nazim Siddiqui – 52 & 110, First-class century #4
• Kumar Suraj – 131* in 2nd innings, First-class century #3
• First-class debut – Kumar Kushagra & Vikash Vishal

Game 3: Tamil Nadu 285 & 152 lost to Jharkhand 226 & 214/8 by 2 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 6, Tamil Nadu 0

Highlights:

• Saurabh Tiwary – 58 & 93
• Rahul Shukla – 3/57 & 5/29, 6th 5-wicket haul in first-class cricket
• Kumar Kushagra – 1st First-class 50

Season Stats:

Highest Scorers

1. Nazim Siddiqui 199 @ 33.17, 1x100, 1x50
2. Saurabh Tiwary 182 @ 45.50, 2x50
3. Virat Singh 171 @ 28.50, 1x100

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Shahbaz Nadeem 15 @ 21.33, 2x5, 1x10
2. Sushant Mishra 11 @ 20.73, 1x5
3. Rahul Shukla 8 @ 10.75, 1x5

Best Batting: Kumar Suraj 131* vs Delhi

Best Bowling: Sushant Mishra 5/27 vs Chhattisgarh

Player Count: 15

Captain Count: 2

First-Class Debut: 3

Coming Up Next: Pre-Quarter-Final vs Nagaland from March 12th

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22: Jharkhand Review

Domestic Cricket continues to be in stop-start mode since the covid pandemic first hit. And just when things seemed to be heading back to normal, India is now in grips of the third wave leading to postponement of Ranji Trophy again. In the interim, Vijay Hazare Trophy was successfully held (a tremendous achievement given the logistical challenges) 

Jharkhand had another middling tournament. They won 2 & lost 3 matches to finish 3rd in the group missing out a berth in the knock-outs. Virat Singh lead the side in the first two games in Saurabh Tiwary’s s absence, who led the side in the remaining three. 

Here is the game-by-game summary of the tournament. 

Game 1: Jharkhand 263/8 (50) lost to Delhi 264/4 (47) by 6 wickets 

Highlights: Virat Singh 79, Kaushal Singh 69, Anukul Roy 47 & 1/49 

Debut: Sushant Mishra 

Game 2: Uttar Pradesh 239/7 (50) lost to Jharkhand 242/2 (46.1) by 8 wickets 

Highlights: Rahul Shukla 3/51, Varun Aaron 2/36, Nazim Siddiqui 116, Utkarsh Singh 57* 

Game 3: Haryana 281/3 (50) beat Jharkhand 253/10 (49.3) by 28 runs 

Highlights: Nazim Siddiqui 62, Utkarsh Singh 78 

Game 4: Jharkhand 211/10 (49.1) lost to Saurashtra 212/3 (34.4) by 7 wickets 

Highlights: Ishank Jaggi 56, Utkarsh Singh 55, Varun Aaron 2/34 

Game 5: Jharkhand 276/10 (50) beat Hyderabad 240/10 (48.4) by 36 runs 

Highlights: Virat Singh 65, Varun Aaron 3/50, Shahbaz Nadeem 3/32 

Season Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Nazim Siddiqui 271 @ 54.20, 1x100, 1x50 
2. Virat Singh 196 @ 49.00, 2x50 
3. Utkarsh Singh 191 @ 47.75, 3x50 

Highest Wicket-takers 

1. Varun Aaron 8 @ 20.13 
2. Shahbaz Nadeem 6 @ 37.17 
3. Rahul Shukla 4 @ 48.75 

Best Batting: Nazim Siddiqui 116 vs Uttar Pradesh 

Best Bowling: Shahbaz Nadeem 3/32 vs Hyderabad 

Players Used: 15 

List A Debut: 1 

Overall, not a particularly great run for Jharkhand. Ishan Kishan was once again missed. And now we enter a phase of uncertainty for the next fixture. Although there is an IPL auction coming up as well.

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy 2021-22: Jharkhand Review

A middling start for the season for Jharkhand. 3 losses on the trot followed by 2 wins to finish 3rd in the Group and getting knocked out early. Some of the games could have gone easily gone the Saurabh Tiwary lead side’s way. Here is the game-by-game summary of the tournament. 

