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.

IPL 2016 - Auctions: Jharkhand

The final list for the player auctions for 2016 season of IPL is out. It was disappointing to see that in spite of a good run across the three formats, very Jharkhand players made it into the auctions list. Following are the players in the running for an IPL slot.

1. Ishank Jaggi
2. Virat Singh
3. Ishan Kishan
4. Jaskaran Singh
5. Rahul Shukla

All of them are at the lowest base price of Rs. 10 Lakh each. Being the India Under-19 captain, Ishan Kishan's chances are the brightest to join the likes of Dhoni, Tiwary, Aaron and Nadeem in the IPL roster. Lets see which of the franchisees picks up these players.

Complete Player List for the Auction (Link)

Meanwhile in the Deodhar Trophy, Nadeem was the only Jharkhand representative. Playing only in the final for India A, he scored 2* and picked 3 for 36. 

Next Stop - Ranji Trophy Quarter-finals.

Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Jharkhand vs Hyderabad

Match Summary: Hyderabad (145 & 269) lost to Jharkhand (388/8d & 29/0) by 10 wickets 

Points: Jharkhand 7, Hyderabad 0 

Jharkhand continued their fantastic turn-around with a third bonus point win on the trot. And qualified for the quarter-finals after a gap of 2 years.

Hyderabad collapsed in the first innings with Jaskaran Singh, Kaushal Singh and Shahbaz Nadeem taking 3 wickets each. Jharkhand scored briskly and built up a huge lead riding on Saurabh Tiwary's unbeaten double century. Hyderabad resisted strongly in the second innings and managed to turn around the deficit. But Jharkhand easily chased the small target without any loss and racked up their third consecutive bonus point win.

Game Notes

• Team Changes: Rahul Shukla came back in place of Samar Quadri.
• 2nd first-class century for Shiv Gautam.
• 15th first-class century for Saurbah Tiwary.
• 3rd fifer for Rahul Shukla and second for the season.
• 3/32 - Jaskaran Singh's career best bowling figures 

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Saurabh Tiwary 677 @ 67.70

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 45 @ 17.16
Player Count: 21 from 8 Games
Captain Count: 3 from 8 Games

Points Tally - 31 from 8 games. Finished second in the league table behind Saurashtra (36). Earns them a place in the knock-outs as well as a promotion to the big league of Group A or B next season, which provides a better platform for the likes of Tiwary & Nadeem to be noticed by the national selectors.

Coming Up Next - The Ranji Quarter-finals begin 3rd February, but before that we have the Vijay Hazare Trophy commencing on 10th December, where Jharkhand fight it out in Group B. With the national team unlikely to have any tours, there is a likelihood of the likes of Dhoni and Aaron playing for Jharkhand which will be a real boost-up for the team

Ranji Trophy 15-16: Jharkhand vs Kerala

Match Summary: Jharkhand (202 & 262) beat Kerala (148 & 183) by 133 runs

Points: Jharkhand 6, Kerala 0

A win at the third attempt. After two consecutive losses, the season seemed to be going downhill for Jharkhand but they recovered handsomely to record a big win away in Kerala. Put into bat after losing the toss, Jharkhand's batting continued its collapsing ways by being shot out for 202. The highlight was Saurabh Tiwary's defiant knock of 75 despite retiring hurt midway through the innings. Prakash Munda playing his first game of the season got a half-century but their was hardly any other contribution. The bowlers though hit back to secure a 54 run lead with Varun Aaron taking a 5 wicket haul. Second time around the batting was slightly better with solid contributions all round boosting the score. Kerala were set a target of 317 were knocked out for 183 with Nadeem taking a seven-wicket haul. 

Game Notes

• The faltering batting lead to quite a few changes from the previous game. Out went Rameez Nemat, Virat Singh, Kumar Deobrat, Samar Quadri and Vinayak Vikram. Jaskaran Singh came back after missing the previous game, while Prakash Munda, Shiv Gautam, Anand Singh and Ashish Kumar got their first game of the season.
• Shiv Gautam bagged a pair in his first game of the season.

Highlights

Career best 7-wicket haul for Shahbaz Nadeem in the second innings.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Saurabh Tiwary 207 @ 41.40

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 13 @ 17.31
Player Count: 18 from 3 Games

Points Tally - 6 after 3 games. Moved up to 5th spot. Lying 7 points behind Saurashtra who are currently in place for the second knock-out spot from the Group.

Coming Up Next - Jharkhand sit out the next round of games. And then they play their first home game of the season against Goa who are 1 place and 4 points ahead of them in the group.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2014-15: Jharkhand Review

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

Game 1: vs Tripura - Won by 8 Wickets

Game 2: vs Bengal - Lost by 163 Runs

Game 3: vs  Assam - Lost by 7 Wickets

Game 4: vs  Odisha - Won by 45 Runs

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

Highlights for Jharkhand

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

Top Scorers

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

Top Wicket takers

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

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

Jharkhand Ranji Trophy 2012-13: Game 1

What a start to the season! Jharkhand beat Jammu & Kashmir in the season opener by an innings & 31 runs. Not only did they win, they also got the bonus point and have the best quotient (2.179) amongst the Group C teams. Which means they are right on top of the table after the 1st round of games with 7 points. Alongside are Assam (also with 7) and there is a chance to get clear pole position when these 2 clash in the 2nd round of games beginning November 9th.

Match Summary: J&K (195/10 &151/10) lost to Jharkhand (377/10) by an innings & 31 runs. Venue Jammu
Points - Jharkhand - 7, J&K - 0

Saurabh Tiwary was the only player with international exposure in the game. It was a good all round bowling performance in the 1st innings by the Jharkhand team with Nadeem & SS Rao picking 3 wickets while Sunny Gupta (of the infamous IPL knockout game) took 2. A combined batting performance took Jharkhand to a decent (though not imposing) score. Nemat (75), Tiwary (72) & Gautam (80) got 50s while there were a couple of others in the 20s & 30s. However this score was more than enough as Nadeem ran through the J&K line-up in the 2nd innings picking 6 wickets while Jaskaran took 2. 

Hopefully Varun Aaaron will be fit for the games which lie ahead. Thouh I wonder why Dhoni wasn't playing while almost all Indian players played in the opening Ranji games. In fact some turned up to play for their states just a day after the India A-England match.

Its still early days in the season and tougher tests lie ahead but as they say, "Well begun is half Done"