Jharkhand’s Eden Garden moment

Jharkhand vs Tripura, Agartala – Dec, 2019

Jharkhand became the first team in history of Ranji Trophy to win a game after being asked to follow-on. And what a special effort it was with the senior batsmen Saurabh Tiwary & Ishank Jaggi getting unbeaten hundreds to first overcome the deficit and then set up a target for the bowlers. Ashish Kumar and company then complemented the efforts of the batsman to knock out Tripura in the very last over. A truly remarkable feat in the sporting context itself. And add the fact that Jharkhand were without the services of Varun Aaron, Shahbaz Nadeem and Ishan Kishan. This one becomes extra special. 

The last day commenced in uncertainty, in the backdrop of violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. At such times sports do not really matter but they can act as a balm to maintain a semblance of normalcy. Kudos to the organizers and the teams for going through with the game on such a day. Otherwise we wouldn’t have had such a remarkable passage of play in the history of Ranji Trophy! 

VVS Laxman’s career catapulted from an ordinary one into an all-time great trajectory after the miracle at Eden Gardens. Lets see what impact does this special effort have on the careers of Kumar Deobrat, Arnav Sinha, Nazim Siddiqui, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Virat Singh, Anukul Roy, Rahul Prasad, Vivekanand Tiwari, Ashish Kumar and Ajay Yadav. 

How Jharkhand pulled off a repeat of Eden Gardens in Agartala - Cricinfo Article 

2018-19 Ranji Trophy: Jharkhand Review

It was a season where Jharkhand can look back and feel they were hard done by Tripura. Firstly, Tripura batted out 1 session and then frustrated Jharkhand by bowling only 22 overs in two and a half hours of play. Resulted in 3 points instead of 6 for Jharkhand who finished 3rd in the group just a single point behind 2nd placed Uttar Pradesh and miss out on a knock-out berth.

Jharkhand should look back with pride at their performance in this season. In 9 games they got 5 outright wins including one with bonus point, 3 with first-innings lead and one loss to Rajasthan. And all this was achieved with two of their first-choice players missing out on many games. Ishan Kishan on India A duty, while Shahbaz Nadeem got a maiden India call-up (although he did not get a game). 

• Varun Aaron continued his rise back in the ranks. Looking back that IPL snub seems to have done him a world of good, with that county stint and Deodhar Trophy selection, he continued his return to form with 2 fifers and now has been rewarded with an IPL recall. 
• Saurabh Tiwary got 2 centuries but not much else as he produced another 500 run season. But both 100s won the games for his team. 
• Anukul Roy was the stand-out performer with his all-round shows. The debutante finished with 30 wickets and 374 runs performing a few lower-order rescues. One to watch out for the future. 
• For Kumar Deobrat, this was a sort of coming of age season, as he lead the batting charts and got his maiden first-class century!

Round 1: Jharkhand (344 & 230/4d) drew with Assam (298 & 139/2); Jharkhand 3 Points 

First Class Debut: Anukul Roy 

Player of the Match: Ashish Kumar 

Highlights: Ishan Kishan (120 in 2nd), Ashish Kumar (5/32 in 1st) 

Round 2: Haryana (81 & 72) lost to Jharkhand (143 & 12/1) by 9 wickets; Jharkhand 6 Points, missed opportunity for bonus point. 

Player of the Match: Ajay Yadav 

Highlights: Varun Aaron (6/32 in 2nd) 

Round 3: Rajasthan (100 & 379) beat Jharkhand (152 & 235) by 92 runs: Jharkhand 0 Points 

First Class Debut: Alok Sharma 

Highlights: Varun Aaron (5/22 in 1st) 

Round 4: Goa (364 & 131) lost to Jharkhand (390 & 108/3) by 7 wickets; Jharkhand 6 Points 

First Class Debut: Rahul Prasad 

Player of the Match: Anukul Roy 

Highlights: Anukul Roy (127 in 1st), Rahul Prasad (6/45 in 2nd) 

Round 5: Jharkhand (172 & 288) beat Odisha (201 & 257) by 2 runs; Jharkhand 6 Points 

Highlights: Saurabh Tiwary (132* in 2nd) 

Round 6: Jharkhand (354 & 213/5d) drew with Uttar Pradesh (243 & 174/1); Jharkhand 3 Points 

Player of the Match: Rahul Shukla 

Highlights: Shahbaz Nadeem (109 in 1st), Rahul Shukla (5/65 in 1st) 

Round 7: Jharkhand (193 & 343) beat Services (267 & 188) by 81 runs; Jharkhand 6 Points 

Player of the Match: Utkarsh Singh 

Highlights: Utkarsh Singh (114 in 2nd), Shahbaz Nadeem (7/62 in 2nd) 

Round 8: Tripura (253 & 308) drew with Jharkhand (409 & 144/7); Jharkhand 3 Points. Jharkhand just fell short by 9 runs while Tripura bowled only 22 overs in two and a half hours of play in the final session! 

