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.

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

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 2019-20: Jharkhand Review

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

Highs & Lows

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

And I ran into the team at Hyderabad airport!

Season Summary Game by Game

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

Points: Jharkhand 6, Tripura 0

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

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

Points: Jharkhand 7, Assam 0 

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

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

Points: Jharkhand 3, Haryana 1 

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

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

Points: Jharkhand 0, Jammu & Kashmir 7 

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

Points: Jharkhand 0, Maharashtra 6 

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

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

Points: Jharkhand 6, Uttarakhand 0 

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

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

Points: Jharkhand 0, Services 6 

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

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

Points: Chhattisgarh 3, Jharkhand 1 

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

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

Points: Odisha 3, Jharkhand 1 

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

Season Stats 

Most Runs:

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

Highest Score – Nazim Siddiqui – 173 vs Assam

Most Wickets

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

Best Bowling – Rahul Shukla – 7/106 vs Services

Player Count: 21

First-Class Debuts: 5

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

2019-20 Ranji Season: Bihar Review

After a good run in their comeback/debut season, Bihar entered 2019-20 season riding on a 6-match winning streak with a shot at Mumbai’s overall record of 8 wins in row. Although those were dashed in the very first game itself. Overall, this was an inconsistent season for the Ashutosh Aman lead side and Bihar finished 5th in the Plate league. The Plate League has also got more competitive this year unlike last season when it was a straight contest between Bihar & Uttarakhand for the top slot!

Highs & Lows

• Ashutosh Aman had another great season picking 49 wickets and also getting 3 50s.
• Babul Kumar, Rahmatullah and Vikash Ranjan have formed the core of the batting with each of them scoring over 500 runs in the season.
• The initial form of Yashasvi Rishav looks good. 
• Abhijeet Saket picking up consecutive 7-wicket hauls.
• Meanwhile nepotism rocks – Otherwise how does Lakhan Raja keep playing after getting ducks in his first three innings. 

Here is the Match-by-match season summary:

Game 1: Bihar (173 & 196) lost to Puducherry (300 & 70/0) by 10 wickets

Points: Bihar 0, Puducherry 7

• First-Class Debut: Nishant Kumar, Sabir Khan
• 2nd 5-wicket haul for Vivek Kumar

Game 2: Chandigarh (420) drew with Bihar (115 & 175/6 f/o)

Points: Bihar 1, Chandigarh 3

• First-Class Debut: Shashi Shekhar 
• 10th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman

Game 3: Bihar (326 & 162/1) drew with Goa (470)

Points: Bihar 1, Goa 3

• First-Class Debut: Kumar Mridul
• 11th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman 
•  First-Class Century #1 for Babul Kumar

Game 4: Mizoram (378 & 68) lost to Bihar (262 & 188/4) 

Points: Bihar 6, Mizoram 0 

• First-Class Debut: Lakhan Raja, Shabbir Khan 
• 12th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman 
• 1st 5-wicket haul for Abhijeet Saket 

Game 5: Bihar (431) beat Manipur (94 & 154) by innings & 183 runs 

Points: Bihar 7, Manipur 0 

• First-Class Debut: Atulya Priyankar 
• First-Class Century #2 for Indrajit Kumar 
• Abhijeet Saket: 2nd 5-Wicket haul & 1st 10-wicket haul 

Game 6: Nagaland (166 & 444/4) drew with Bihar (509/7d) 

Points: Bihar 3, Nagaland 1 

• First-Class Century #2 for Rahmatullah 
• First-Class Century #1 for Vikash Ranjan 

Game 7: Bihar (208 & 361/4d) drew with Meghalaya (179 & 138/2) 

Points: Bihar 3, Meghalaya 1 

• First-Class Debut: Basukinath, Yashasvi Rishav, Sarfaraz Ashraf & Amod Yadav 
• First-Class Century #3 for Rahmatullah 
• First-Class Century #1 for Yashasv Rishav 
• 100 First-Class wickets for Ashutosh Aman 

