IPL 2023: The Afterthoughts

After a gap of few seasons returning to this blog with a post on the IPL After-thoughts (A name inspired by the times when IPL After-party was as important a feature of the tournament as the games itself!)

So what will we remember this season for? Lets see

1. The battle of the eyeballs: the biggest matchup was not between the teams on the field but between Star Sports and JioCinema. One product on two different media with different broadcasters for the first time. Not sure about whose numbers to believe, but in the end the viewer was the winner!
2. The circle of Life: Gujarat Titans played against Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad to kick start the tournament. Almost a couple of months down the line, the same two teams were at the same venue fighting for the title!
3. Performance of the tournament: Rinku Singh clobbering 5 sixes off the final 5 balls to win KKR a seemingly lost game. And this wasn’t the only heist he pulled off.
4. The Yellove: Or rather it was just the love for MS Dhoni which turned almost every single away stadium into a sea of yellow! End result, this was one of the more popular CSK tournament wins ever.
5. Six: That’s the number of IPL titles Ambati Rayudu has, as he walks away into the sunset. A career which could be qualified as a success and as well as leaving you wondering, “what could have been”.
6. Tales of Redemption: Like phoenix they rose from the ashes – Mohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Mishra. A series of feel-good stories.
7. The Rise of the Young Uncapped Indian Batters: Rinku Singh, Sai Sudarshan, Tilak Varma, Prabhsimran Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nehal Wadhera, Dhruv Jurel, Jitesh Sharma – what a wonderful crop of talent. Unlike the previous lot, they are not all top order run-accumulators.
8. On the flip side, where are the new Indian bowlers?
9. Impact Player Rule: Gave something more for the team strategists to mull over, but has it diluted the role of some players. Shivam Dube and Rahul Tewatia hardly bowled. Gill, Jaiswal, Rayudu. SKY mostly did not even have to field. From the need for multi-dimensional players, we may swing the other way to single skilled specialists.
10. Game of Small Margins: If Sandeep Sharma’s last delivery against SRH had been legal, Rajasthan Royals would have been in the play-offs. Instead, it was a no-ball and the subsequent delivery was deposited in the stands.
11. And finally on the raging debate: running out the non-striker. At least, now it can be safely said, it does require skill. Just ask Harshal Patel. And is probably the only mechanism to keep batters within the line. 

And so it was, an action packed tournament concludes and more “serious” cricket returns.

Women's Premier League

A few numbers from the inaugural Women's Premier League

• ₹ 4,669 Cr - Bidding amount for 5 franchisees
• ₹ 951 Cr - Broadcast rights for 5 years
• ₹ 59.65 Cr - Players’ Auction. 

However, the way it panned out the teams seemed willing to go beyond the ₹ 12 Cr cap placed on each of them. 

Seeing the numbers here, especially in light with global sports (and not just women’s league), seems BCCI have underestimated their own product! Given the level of interest, they could easily have gone for extra teams, more players & larger purses for the franchisees.

The expansion of the league is not too far away!

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

Ranji Trophy 2022-23: Bihar Review

Bihar - Ranji Plate League Champions

That has a nice ring to it.

Bihar were placed in the 6 team Plate Group. After finishing 4th in the group stage, the Ashutosh Aman lead side upped the ante and registered comprehensive victories in the semi-finals and finals to be crowned the inaugural Plate League winners of the Ranji Trophy. And they also got the much-awaited promotion to the Elite League next year!