Player of the Match: Kumar Deobrat 

Highlights: Kumar Deobrat (140 in 1st), Nazim Siddiqui (134 in 1st) 

Round 9: Jammu & Kashmir (151 & 120) lost to Jharkhand (319/9d) by an innings & 48 runs; Jharkhand 7 Points 

Player of the Match: Saurabh Tiwary 

Highlights: Ajay Yadav (5/16 in 1st), Saurabh Tiwary (134 in 1st) 

Season Stats 

Top Scorers: 

1. Kumar Deobrat – 631 @57.36 
2. Saurabh Tiwary – 536 @41.23 
3. Ishank Jaggi – 506 @33.73 

Highest Score – Kumar Deobrat 140 vs Tripura 

Most Wickets 

1. Anukul Roy – 30 @22.70 
2. Varun Aaron – 25 @23.68 
3. Rahul Shukla – 23 @21.35 

Best Bowling – Shahbaz Nadeem – 7/62 vs Services 

Player Count: 17 

Debutantes: 3 

Captain Count: 2, Ishan Kishan & Nazim Siddiqui (when Ishan was on India A duty) 

Coming Up Next: Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy

Ranji Trophy 18-19: Jharkhand vs Haryana

Match Summary: Haryana (81 & 72) lost to Jharkhand (143 & 12/1) by 9 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 6, Haryana 0

As the scorecard says it all, the game was played in Lahli, a ground known all over India for producing seaming wickets and low scores! And that’s what happened. Haryana won the toss & elected to bat but were knocked out for 81 by the Jharkhand seam attack of Ajay Yadav, Rahul Shukla & Varun Aaron. Anukul Roy once again top scored for Jharkhand and get a 61 run lead. Haryana were knocked over again in the second innings. Jharkhand missed a chance for a bonus point victory as they lost Ishan kishan’s wicket in the chase of 11.

Highlights:

• Team Changes: In: Sumit Kumar, Rahul Shukla, Out: Kumar Deobrat, Ashish Kumar 
• Ajay Yadav picked up the Player of the Match for his 7-wicket match haul
• Varun Aaron took his 5th first-class 5-wicket haul with a career-best 6/32 in the second innings.

Season Stats:

• Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan – 164 @ 41.00
• Top Wicket-Taker: Varun Aaron – 9 @ 17.44
• Player Count – 13

Points Tally: 9 from 2 games – currently at 3rd place.

Coming Up Next – Rajasthan who are the table toppers with 2 bonus point victories.

Ranji Trophy 17-18: Jharkhand vs Rajasthan

Match Summary: Rajasthan (423) drew with Jharkhand (262 & 332/6 (f/o))
Points: Rajasthan 3, Jharkhand 1

The terrible start to the season continues as Jharkhand managed a single point against Rajasthan. Centuries by Amit Gautam and Tajinder Singh helped Rajasthan build up a big total of 423. Jharkhand batsmen did not really get going in reply with only Saurabh Tiwary managing some resistance. Jharkhand were forced to follow-on but they performed much more creditably the second time around to limit the damage and come away with one point from the game.

Highlights

• Playing XI:Changes: 
• In: Jaskaran Singh & Ajay Yadav
• Out: Varun Aaron & Samar Quadri
• Saurbah Tiwary captained the side in Varun Aaron's absence
• Nazim Siddiqui scored his maiden first-class 100 in just his second game and that too on his 23rd birthday! Not a bad birthday gift for himself!
• First-class century #16 for Ishank Jaggi and a match-saving one at that.

Season Stats

• Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan - 142 @35.50
• Top Wicket-taker: Sunny Gupta - 9@19.44
• Player Count: 13
• Captain Count: 2

Points Tally - 1 after 2 games. Moved up 1 place to 6th. Need a couple of outright wins to secure qualification.

Coming Up Next

Haryana who are currently in 7th place with no points. However, they have a game in hand. Hopefully Nadeem's return from India A duties will boost the team.