Game 1: Jharkhand 146/5 (20) lost to Rajasthan 147/4 (17.3) by 6 wickets 

Highlights: Kumar Deobrat 51 (34) 

T20 Debut: Kumar Kushagra 

Game 2: Himachal Pradesh 144/8 (20) beat Jharkhand 137/9 (20) by 7 runs 

Highlights: Monu Kumar 3/31, Anukul Roy 2/18 & 39(19) 

Game 3: Andhra 165/4 (20) beat Jharkhand 157/9 (20) by 8 runs 

Highlights: Ishank Jaggi 62 (39) 

T20 Debut: Shubham Singh 

Game 4: Jharkhand 181/5 (20) beat Haryana 165/10 (19.3) by 16 runs 

Highlights: Jaggi 51 (42), Saurabh Tiwary 58* (35), Bal Krishna 3/34, Anukul Roy 2/27, Shahbaz Nadeem 1/17 

Game 5: Jammu & Kashmir 156/6 (20) lost to Jharkhand 157/5 (19.2) by 5 wickets 

Highlights: Utkarsh Singh 2/22 

Season Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Saurabh Tiwary 154 @ 51.33, 1x50 
2. Ishank Jaggi 143 @ 47.67, 2x50 
3. Utkarsh Singh 89 @ 22.50 

Highest Wicket-takers 

1. Anukul Roy 6 @ 20.33 
2. Monu Kumar 4 @ 13.00 
3. Shubham Singh 4 @ 24.75 

Best Batting: Ishank Jaggi 62 vs Andhra 

Best Bowling: Bal Krishna 3/34 vs Haryana 

Players Used: 17 

T20 Debut: 2 

Overall, not a particularly great run for Jharkhand. Ishan Kishan was certainly missed.

Domestic Schedule 21-22: Jharkhand & Bihar

The Indian domestic season returns to a full schedule (hopefully) this season. Last season the Ranji Trophy could not be held for the first time since inception. Covid stopped Ranji Trophy, something even the World War could not! 

Hopefully, with cases declining and vaccinations in progress, we should have a season with no disruptions (although the odd cases might still creep in) 

The season begins with Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy and will be followed by Ranji Trophy in 2022. Vijay Hazare Trophy will be at the fag end of the season. 

Here is the upcoming schedule for Jharkhand and Bihar.

Dates	Jharkhand	Bihar
Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy
4-Nov-21	Rajasthan	Railways
5-Nov-21	Himachal Pradesh	Kerala
6-Nov-21	Andhra	Assam
8-Nov-21	Haryana	Madhya Pradesh
9-Nov-21	Jammu & Kashmir	Gujarat
Ranji Trophy
13-16 Jan 22	Railways	Manipur
20-23 Jan 22	Goa	Meghalaya
27-30 Jan 22	Saurashtra	Arunachal Pradesh
3-6 Feb 22	Tamil Nadu	Sikkim
10-13 Feb 22	Jammu & Kashmir	Chandigarh

Good luck to both the teams. Hope they have a successful and safe season ahead

Memories from Moin-ul-Haq

On a WhatsApp group, the conversation started about the two additional teams in IPL and meandered along to cricket stadium in Patna. To the mild disbelief of many, Moin-ul-Haq stadium in Patna has actually hosted internationals. Three men’s ODIs in the mid ‘90s, all of which featured Zimbabwe as one of the teams. There was a Hero Cup match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 1993 and a World Cup match between Zimbabwe and Kenya. The World Cup game had to be replayed due to rain and hence the match count goes upto 3. 

Patna also hosted a few women’s matches - a Test and 5 ODIs in the 70s. In fact, Moin-ul-Haq stadium is where the Indian women recorded their first ever Test victory. 

Internationals have been very few. Firstly, there was competition from Jamshedpur, a more established venue (relatively) within the then Bihar state. Then, post the creation of Jharkhand in 2000, the action shifted entirely to Jamshedpur where the cricket association was headquartered. Thus, Bihar and Moin-ul-Haq stadium disappeared completely from the radar for nearly two decades. It was only in 2018 that the team made a comeback to the Ranji setup. The stadium has also become more active with Ranji Trophy games back and also hosting a Women’s T20 quadrangular tourney. However, with a proposed new international stadium coming up in Rajgir, Moin-ul-Haq might meet the same fate as Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur ever since Ranchi became the preferred venue in Jharkhand! 

However, personally it will hold a special place as the venue of my first ever stadium experience. A Duleep Trophy match played between North and Central Zones. While I don’t recall too much of how the play went, I do have vague memories of the stadium being quite full and Maninder Singh hammering a couple of sixes! There were quite a few internationals in action, including big names like Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhkar and Maninder Singh. There were also some other internationals like Kirti Azad, Atul Wassan, Raman Lamba, Ajay Sharma, Gopal Sharma. And a few future internationals like Ajay Jadeja, Pravin Amre and Prashant Vaidya, whom I wasn’t even aware of till I looked up the scorecard!. Quite a stellar cast for a domestic game. 