Here is a game-by-game review of the season

Game 1: Arunachal Pradesh 212 & 84 lost to Bihar 517 by an innings & 221 runs

Points: Bihar 7, Arunachal Pradesh 0

• First Class Debut: Baljeet Singh Bihari, Adhiraj Johri
• Adhiraj Johri – 118, Century on Debut
• Sachin Kumar – 156, 1st First Class Century & Player of the Match
• Malay Raj – 2/48 & 5/35, 1st 5-wicket haul

Game 2: Bihar 311 & 287/9d drew with Manipur 296 & 248/8

Points: Bihar 3, Manipur 1

• Babul Kumar – 156, 4th First Class Century
• Malay Raj – 5/35, 2nd 5-wicket haul

Game 3: Bihar 264 & 99 lost to Meghalaya 167 & 200/6 by 4 wickets

Points: Bihar 0, Meghalaya 6

• First Class Debut – Anuj Raj, Raghuvendra Pratap Singh
• Bipin Saurabh – 107 in 1st innings; 1st First Class century

Game 4: Sikkim 157 & 122/4 drew with Bihar 157

Points: Bihar 1, Sikkim 1

• Veer Pratap Singh – 5/30, 4th 5-wicket haul

Game 5: Bihar 474 drew with Mizoram 176 & 379/6 (f/o)

Points: Bihar 3, Mizoram 1

• First Class Debut: Varun Raj
• Babul Kumar – 209, 5th First class century
• Shivam Singh – 110, 1st First class century

Bihar finished 4th in the Group Stage and met group toppers Meghalaya in the Semi-Finals

Plate League Semi-Final: Bihar 428 & 164 beat Meghalaya 134 & 156 by 302 runs and qualified for the Elite League next season

• First Class Debut: Nawaz Khan
• Bipin Saurabh – 177 in the 1st innings, 2nd First-class century
• Ashutosh Aman – 150 first-class wickets

Plate League Final: Bihar 546 & 335 beat Manipur 337 & 224 by 220 runs

• Sakibul Gani – 205 in 1st innings, 3rd First-class century, 1,000 career runs in 10th game
• Sachin Kumar – 132 in 2nd innings, 2nd First-class century
• Bipin Saurabh – 155 in 1st innings, 3rd First-class century
• Nazwaz Khan – 5/82 & 5/95, 1st & 2nd 5-wicket haul and 1st 10-wicket haul

Season Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Sakibul Gani: 585 @53.18, 1x100, 3x50
2. Sachin Kumar: 562 @51.09, 2x100, 2x50
3. Bipin Saurabh: 521 @47.36, 3x100, 1x50

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Ashutosh Aman: 28 @21.25,
2. Sachin Kumar: 20 @24.35
3. Veer Pratap Singh: 16 @24.94, 1x5

Top Score: Babul Kumar 209 vs Mizoram

Best Bowling: Veer Pratap Singh 5/30 vs Sikkim

Players Used: 24

First Class Debuts: 6

Overall, a good season for Bihar with Sachin Kumar being their best player closely followed by Bipin Saurabh. Looking forward to the next season in the Elite Leagues now!

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

Vijay Hazare Trophy 22-23: Bihar review

Bihar were placed in Group C with all matches played in Bengaluru. Another poor outing for Bihar as they finished with 4 points from 2 abandoned games and 5 losses to finish 7th in the 8 strong group. The learning curve has still a long way to go for the Ashutosh Aman lead side.

There was no consistency in selection with 21 players used off whom 6 played only one game each!

Here is the game by game summary

Game 1: Tamil Nadu 106/2 (17.1/38) vs Bihar: Match Abandoned due to rain

List A Debut: Harsh Singh, Surya Vansh

Game 2: Goa 329/6 beat Bihar 241/10 (46.5) by 88 runs

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman 3/42, Sachin Kumar 76, Surya Vansh 63

Game 3: Bihar 158/10 (47.5) lost to Haryana 159/1 (22.2) by 9 wickets

List A Debut: Raghuvendra Pratap Singh

Game 4: Andhra 302/7 (50) beat Bihar 170/10 (44.3) by 132 runs

Highlights: Veer Pratap Singh 60

Vijay Vats played his first senior game in India, having earlier played in Sri Lanka earlier this year!