Game 8: Arunachal Pradesh (351 & 163) lost to Bihar (291 & 227/4) by 6 wickets 

Points: Bihar 6, Arunachal Pradesh 0 

• First Class Debut: Nikhil Anand 
• First Class Century #4 & #5 as well as 1000 career runs for Rahmatullah. 
• 5-wicket haul #13 & 10-wicket haul #6 for Ashutosh Aman 

Game 9: Bihar (305 & 417/8d) drew with Sikkim (272 & 69/1) 

Points: Bihar 3, Sikkim 1 

• 1000 First-Class runs for Babul Kumar & Century #2 and Highest score 
• First-Class Century #1 for Shasheem Rathour 
• 14th 5-wicket haul for Ashutosh Aman

Season Stats 

Most Runs:

1. Babul Kumar – 822 @54.80, 2x100s & 5x50s
2. Rahmatullah – 695 @63.18, 4x100s & 2x50s
3. Vikash Ranjan – 570 @57.00, 1x100 & 4x50s

Highest Score – Babul Kumar – 195 vs Sikkim

Most Wickets

1. Ashutosh Aman – 49 @18.10, 5x5s 
2. Abhijeet Saket- 26 @15.65, 2x5s
3. Shivam Kumar – 24 @38.75

Best Bowling – Abhijeet Saket – 7/12 vs Mizoram

Player Count: 23

First-Class Debuts: 12 – quite a high number, but expected given that this is just the second season.

Till next season!

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: Bihar Review

On their return to first-class cricket, Bihar had a decent outing finishing 2nd in the group. However, their fate was effectively sealed in the first game itself against Uttarakhand, or to be more precise when they were shot out for 60 in the very first innings. There were more early jitters as the game against Puducherry was washed out, leaving them with a mountain to climb. This proved to be too big an ask for Bihar as they finished 4 points of adrift of Group winners Uttarakhand and missed a knock-out berth. 

Ashutosh Aman was the stand-out performer with 68 wickets at an average of 6.49. He broke Bishan Singh Bedi’s record for most wickets in a single Ranji season. Picked up nine 5-wicket hauls and five 10-wicket match hauls in just 8 games, including one wash-out. And also scored a century to finish the season with a batting average of 48+. Rewarded with captaincy by the time the season ended. 

Samar Quadri had a good season after shifting to Bihar from Jharkhand ably supporting Ashutosh Aman with 35 wickets. 

Bihar lost captain Pragyan Ojha due to injury quite early in the season and had Babul Kumar and Ashutosh Aman leading the side as the season progressed. 

Round 1: Bihar (60 & 169) lost to Uttarakhand (227 & 4/0) by 10 wickets: Bihar 0 Points. Effectively the game which decided the group topper. 

First Class Debut: Vikash Ranjan, Kumar Rajnish, Vivek Mohan, MD Rahmatullah, Ashutosh Aman, Anunay Singh, Himanshu Hari 

Round 2: Bihar had a break 

Round 3: Bihar vs Puducherry: Abandoned after toss: Bihar 1 Point 

First Class Debut: Harsh Singh, Indrajit Kumar, Vishal Das, Vivek Kumar 

Round 4: Bihar (288 & 296/7d) beat Sikkim (81 & 108) by 395 runs: Bihar 6 Points. 

First Class Debut: Utkarsh Bhaskar 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (89 in 1st, 5/19 & 5/22), Samar Quadri (5/32 in 2nd) 

Round 5: Arunachal Pradesh (84 & 135) lost to Bihar (536/5d) by an innings & 317 runs: Bihar 7 Points. 

First Class Debut: Rehan Khan 

Player of the Match: Indrajit Kumar 

Highlights: Indrajit Kumar (222), Ashutosh Aman (4/26 & 7/14) 

Round 6: Meghalaya (125 & 46) lost to Bihar (242) by an innings & 71 runs: Bihar 7 Points. 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (8/51 & 6/17) 

Round 7: Bihar (150 & 2504/8d) beat Nagaland (209 & 173) by 273 runs: Bihar 6 Points. 