That was the first-ever live serious cricketing action that I saw. Thus, while most folks name famous stadiums from across the cricketing world, my favorite continues to be Moin-ul-Haq. The facilities for spectators were non-existent, there was no glitz and glamour, and it is located in a state not really known for its sporting prowess, but it will always have a special place in my cricketing memories.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021: Jharkhand Review

One of the weirdest campaigns in recent times. Jharkhand started with a bang, recording the highest ever total in Vijay Hazare Trophy (which got eclipsed a few days later) also recording the second biggest victory margin, then won a couple of close games and lost the penultimate one. On the last day, they were still in pole position to qualify but a meagre total was overhauled in spectacular fashion by Andhra, who qualified on net run rate basis. 

Here is a game by game summary of this weird campaign 

Game 1: Jharkhand 422/9 (50) beat Madhya Pradesh 98/10 (18.4) by 324 runs 

Highlights: Ishan Kishan 173 off 94 balls & 7 catches (equals Indian List A record), Virat Singh 68, Sumit Kumar 52, Anukul Roy 72, Varun Aaron 6/37 

List A Debut: Bal Krishna, Kumar Kushagra, Rajandeep Singh 

• Jharkhand’s 422 was the highest score by an Indian domestic team breaking ironically Madhya Pradesh’s record. 
• This was the second biggest victory margin by runs in a List A game. 
• Ishan Kishan’s 5 catches off Varun Aaron also equalled the List A record for most bowler-fielder combination wickets in a single game. 

Game 2: Jharkhand 217/9 (50) beat Punjab 215/10 (45.5) by 2 runs 

Highlights: Utkarsh Singh 51, Shahbaz Nadeem 45* from No.9 and 2/36 

Game 3: Vidarbha 288/9 (50) lost to Jharkhand 294/7 (49/3) by 3 wickets 

Highlights: Vikash Singh 4/65, Kumar Doebrat 100, Rajandeep Singh 48* off 25 

Game 4: Tamil Nadu 266/7 (50) beat Jharkhand 199/9 (50) by 67 runs 

Highlights: Anukul Roy 3/41, Rahul Shukla 42* off 25 coming in at No.11 

• Meanwhile Mumbai broke Jharkhand’s record a day before by scoring 457 against Puducherry 

Game 5: Jharkhand 139/10 (46.2) lost to Andhra 140/3 (9.5) by 7 wickets 

Tournament Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Ishan Kishan 215 @ 43.00 with 1x100 
2. Virat Singh 188 @ 37.60 with 1x50 
3.  Anukul Roy 147 @ 29.40 with 1x50 

Top Innings: Ishan Kishan 173 vs Madhya Pradesh 

Most Wickets 

1. Varun Aaron 9 @ 20.44 
2. Bal Krishna 6 @ 27.60 
3. Rahul Shukla 6 @ 29.67 

Best Bowling: Varun Aaron 6/37 vs Madhya Pradesh 

Player Count: 14 

List A Debuts: 3 

A tournament which opened with a bang ended in a hiding for the Jharkhand team. A helter-skelter chase by Andhra dropped them from the group toppers to 3rd place knocking them out of the tournament! Surprisingly no game for Saurabh Tiwary. 

Ishan Kishan’s fireworks on the opening day did secure him a maiden Indian callup. 

Lets see what’s next for the Jharkhand team.

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy 2021 - Jharkhand Review

The 2020-21 season got off to a belated start with the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy. This season’s format ensured that you had to win every game in the league stage or hope for a bunch of other results going in your favour. 

Jharkhand, lead by Ishan Kishan, had a bad start losing their first two games, effectively getting knocked out. The team regrouped and won the next two comfortably before finishing off with a Super Over win against Hyderabad. Incidentally this was the first ever Super Over at Eden Gardens! 

Here is the tournament summary. 

Game 1: Tamil Nadu 189/5 (20) beat Jharkhand 123/7 (20) by 66 runs 

Game 2: Bengal 161/6 (20) beat Jharkhand 145/9 (20) by 16 runs 

Highlights: Monu Kumar 3/20, Virat Singh 47 (38), Utkarsh Singh 1/19 & 28 (14) 

T20 Debut: Kumar Suraj 

Game 3: Jharkhand 233/3 (20) beat Assam 182/7 (20) by 51 runs 

Highlights: Virat Singh 103* (50), Saurabh Tiwary 57 (33),Kumar Deobrat 31* (12), Monu Kumar 3/23 