Game 5: Chhattisgarh 304/7 (50) beat Bihar 241/9 (50) by 63 runs

List A Debut: Adhiraj Johri, Shishir Saket

Highlights: Bipin Saurabh 110* (86)

Game 6: Bihar 201/10 (49.3) lost to Kerala 205/1 (24.4) by 9 wickets

List A Debut: Gaurav, Himansu Singh

Highlights: Sakibul Gani 68

Game 7: Arunachal Pradesh 170/10 (48.4) vs Bihar 56/2 (13.5): Match abandoned due to rain

List A Debut: Ravi Shankar

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman 3/19, Sachin Kumar 3/26, Veer Pratap Singh 3/39

Tournament Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Sachin Kumar: 183 @36.60, 1x50
2. Bipin Saurabh: 159 @53.00, 1x100
3. Sakibul Gani: 113 @18.83, 1x50

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Harsh Singh: 8 @34.75
2. Ashutosh Aman: 7 @ 33.57
3. Sachin Kumar: 6 @22.00

Top Score: Bipin Saurabh 110* vs Chhattisgarh

Best Bowling: Ashutosh Aman 3/19 vs Arunachal

Players Used: 21

List A Debuts: 8

Overall, a very disappointing show from Bihar. Lets see how they perform in the Ranji Trophy

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy 2022-23: Bihar Review

Bihar were placed in Group D. All matches held in Indore and mostly televised live presenting a great opportunity for the players to present their cases for the next IPL auctions.

Things did not go too well for the Ashutosh Aman lead side. They beat Nagaland and almost trumped Andhra but were outplayed in the other matches to finish 6th in the group.

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

Game 1: Nagaland 145/8 (20) lost to Bihar 148/4 (19.1) by 6 wickets

T20 Debut: Raghuvendra Pratap Singh, Rishav Raj

Highlights: Anuj Raj 4/32, Abhijeet Saket 2/19, Bipin Saurabh 29 (19), Sachin Kumar 34* (18)

Game 2: Himachal Pradesh (179/7) (20) beat Bihar 150/6 (20) by 29 runs

T20 Debut: Anshuman Raj, Apurva Anand

Highlights: Sakibula Gani 48 (29), Bipin Saurabh 40 (32)

Game 3: Baroda 156/5 (20) beat Bihar 120/8 (20) by 36 runs

Highlights: Anuj Raj 2/19, Sachin Kumar 0/15 & 38 (35)

Game 4: Bihar 181/2 (20) lost to Andhra 186/8 (19.4) by 2 wickets

T20 Debut: Pietar Mardi, Sakib Hussain

Highlights: Babul Kumar 72 (50), Bipin Saurabh 52 (39), Abhijeet Saket 3/31

Game 5: Bihar 119/10 (19.4) lost to Saurashtra 124/2 (14.1) by 8 wickets

T20 Debut: Roshan Madhav

Game 6: Bihar 161/7 (20) lost to Gujarat 165/6 (14) by 4 wickets

Highlights: Mangal Mahrour 51* (37), Sakib Hussain 4/20

Tournament Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Bipin Saurabh: 141 @ 23.50, 1x50
2. Sakibul Gani 140 @ 28.00
3. Sachin Kumar 127 @ 31.75

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Anuj Raj: 9 @ 14.56
2. Abhijeet Saket: 7 @ 25.14
3. Sakib Hussain: 4 @ 11.75

Top Score: Babul Kumar 72 vs Andhra 

Best Bowling: Sakib Hussain 4/20 vs Gujarat

Players Used: 20

T20 Debuts: 7

Overall, not much to write about for the Bihar team, although the things are improving slightly.

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.

Arbit Stats #73: Trent Boult – Topping the Bottom

In the highly entertaining Trent Bridge Test, it was Trent Boult who got the statistic to remember. During the course of his two innings, he surpassed the great Muttiah Muralitharan as the batter with the most runs scored batting at No. 11.