Ranji Trophy 16-17: Jharkhand vs Vidarbha

Match Summary: Vidarbha (105 & 444) drew with Jharkhand (362/8d & 75/4)

Points: Jharkhand 3, Vidarbha 1

Well begun but just could not get over the line. Jharkhand won the toss and knocked out Vidarbha for 105 with debutante Vikash Singh being the pick of the bowlers. In reply Jharkhand grabbed a huge lead, bolstered by Jaggi's second consecutive century. They must have had their sights set on a bonus point victory but Vidarbha proved more difficult to dislodge in the second innings as they racked up 444 to set Jharkhand a target of 188. Jharkhand survived a wobbly start and closed down the shutters to gather 3 points from the game.

Highlights

• Team Changes: In - Vikash Singh. Out - Sunny Gupta. 
• Vikash Singh made his first class debut and picked up a 4-wicket haul in the first innings.
• Pratyush Singh got his first  highest Test score with his first fifty in just his second game. 
• 13th First Class century for Ishank Jaggi.
• Ajay Yadav reached 50 first class wickets at an average of under 19. Maybe a good time to move to a higher level.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Ishank Jaggi 296 @49.33

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 19 @31.63
Player Count: 15

Points Tally - 16 after 4 games to drop down to 2nd spot behind Karnataka. Meanwhile Vidarbha move up 1 place to 6th.

Coming Up Next - Delhi, who are currently 3rd in the Group. Interesting to watch the relative performances of India U-19 graduates Ishan Kishan & Rishabh Pant.

Ranji Trophy 16-17: Jharkhand vs Rajasthan

Match Summary: Jharkhand (209 & 277) beat Rajasthan (207 & 237) by 42 runs 

Points: Jharkhand 6, Rajasthan 0

Second outright win of the season propelled Jharkhand to the top of Group B and in pole position for one of the knock-out berths.

Jharkhand won the toss and were all out for 209 with Kaushal Singh adding a fifty his century in the first game. Other batsmen got starts but no one capitalized on it with Pankaj Singh taking 5 wicket. Rajasthan had a great start with the openers putting on a 100 partnership but then Shahbaz Nadeem had other ideas as he ran through the Rajasthan line up and Jharkhand got a slender 2 run lead. In the second innings Jharkhand were in trouble with 7 wickets down for 163 before Ishank Jaggi and Nadeem put up a 99 run stand for the 8th wicket. Jaggi went on to get a round 100 as Jharkhand were all out for 277. Nadeem was once again amongst the wickets as Rajasthan lost 8 wickets for 137 in the chase. However, then came an irritating 87 run 9th wicket stand. But Jharkhand were finally able to break through and register a well deserved win.

In the end it was a fighting win as the team kept fighting hard and did not give up.

Highlights

• Team Changes: In - Ajay Yadav, Sunny Gupta, Pratyush Singh. Out - Varun Aaron, Shiv Gautam, Samar Quadri. 
• Saurabh Tiwary lead the side in place of Aaron.
• Pratyush Singh made his first class debut. Decent outing having got starts in both innings but couldn't capitalize on it.
• 12th First Class century for Ishank Jaggi.
• 2nd 10-wicket match haul for Nadeem which included his 10th & 11th 5-wicket hauls. Nadeem picked up the Man of the Match award.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Kaushal Singh 193 @48.25

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 18 @27.06
Player Count: 14

Points Tally - 13 after 3 games. Right at the top of the table. Meanwhile Rajasthan drop down to 4th place.

Coming Up Next - Vidarbha, who are currently at 7th place in the Group but have played one game less.

Ranji Trophy 15-16: Jharkhand vs Tripura

Match Summary: Tripura (166 & 161) lost to Jharkhand (394/4d) by an innings & 67 runs

Points: Jharkhand 7, Tripura 0 

This was the best possible result for Jharkhand's qualification chances. A win with a bonus point as well. Knocked out Tripura for 166 riding on the back of Rahul Shukla's 6-wicket haul. The opening partnership was dodgy but the rest of the line-up all batted big and achieved a huge lead. Second time around also Tripura were found wanting as Nadeem ran through the lineup. The Tripura batsme were just about able to extend the game into the 4th day.

