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!

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.

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

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.

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.

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy 2021-22: Bihar Review

After last season’s run into the knock-outs, Bihar got promoted into the Elite groups. After a good start with a win against Railways, the momentum fizzled out for the Ashutosh Aman led side. Here is a game-by-game summary of the tournament for Bihar 

Game 1: Bihar 169/4 (20) beat Railways 134/10 (18) by 35 runs 

Highlights: Bipin Saurabh 72 (54), Abhijeet Saket 3/15, Hrishi Raj 3/31, Ashutosh Aman 2/25 

T20 Debut: Bipin Saurabh, Hrishi Raj, Yashasvi Rishav 

Game 2: Bihar 131/5 (20) lost to Kerala 132/3 (14.1) by 7 wickets 

Highlights: Sakibul Gani 53* (41), Ashutosh Aman 2/31 

Game 3: Bihar 135/8 (20) lost to Assam 136/17 (18.5) by 3 wickets 

Highlights: Babul Kumar 82 (57), Ashutosh Aman 1/9, Abhijeet Saket 2/25 

T20 Debut: Kumar Rajnish, Malay Raj 

Game 4: Bihar 59/10 (18) lost to Madhya Pradesh 60/1 (5.4) by 9 wickets 

T20 Debut: Shashi Anand, Shekhar Singh 

Game 5: Bihar 118/6 (20) lost to Gujarat 121/5 (19.1) by 5 wickets 

Highlights: Mangal Mahrour 64* (51), Ashutosh Aman 2/10 

T20 Debut: Anunay Singh 

Season Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Babul Kumar 131 @ 32.75, 1x50 
2. Bipin Saurabh 125 @ 25.00, 1x50 
3. Mangal Mahrour 119 @ 29.75, 1x50 

Highest Wicket-takers 

1. Ashutosh Aman 7 @ 10.71 
2. Abhijeet Saket 7 @ 18.29 
3. Hrishi Raj 4 @ 17.00 

Best Batting: Babul Kumar 82 vs Assam 

Best Bowling: Abhijeet Saket 3/15 vs Railways 

Players Used: 19 

T20 Debut: 8 

Overall, a poor run for Bihar finishing bottom of the group.

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.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021: Bihar Review

BCCI managed to conduct the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy across 6 bio-secure bubbles. Given their previous performances, Bihar had moved out of the Plate group. And the step-up to the Elite level was too big a gap for the team. Bihar lost all their 5 games and were competitive in only one game against Odisha. 

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

Game 1: Bihar 189/10 (45.5) lost to Railways 190/0 (29) by 10 wickets 

Highlights: Anuj Raj 72 from No.9 

List A Debut: Anuj Raj, Akash Raj, Rahul Kumar, Shabbir Khan 

Game 2: Karnataka 354/3 (50) beat Bihar 87/10 (27.2) by 267 runs 

Game 3: Bihar 193/10 (46.1) lost to Uttar Pradesh 194/5 (28) by 5 wickets 

Highlights: Yashaswi Rishav 67 

List A Debut: Lakhan Raja, Rishav Raj, Yashasvi Rishav, Suraj Kashyap 

One unnamed Bihar player tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the game. 

Game 4: Bihar 255/7 (50) lost to Odisha 258/3 (48.1) by 7 wickets 

Highlights: Babul Kumar 78 

List A Debut: Apurva Anand 

Game 5: Bihar 148/10 (40.2) lost to Kerala 149/1 (8.5) by 9 wickets 

Highlights: Babul Kumar 64 

List A Debut: Vikash Patel 

Kerala went hammer and tongs to overhaul Bihar’s target! 

Tournament Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Babul Kumar 181 @ 26.20 with 2x50s 
2. Sakibul Gani 111 @ 22.20 
3. Anuj Raj 104 @ 26.00 with 1x50 

Top Innings: Babul Kumar 78 vs Odisha 

Most Wickets 

1. Ashutosh Aman 3 @ 63.00 
2. Anuj Raj 3 @ 69.67 
3. Rahul Kumar 2 @ 70.50 

Best Bowling: Ashutosh Aman 2/44 vs Uttar Pradesh 

Player Count: 18 

List A Debuts: 10 

So 5 straight losses and one covid positive result. Not too great a series. 

And now the team moves back into uncertainty as we do not know when the next fixture will come up!

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy 2021: Bihar Review

Bihar had a good run in the tournament. Won all their games in the Plate League and with Nagaland-Chandigarh match called off got sole pole position to qualify for the Quarter-Finals. The Ashutosh Aman lead side had its moments against Rajasthan but fell short in the end. This was the first televised game for this lot, so lets see if any of them have got the eye of the IPL scouts. 

Game 1: Bihar 122/10 (20) beat Arunachal Pradesh 104/9 (20) by 18 runs 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman 3/17, Sachin Kumar 3/22 

T20 Debut: Amod Yadav, Rahul Kumar, Sachin Kumar, Sakibul Gani, Vikash Yadav 

Game 2: Sikkim 110/8 (20) lost to Bihar 111/2 (19.1) by 8 wickets 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman 4/18, Mangal Mahrour 55 (46) 

Game 3: Meghalaya 89/9 (20) lost to Bihar 92/4 (16) by 6 wickets 

Highlights: Anuj Raj 3/15, Ashutosh Aman 2/15, Shasheem Rathour 2/17 & 33 (28) 

T20 Debut: Anuj Raj, Akash Raj 

Game 4: Manipur 105/8 (20) lost to Bihar 107/1 (17.1) by 9 wickets 

Highlights: Amod Yadav 4/17, Shasheem Rathour 60* (40) 

Game 5: Mizoram 83/8 (20) lost to Bihar 84/4 (12.4) by 6 wickets 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman 4/9 

T20 Debut: Mohit Kumar 

Bihar topped the Plate Group and reached the Quarter-Finals 

Quarter-Finals: Rajasthan 164/5 (20) beat Bihar 148/4 (20) by 16 runs 

Highlights: Mangal Mahrour 68* (58) 

T20 Debut: Suraj Kashyap 

Season Stats 

Highest Scorers 

1. Mangal Mahrour 168 @ 33.60, 2x50s 
2. Shasheem Rathour 142 @ 28.40, 1x50 
3. Babul Kumar 108 @ 27.00 

Highest Wicket-takers 

1. Ashutosh Aman 16 @ 7.63 
2. Amod Yadav 7 @10.86 
3. Samar Qaudri 6 @ 17.83 

Best Batting: Mangal Mahrour 68*vs Rajasthan 

Best Bowling: Ashutosh Aman 4/9 vs Mizoram 

Players Used: 15 

T20 Debut: 9

Coming Up Next: Vijay Hazare Trophy 

P.S. Incidentally, this is the 500th post on this blog!

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.