This is certainly a unique record as it requires the perfect amalgamation of a lot of contrasting skills into achieving it. Some of these include:

1. Longevity: the first test for any greatness. One certainly needs a long career to produce so many runs
2. Competence with the ball: otherwise you will not be put in the XI, especially these days in the era of multi-dimensional cricketers.
3. Being the worst batter of the group: If you start regularly scoring more than the fair share of runs expected from a No. 11, you may get promoted to No. 10 (or higher) and that ends your bid for this record (ask Zaheer Khan, once scored 75 at No. 11 and was then bumped up the order). And the group will be regularly changing. There is far greater churn amongst bowlers due to pitch, form, rotation and injuries.
4. Luck: there is a fair chance the days you are in good form having hit a couple of 4s off the middle of the bat, successfully blocking others, the next over the other guy gets out and that’s it for the innings.
5. A not so great batting order: which doesn’t score so big that the captain regularly declares the innings and the last fellows don’t even get a strike in the middle. 

Overall, a bowler with a long career, who is able to wield the bat as an instrument to collect random runs without showing any real batting skill and lots of luck. 

Just look at the names in the Top 10 – Boult, Murali, Anderson, McGrath, Walsh, Willis, Statham, Ntini, Lyon, Hazlewood.

All a perfect amalgamation of the above factors.

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: Bihar Review

Bihar finished 5th in the Plate group with a campaign which started promisingly ending in a whimper. However, Sakibul Gani’s breakout performance were certainly the highlight of the campaign. Let’s see how he builds on from here.

Ashutosh Aman lead the side. Here is a game-by-game summary of the season.

Game1: Bihar 686/5d drew with Mizoram 328 & 199/4 (f/o)

Points: Bihar 3, Mizoram 1

Highlights:

• Sakibul Gani 341 – 1st player to score a triple century on first-class debut – world record for highest score on debut
• Babul Kumar 229* - Highest score, 3rd First-class century
• 538 – partnership between Sakibul & Babul
• Bipin Saurabh – 50 on first-class debut
• First-class debut – Bipin Saurabh, Malay Raj, Sachin Kumar, Sakibul Gani, Vikash Kumar

Game 2: Bihar 431/9d & 263/3 drew with Sikkim 673/8d

Points: Bihar 1, Sikkim 3

Highlights:

• Sakibul Gani – 98 & 101*, the fantastic start continued, 2nd First-class century
• Yashasvi Rishav – 112* in 2nd innings, 2nd first-class century
• First-class debut – Abhinav Kumar

Game 3: Arunachal Pradesh 196 & 253 beat Bihar 109 & 325 by 15 runs

Points: Bihar 0, Arunachal Pradesh 6

Highlights:

• Ashutosh Aman – 4/51 & 5/56 and 75 in 2nd innings; 15th 5-wicket haul in 20 matches!
• Vikrant Singh – 50 on debut
• Rishav Raj – 50 on debut
• Sakibul Gani – 4 wickets & 61 runs in the match
• First-class debut – Amit Sotiya, Banshidhar Kumar, Govind Chaudhary, Rishav Raj, Saurav Kumar, Shivam Singh, Vikrant Singh

Season Stats

Highest Scorers

1. Sakibul Gani 601 @ 150.25, 1x300, 1x100, 1x50 – Highest scorer in this year’s Ranji Trophy
2. Babul Kumar 372 @ 93.00, 1x200, 1x50
3. Bipin Saurabh 126 @ 126.00, 2x50

Highest Wicket-takers

1. Ashutosh Aman 14 @ 20.50, 1x5
2. Abhijeet Saket 8 @ 29.75
3. Sachin Kumar 6 @ 37.50

Best Batting: Sakibul Gani 341 vs Mizoram

Best Bowling: Ashutosh Aman 5/56 vs Arunachal Pradesh

Player Count: 20

Captain Count: 1 

First-Class Debut: 13

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

RIP Shane Warne

What a shocking piece of news. The phone had pinged with the notification of Shane Warne’s passing away. It was simple unbelievable. While the days are usually filled with terrible news – the Russian invasion of Ukraine, spiraling energy prices, a threat of nuclear war – somehow this one left me quite shaken.