Game Notes

• Shahbaz Nadeem remains the captain. 
• Team Changes: Ajay Yadav and Sumit Kumar returned while out went Ishan Kishan and Samar Qaudri.
• 11th first-class century  for Ishank Jaggi who seems to have recovered from his bad run of form.
• A career-best 6 for 40 for Rahul Shukla, his second career fifer
• Nadeem got his 7th career fifer and his second for the season.
• Sumit Kumar pouche 5 catches behind the stumps in the Tripura 1st innings.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Saurabh Tiwary 383 @ 42.56

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 29 @ 19.52
Player Count: 20 from 6 Games
Captain Count: 3 from 6 Games

Points Tally - 17 after 6 games. Moved up one place to 5th. Now, lying 7 points behind Himachal Pradesh who are currently in place for the second knock-out spot from the Group. With 2 rounds left, it is still mathematically possible though need quite a few results going in our way.

Coming Up Next - Away game against second placed Himachal Pradesh. Full points here would do the qualification chances a world of good.

Ranji Trophy 14-15: Jharkhand vs Assam

Match Summary: Assam (191 & 235/9d)  drew with Jharkhand (217 & 78/4)

Points: Jharkhand 3, Assam 1

After sitting out the 1st round, Jharkhand faced Assam away in Guwahati for their opening encounter of the new Ranji season.

It was a typical low scoring affair. Jharkhand won the toss and put Assam in first. Assam were all out for a lowly 191. Jharkhand were looking good to take a big first innings lead but collapsed on Day 3 to secure a small but critical 26 runs lead. Neither side could make any more headway through the game and eventually after some brief excitement in the 4th innings the match ended in a draw.

3 youngsters made their first class debut for Jharkhand. Ishan Kishan the wicket-keeper who is the youngest player in this season so far. Virat Singh, another 16 year old would be hoping for a career as good as his namesake in the Indian team. Virat Singh was the top scorer in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Jharkhand. Middle order batsman Kaushal Singh was the 3rd debutante.

Highlights for Jharkhand - Ishan Kishan's half-century on first class debut and Ajay Yadav's 4 wicket haul in Assam's 2nd innings.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan 66 runs @ 33

Most Wickets: Ajay Yadav - 6 wickets @ 9 

Standings: 3 points after 1 game, having missed the 1st round. Currently 5th in Group C having played one game less. Leaders Assam are just 5 points away.

Coming Up Next - Zonal minnows Tripura. Hoping for a big win here which will help the team's cause in the league.

Ranji Trophy 13-14: Jharkhand vs Odisha

Match Summary: Jharkhand (221 & 194) lost to Odisha (307 & 109/1) by 9 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 0, Odisha 6

Another game and another loss. The batting with the honorable exception of Saurabh Tiwary is just not clicking as a unit. Even changes in personnel didn't help Jharkhand this time around. The top order was blown away by Basant Mohanty both times around. Nothing much to write home about.

For Jharkhand, opener Shamseed Rathour and wicket-keeper Pappu Singh made their First-Class debuts. Welcome to the senior cricket to both of them. Also Ajay Yadav had his first game of the season and picked up another 5 wicket haul. His career is still in its infancy but 4 5-wicket hauls in 6 first class matches is quite a good beginning. 

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Saurabh Tiwary - 344 runs @ 57.33

Most Wickets: Varun Aaron - 11 @ 21.45

Standings - 2 points after 4 games. Right at the bottom of the table and 4 points below 8th place Haryana. Relegation is becoming a distinct possibility.

Coming Up Next - Gujarat at home. Lets see if the batting holds up this time around.

Ranji Trophy 2012-13: The Jharkhand Campaign

Match Summary: Jharkhand (401 & 33/0) drew with Punjab  (699/3d)

Punjab qualify to semi-finals on 1st innings lead basis.

On a flat track in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand were heavily outbatted by the Harbhajan Singh led Punjab team. Jharkhand's 1st innings was held up by Nemat & Jaggi's centuries while Akhash Verma & Saurabh Tiwary failed to replicate their earlier form and went out cheaply. In reply the Jharkhand attack was toothless in front of the Punjab batsmen with Taruwar Kohli leading the way with an unbeaten triple century. (Incidentally I have witnessed VVS Laxman scoring a triple on this very ground). With Punjab having secured a conclusive lead, the rest of the match meandered into a draw.

With this the Jharkhand campaign has come to an end. To reach the quarter-finals without any big names would be a tremendous achievement, specially given last year's performances. Group C was the easier of the 3 groups but qualification certainly wasn't given the topsy-turvy season that Jharkhand had. Next season they will be up against the big boys having been promoted. Hopefully the team will build on the success of this season.