First Class Debut: Mangal Mahrour 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (7/47 & 5/49), Mangal Mahrour (177 in 2nd), Rahmatullah (107 in 2nd) 

Round 8: Bihar (440/97d) beat Mizoram (77 & 147) by innings & 216 runs: Bihar 7 Points. 

First Class Debut: Anshuman Gautam, Abhijeet Saket 

Player of the Match: Ashutosh Aman 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (111, 1/20 & 5/28), Vivek Kumar (102) Samar Quadri (6/19 & 4/50) 

Round 9: Manipur (156 & 238) lost to Bihar (257 & 140/7) by 3 wickets: Bihar 6 Points. 

First Class Debut: Aditya Kumar, Kundan Gupta 

Player of the Match: Indrajit Kumar 

Highlights: Ashutosh Aman (4/39 & 7/71), Samar Quadri (5/49 & 3/93) 

Season Stats 

Top Scorers: 

1. MD Rahmatullah – 375 @34.09
2.  Ashutosh Aman – 337 @48.14 
3. Indrajit Kumar– 307 @43.86 

Highest Score – Indrajit Kumar 222 vs Arunachal Pradesh

Most Wickets 

1. Ashutosh Aman – 68 @6.49 
2. Samar Quadri– 35@15.54
3. Vivek Kumar– 15@26.20 

Best Bowling – Ashutosh Aman – 8/51 vs Meghalaya 

Player Count: 23

Debutantes: 18

Captain Count: 3 , Pragyan Ojha, Babul Kumar, Ashutosh Aman

Coming Up Next: Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy

The Twenty18 Lineup

The calendar changes to 2019 and we have Jimmy Neesham & Cheteshwar Pujara starting the cricketing year in contrasting yet effective styles. Before the year runs away any further, time to look back and present the 2018’s Slipstream XI – a collection of interesting & not-so-interesting events to remember the cricketing year 2018 by. 

0. Let’s begin at the beginning. 

All these years we were sending a coin up in the air for the all-important task of finding who bats first. But the smart fellows at the Big bash League decided that sending a coin up in the air doesn’t seem exciting, so let’s throw a specially designed bat! Which lead to an amusing incident where the bat landed on its side!!! 

1. Debutante(s) of the Year 

Ireland & Afghanistan became the 11th & 12th Test playing nations respectively. While Ireland ran Pakistan close, Afghanistan were overwhelmed by India. Meanwhile Nepal made their ODI debut with a narrow win against Netherlands. It was reported in Nepalese newspaper as “Nepal hammer Netherlands by one run”. 2019 is going to be a bumper debut season as all Associates get international status for T20s.

2. Sandpaper Gate 

Cameron Bancroft was caught with his hand in his pants as he tried to hide away the bit of sandpaper used to rough up the ball. Ball tampering is a taboo and usually leads to a temporary suspension of the guilty party. But this one snowballed into a major crisis for Australian cricket leading to extended bans for Bancroft, Captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner and departures for Coach Lehmann and CA chief Sutherland. Heads continued to roll and Australian cricketing culture itself was called into question, while the rest of the cricketing world watched in glee!

3. Cricketing Jargon of the Year 

The culture review of Australian cricket brought in a new terminology - Elite Honesty. Now you could not just play hard and fair, but you also had to show “Elite Honesty” at all times (:O). However, giving it close competition was SENA (short for South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia). Cricketers, especially from the sub-continent, now had their career numbers judged with their performance in SENA regions. Only a favorable comparison here would ensure a place in the pantheon of greats! 

4. Technological improvement of the Year - Stump Mics 

Stump microphones were turned up mainly to catch the faintest of the snicks on the snickometer, but it became a more useful tool for catching the discusssions/ banter/ sledging going on in the field. Special mention here of Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant’s talks (!). So amusing that often the actual commentators just kept quiet while these two were standing up to the stumps. 