Game 4: Jharkhand 182/4 (20) beat Odisha 128/10 (17.5) by 54 runs 

Highlights: Ishan Kishan 60 (36), Virat Singh 67 (37), Bal Krishna 4/21 

T20 Debut: Bal Krishna, Vikash Vishal 

Game 5: Hyderabad 139/8 (20) lost to Jharkhand 139/9 (20) in Super Over (14/1 to 23/0) 

Highlights: Vivekanand Tiwari 3/25, Vikash Singh 3/36 

Season Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Virat Singh 250 @ 62.50 
2. Ishan Kishan 142 @ 28.40 
3. Saurabh Tiwary 92 @ 23.00 

Highest Wicket-takers 

1. Monu Kumar 8 @ 14.13 
2. Bal Krishna 5 @ 9.60 
3. Rahul Shukla 4 @ 26.50 

Best Batting: Virat Singh 103* (50) vs Assam 

Best Bowling: Monu Kumar 3/20 vs Bengal 

Players Used: 18 

T20 Debut: 3 

It was a good chance for the players to showcase their T20 skills with the IPL auction coming up. Monu Kumar, recently released by CSK came good as did debutante Bal Krishna. 

And now we go into another period of uncertainty about the next fixture.

Syed Mustaq ALi Trophy 2021 - Fixtures

Finally, we have domestic cricket restarting in India. The season begins with the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy which will also serve as an audition for the next IPL auctions. Although quite a few associations including Jharkhand have conducted their respective T20 leagues.

Here are the fixtures for Jharkhand & Bihar

Jharkhand are placed in Elite B and will be playing their matches in Kolkata.

• 10-Jan-21: vs Tamil Nadu
• 12-Jan-21: vs Bengal
• 14-Jan-21: vs Assam
• 16-Jan-21: vs Odisha
• 18-Jan-21: vs Hyderabad

Bihar are in Plate Group and will be playing their matches in Chennai

• 11-Jan-21: vs Arunachal Pradesh
• 13-Jan-21: vs Sikkim
• 15-Jan-21: vs Meghalaya
• 17-Jan-21: vs Manipur
• 19-Jan-21: vs Mizoram

There is still no clarity on the fixtures going forward though. Although  in these Covid times, even the announcement of fixtures is quite exciting!

Team Jharkhand @IPL 2020

"The old order changeth yielding place to new” – Lord Tennyson 

As one Jharkhand wicket-keeper batsman fades away, another one rises. Ishan Kishan had the kind of break-out season where an India cap certainly looks close. But in these most bizarre times nothing can be said with any certainty. 

Here is a statistical look at the Jharkhand players’ performance in the recently concluded IPL season categorized under The Good, The Bad & the Ugly 

The Good 

• Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) - 14 Matches, 516 runs @ 57 & SR of 146 with 4x50s and 1 catch  A superlative season with good performances as an opener as well as at no. 4. Also finished the season with most 6s across teams. 
• Shahbaz Nadeem (Sunrisers Hyderabad) – 7 Matches, 7 runs @7 & SR of 87, 5 wickets @35 & ER of 8.09. Underbowled at times but also picked up a Man of the Match award and in some games outbowled Rashid Khan . Done enough to stay in the India A radar and can potentially add to his solitary Test cap. 
• Saurabh Tiwary (Mumbai Indians) - 7 Matches, 103 runs @20 & SR of 128 and 1 catch. Top-scored in the first game, then got injured. Ishan Kishan took over his spot and made it his own. Came back in later matches as back-up for the injured Rohit Sharma but didn’t get too many chances lower down the order. 

The Bad 

• Monu Kumar (Chennai Super Kings) – 1 Match, No wickets & ER of 10. Finally made his IPL debut after spending more than a season on the bench but was a terrible one as he bowled only 2 overs of his quota. Will he get another chance? 
• Varun Aaron (Rajasthan Royals) – 3 Matches, No wickets & ER of 11.75. A terrible season for Aaron. May not get a call-up next season.

The Ugly 

• MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) – 14 Matches, 200 runs @ 25 & SR of 116, 15 catches & 1 stumping. Overall, a terrible IPL for the recently internationally retired legend. The finishing power is definitely on the wane and reflected in the ageing team’s performance 

Meanwhile Anukul Roy (Mumbai Indians) & Virat Singh (Sunrisers Hyderabad) did not get a game. 

Till next time, as there is still no clarity on next domestic games in India.

Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Jharkhand Review

Jharkhand finished 6th in the Group in a season which started with a bang and then got derailed. There was the stunning come from behind opening game against Tripura where Jharkhand became the first team in the history of Ranji Trophy to win the game after following on. However, as the season progressed, the Saurabh Tiwary lead side saw more downs than ups and eventually ended 6th in the group.