Well Done Shahbaz Nadeem & company. It was really satisfying following your innings in this Ranji season. Also Tarak Sinha, the coach is now doing wonders with the Jharkhand team after taking Rajasthan to 2 Ranji titles

Season Stats

Top Batsmen 

1. Saurabh Tiwary - 602 runs @46.31 including 2 centuries 

2. Ishank Jaggi - 465 runs @42.27 with one century

3. Rameez Nemat - 419 runs @34.92 with one century

Top Bowlers

1. Shahbaz Nadeem - 42 wickets @25.98 

2. SS Rao - 26 wickets @24.65

3. Sunny Gupta - 25 wickets @31.48

Special mention must be made of newcomer Ajay Yadav who took 23 wickets including 2 ten-wicket match hauls. From cattle-grazer to playing a leading role in a couple of Jharkhand victories. This is a truly inspiring story.

Ranji Trophy 12-13: Jharkhand reach Quarter-finals

Match Summary: Services (185 & 152) lost to Jharkhand (120 & 219/5) by 5 wickets

Points: Jharkhand 6, Services 0

This was the match. Jharkhand had to win against the league toppers to have a chance to reach the knock-outs. And they won it with some minor hiccups. With other results also going their way, Jharkhand took the second place in Group C and booked their knock-outs spot.

In the first innings, they knocked out Services early with Ajay Yadav picking up 5 wickets. In reply Jharkhand started strongly but the brittle batting order collapsed again and handed a big lead to Services. At this juncture, with Saurabh Tiwary also injured, a win became increasingly unlikely. But they recovered well to knock out Services for 152, though they had them in even deeper trouble at one stage.  Once again Yadav was the pick of the bowlers picking 6 wickets. A 4th innings target of 218 was big specially given the match context. But the openers Akash Verma & rameez Nemat knocked off most of the target in 150+ opening stand. A few quick wickets fell but Jaggi & Tiwary saw them through.

It has been a topsy-turvy season. Beginning and ending with wins and some indifferent performances in-between. The batting has been specially brittle with  only Saurabh Tiwary and to a certain extent Akash Verma consistently amongst the runs. Bowling has been the more reliable department with Nadeem, Sunny Gupta, SS Rao and newcomer Ajay Yadav all chipping in.

It was the perfect new year gift for the Jharkhand cricket fan. Given that Dhoni & Aaron were missing throughout the season makes the achievement even more commendable.

Now for the Qaurter-finals against Punjab to be played at home in Jamshedpur beginning January 6th. Wishing the team all the very best

Season Stats
Lead run-scorer: Saurabh Tiwary - 601 runs @50.08
Most Wickets - Shahbaz Nadeem - 40 @22.45

Ranji Trophy 12-13: Jharkhand vs Tripura

Match Summary: Tripura (106 & 86) lost to Jharkhand (139 & 553/3) by 7 wickets.

Points: Jharkhand 6, Tripura 0

After taking a break in the 5th round of games, Jharkhand were back in action in 6th round, playing against Tripura in Agartala. And what an action packed return it was with the match finishing inside 2 days. Either the pitch must have been something extra-ordinary or the bowling out-of-this-world or the batsmen totally incompetent. Given the records of the players concerned I would like to believe in the extra-ordinary pitch theory. The contest was unfair with the dice being heavily loaded in favour of the bowlers, but I would rather have this kind of pitch than some of the flat tracks being dished out in the Ranji trophy.

Coming back to the match. There was a total of 1 big partnership in the game between Saurabh Tiwary & Ishank Jaggi and that basically sealed the fate of the game in Jharkhand's favour. How valuable was the parthership? It was 7 runs more than the entire Tripura 2nd innings & was more than double the combined total of the other nine Jharkhand 1st innings partnerships. Ajay yadav playing only his 2nd First class match was the star performer with the ball taking 10wickets in the match while Shankar Rao took a 5-for in the 2nd innings. The two highest wicket takers for Jharkhand this season Nadeem & Sunny bowled a total of 8 overs in the entire game, such was the impact of the 2 new ball bowlers. But the star performance was undoubtedly the Tiwary-Jaggi partnership which helped secure the 6 points.

With this win Jharkhand take their points total to 17 with 3 games in hand. they are very much in the race for the Quarter-final spot right now. Hoping to see my team in the Ranji knock-outs.

Next Game - vs Andhra starting December 15.

Season Stats

Top scorer - Saurabh Tiwary - 336 runs @ 48

Most wickets - Shahbaz Nadeem - 26 @ 20.42

P.S. It was interesting to see that former India keeper Ajay Ratra is now playing for Tripura