5. Run-Out of the Year 

Azhar Ali added a new chapter in the glorious tradition of Pakistan cricket’s comical run-outs. The batsman hit the ball towards the boundary and then proceeded for a mid-pitch chat oblivious to the facts that (a) the ball never crossed the boundary, (b) the fielder had jogged down to retrieve the ball, (c) the keeper had rushed up to collect the throw and break the stumps & (d) the umpire had not made any signal. 

6. Retiring on a high 

A century in your last innings to go with a century on debut, and ending the year with a knighthood. What a way to go, Sir Alastair Cook! 

7. Battle of the Year 

The war against corruption continues as does the infighting for controlling the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI in short). Last year with the ODI World Cup, Women’s cricket had finally become cricket. This year it added its public controversy with the spat between Mithali Raj and coach Ramesh Powar, leading to the latter’s dismissal. Well, being in the limelight is great but should be for the right reasons! 

8. Finally getting its due 

The Ranji Trophy – India’s premier domestic first-class competition. There was a major expansion with NINE new teams added. India’s domestic competition now has 37 first-class teams. Well we also have 1.3 Billion people, so no big deal. But it was commentator Kerry O’Keefe’s on air jibe about its quality which lead to everyone singing paens in praise of the Ranji Trophy and how important a role it plays in establishing India’s dominance in world cricket! 

9. Scaling New Heights - Indian Pace Attack 

During the India-Australia series, an interesting graphic came up. India’s pace troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami had collectively taken more wickets in an year than any other pace bowling trio. They broke the 34 year old record of Marshall, Holding & Garner. An Indian fast bowling trio being spoken in the same breath as these legends while outgunning home attacks. With Bhuvaneswar Kumar and Umesh Yadav as back-up, never before had we had so many fast bowling riches. 

10. The Sleeper Hit of the Year 

A tri-nation T20 series involving India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – who would be interested, especially after India rested most of the big guns. But the Nidahas Trophy proved to be an action packed entertainer. Bangladesh irritating the Sri Lankan home fans to such an extent with their Naagin Dance celebrations that they switched support to India! And then there was Dinesh Karthik belting the last ball for a six to win the final for India. 

11. The Sponsors! 

Was flipping through the sports channels, Star Network was showing the Burger King Super Smash while Sony had the KFC Big Bash on air! Junk food companies sponsoring elite sports events. Nothing new given that McDonalds sponsors the Olympics. And cricket has always been the less athletic of sports, which prioritizes Lunch, Tea and Drinks breaks even over the actual action at time. Case in point – lunch taken during an India-South Africa ODI when India needed 2 runs off 31 overs! 

12th Man – Free riding of the year 

Adil Rashid did not bat, did not bowl, did not take a catch and ended up on the winning side of a Test match. 

That was cricketing year 2018, lets see what 2019 has in store for us with a World Cup looming and new international teams coming up all over the globe. 

Wishing all cricket tragics a Happy New Year!

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 18-19: Bihar vs Uttarakhand

Match Summary: Bihar (60 & 169) lost to Uttarakhand (227 & 4/0) by 10 wickets

Points: Bihar 0, Uttarakhand 7

A terrible return to first-class cricket for Bihar, getting knocked over for 60 in the first innings against the pace of Deepak Dhopola. Only some lower order resistance in the second ensured that Bihar avoided a follow-on. But Uttarakhand still got the bonus point victory in a game which finished within 5 sessions. Also dents the chances for qualifying given that Uttarakhand were expected to be the main rivals for the sole spot from this group.

Highlights:

• Playing XI: Vikash Ranjan (wk), Kumar Rajnish, Babul Kumar, Vivek Mohan, Keshav Kumar, MD Rahmatullah, Ashutosh Aman, Pragyan Ojha (c), Samar Quadri, Anunay Singh, Himanshu Hari
• First Class Debut: Vikash Ranjan, Kumar Rajnish, Vivek Mohan, MD Rahmatullah, Ashutosh Aman, Anunay Singh, Himanshu Hari
• Ashutosh Aman’s 4-wicket haul in the first innings.