Warne was a legend of the game. His career stats are outstanding – 708 wickets, most wickets in a year, most runs without a Test century, Player of the Match in World Cup semis & final, world cup winner, multiple Ashes winner, winning the IPL as player-captain-coach! The highlights reel of this stellar career is just the stuff of dreams and all this after a 1/150 on debut! And there was the flipside also – bookie information passing, run-ins with establishment, a drugs ban. But his sheer genius with a ball in hand (and sometimes with the bat as well) made him a true star. After all, not many could make things happen the way he did. And let's admit which cricket fan has not tried to imitate Warne’s bowling action. It was a simple action, an easy walk and just bowl it, nothing complicated and the ball then did all the talking!

His performances against India may have been a blip but here also he took a rag-tag bunch of Rajasthan Royals to inaugural IPL trophy ensuring that even us Indians barely impressed by any spinner finally acknowledged his genius.

Thankfully for the cricket fans, we have YouTube which is treasure trove of Warne’s accomplishments. Here is a compilation of my favorite ones.

Ball of the century to Mike Gatting

IMO his best ball in Test cricket – to Andrew Strauss

The ultimate sign of genius – walking the talk as he dismisses Brendon McCullum in a BBL game

Rest In Peace Shane Keith Warne – you legend!

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22: Bihar Review

Bihar played in the Plate League. With 3 wins and 2 losses from 5 matches, Bihar finished 3rd in the 8 team Plate League, thus missing out on a knock-out berth. Ashutosh Aman led the side. 

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

Game 1: Bihar 222/8 (50) lost to Mizoram 223/3 (47.4) by 7 wickets 

Highlights: Sakibul Gani 114 

List A Debut: Abhijeet Saket, Bipin Saurabh, Malay Raj 

Game 2: Meghalaya 273/6 (50) beat Bihar 272/10 (50) by 1 run 

Highlights: Amod Yadav 3/44, Sakibul Gani 94 

List A Debut: Amod Yadav 

Game 3: Bihar 280/8 (50) beat Nagaland 142/10 (31.4) by 138 runs 

Highlights: Bipin Saurabh 79, Mangal Mahrour 94*, Sarfaraz Ashraf 3/18, Ashutosh Aman 2/14, Shashi Shekhar 2/9 

List A Debut: Nikhil Anand 

Game 4: Sikkim 193/9 (50) lost to Bihar 194/3 (36.5) by 7 wickets 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman 4/37, Bipin Saurabh 92* 

Game 5: Arunachal Pradesh 83/10 (21.3) lost to Bihar 87/4 (19.1) by 6 wickets 

Highlights: Malay Raj 5/38, Sachin Kumar 3/6, Sakibul Gani 2/29 

List A Debut: Aditya Singh, Kumar Rajnish, Washim Ashrar 

Season Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Sakibul Gani 231 @ 77.00, 1x100, 1x50 
2. Mangal Mahrour 188 @ 62.67, 1x50 
3. Bipin Saurabh 182 @ 60.67, 2x50 

Highest Wicket-takers 

1. Ashutosh Aman 7 @ 19.14 
2. Malay Raj 6 @ 13.00 
3. Shashi Shekhar 6 @ 15.83 

Best Batting: Sakibul Gani 114 vs Mizoram 

Best Bowling: Malay Raj 5/38 vs Arunachal Pradesh 

Players Used: 22 

List A Debut: 8 

Overall, not a particularly great run for Bihar. No steady team selections, Debuts being handed out all over the place. Pure batters coming in at the tail! Difficult to see how this team gets better in the near future. 

And now we enter a phase of uncertainty for the next fixture. Although there is an IPL auction coming up as well, but with the exception of Sakibul Gani and maybe Bipin Saurabh, the performances just aren't good enough. Let's see how many progress into the final auction list!

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.