Highs & Lows

• The opening encounter against Tripura, which got its own separate post
• Kumar Suraj’s good start to his first-class career. 
• Missing senior players like Nadeem, Ishan & Aaron on account of India A duties and injuries.

And I ran into the team at Hyderabad airport!

Season Summary Game by Game

Game 1: Tripura (289 & 211) lost to Jharkhand (136 & 418/8d (f/o)) by 54 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 6, Tripura 0

• First-Class Debut: Arnav Sinha, Vivekanand Tiwari
• First-Class Century #18 for Saurabh Tiwary 
• First-Class Century #19 for Ishank Jaggi 
• 1000 First-Class runs for Virat Singh & Nazim Siddiqui 
• Ashish Kumar – 2nd 5-wicket haul, Career - Best Innings & match figures

Game 2: Assam (162 & 186) lost to Jharkhand (415/9d) by innings & 67 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 7, Assam 0 

• First-Class Debut: Pankaj Kumar, the wicket-keeper 
• First-Class Century #3 for Nazim Siddiqui & Career-best 173

Game 3: Haryana (371) drew with Jharkhand (408/5) 

Points: Jharkhand 3, Haryana 1 

• First-Class Century #2 for Kumar Deobrat & Career-best 161 
• First-Class Century #19 for Saurabh Tiwary

Game 4: Jharkhand (259 & 155) lost to Jammu & Kashmir (441) by an innings & 27 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 0, Jammu & Kashmir 7 

Game 5: Maharashtra (434 & 48/2) beat Jharkhand (170 & 311 (f/o)) by 8 wickets 

Points: Jharkhand 0, Maharashtra 6 

• First-Class Debut – Kumar Suraj 
• 5-Wicket Haul #1 – Utkarsh Singh

Game 6: Uttarakhand (227 & 273) lost to Jharkhand (298 & 203/4) by 6 wickets 

Points: Jharkhand 6, Uttarakhand 0 

• 2000 First-Class Runs for Kumar Deobrat 
• 50 Catches for Sumit Kumar 
• 100 First-Class Wickets, 3rd 5-wicket haul & best match-figures for Ashish Kumar 
• 5-wicket haul #6 for Ajay Yadav 

Game 7: Services (279 & 259/8d) beat Jharkhand (153 & 267) by 118 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 0, Services 6 

• First-Class Debut for Sahil Raj 
• First-Class Century #1 for Kumar Suraj 
• 100 First-Class wickets for Rahul Shukla, 5th 5-wicket haul & best innings performance 

Game 8: Chhattisgarh (559) drew with Jharkhand (242 & 51/0) 

Points: Chhattisgarh 3, Jharkhand 1 

• First-Class Century #3 for Virat Singh & highest score 

Game 9: Odisha (436 & 187/1) drew with Jharkhand (356) 

Points: Odisha 3, Jharkhand 1 

• 100th First-Class Match for Saurabh Tiwary 
• First-Class Century #2 for Kumar Suraj 
• 5-wicket Haul #4 for Ashish Kumar 

Season Stats 

Most Runs:

1. Saurabh Tiwary – 641 @58.27, 2x100s & 3x50s
2. Kumar Deobrat – 515 @39.62, 1x100s & 2x50s
3. Kumar Suraj – 457 @57.13, 2x100 & 2x50s

Highest Score – Nazim Siddiqui – 173 vs Assam

Most Wickets

1. Ashish Kumar – 37 @221.78, 3x5s 
2. Rahul Shukla – 19 @34.42, 1x5s
3. Utkarsh Singh – 16 @40.44, 1x5s

Best Bowling – Rahul Shukla – 7/106 vs Services

Player Count: 21

First-Class Debuts: 5

Till next season! However there is the small matter of IPL in between, where the likes of Tiwary, Virat Singh, Ishan, Nadeem, Aaron and Monu would look to put in performances worth of the highlights reel. And maybe consolidate an A Spot.

IPL 2020 Auction – Jharkhand Update

It was a small auction this time around. But team Jharkhand made some progress.

1. Virat Singh was picked for Rs. 1.90 Crores by Sunrisers Hyderabad, where he will join state mate Shahbaz Nadeem.
2. Saurabh Tiwary returns to the IPL fold after a year-long gap after his old team Mumbai Indians picked him up for Rs. 50 lakhs. Tiwary will join Ishan Kishan and Anukul Roy at the team.

Varun Aaron had been retained by Rajasthan Royals while MS Dhoni and Monu Kumar continue with Chennai Super Kings.

This takes the Jharkhand team tally to 8. Certainly a good presence! Hopefully they get serious game time and enhance their chances for an India or at least an India A call-up.

Good luck to the boys!