Season Stats:

• Top Scorer: Samar Quadri – 41 @ 21.50 (who would have thought!)
• Top Wicket-Taker: Ashutosh Aman – 4 @ 9.50
• Player Count – 11

Points Tally: 0 from 1 game. Currently bottom of the group.

Coming Up Next – Puducherry who are going to play their 1st game of the season.

Ranji Trophy 18-19: Jharkhand vs Assam

Match Summary: Jharkhand (344 & 230/4d) drew with Assam (298 & 140/2)

Points: Jharkhand 3, Assam 1

A solid performance to start the season. Jharkhand were missing Shahbaz Nadeem, who has finally got his maiden national call-up. Ishank Jaggi was back in action after sorting out the yo-yo test issues. 

Highlights:

• Playing XI: Kumar Deobrat, Nazim Siddiqui, Utkarsh Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Kishan (c & wk), Anand Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Aaron, Ashish Kumar, Ajay Yadav
• First Class Debut: Anukul Roy
• Ishan Kishan gets his 5th First-Class century, keeping him firmly in contention for the national keeping duties. 
• Maiden First-class half-century for Utkarsh Singh
• A fine all-round debut for Anukul Roy who top-scoring in the first innings & taking the team to a respectable score.
• A maiden 5-wicket haul for Ashish Kumar which ensured Jharkhand got the lead and also secured him the Player of the Match Award.

Season Stats:

• Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan – 138 @ 69.00
• Top Wicket-Taker: Ashish Kumar – 5 @ 13.80
• Player Count – 11

Points Tally: 3 from 1 game. Currently in 3rd place in the group.

Coming Up Next – Haryana who are 2nd in the group but also with 3 points.

Ranji Trophy 17-18: Jharkhand vs Gujarat

Match Summary: Gujarat (411 & 16/0) beat Jharkhand (242 & 183(f/o)) by 10 wickets
Points: Gujarat 7, Jharkhand 0

And the terrible season ends with another big defeat, at the hands of the defending champions Gujarat. Jharkhand were never in the running in this game and were outplayed completely. Nothing really to write about except Kumar Deobrat's twin fifties.

Overall a very disappointing season especially after last year's run to the semi-finals. Too much chopping and changing went on. We suffered from the absence of Shahbaz Nadeem due to India A duty, during the initial games, then Saurabh Tiwary had a bad run of form. Ishank Jaggi got 3 consecutive centuries but not much beyond that. Overall, the team did not click as a unit except for one game. On the bright side, Nazim Siddiqui's debut season was solid. Should get a decent run.

Highlights

• Playing XI:Changes - too many of them!
• In:  Virat Singh, Ashish Kumar, Ajay Yadav
• Out: Saurabh Tiwary, Sunny Gupta, Sonu Singh
• Shahbaz Nadeem led the side in Tiwary's absence
• 350 FC wickets for Nadeem
• Kumar Deobrat recorded his highest FC score of 80.

Season Stats

• Top Scorers: 
• Ishan Kishan - 484 @44.00
• Nazim Siddiqui - 474 @43.09
• Ishank Jaggi - 448 @44.80
• Top Wicket-taker: 
• Shahbaz Nadeem - 18 @32.83
• Sunny Gupta - 17 @25.47
• Varun Aaron - 15 @29.93
• Player Count: 20
• Captain Count: 3

Points Tally - 8 after 6 games. Finishing 6th in the group

Coming Up Next
Vijay Hazare Trophy in mid-February. Let's see if any of the players make an appearance in the Rest of India squad for the Irani Trophy.

Ranji Trophy 17-18: Jharkhand vs Jammu & Kashmir

Match Summary: Jammu & Kashmir (376 & 265/9d) beat Jharkhand (292/9d & 243) by 106 runs
Points: Jammu & Kashmir 6, Jharkhand 0

After the highs of last season, we reach the lows! Jharkhand lost to Jammu & Kashmir by 106 runs, thus ending all hopes for a knock-out berth. But it was heartening to see them play for a win on 4th day when they could have easily settled for a draw. There were good opening partnerships in both innings but not much to follow after that. Have to give credit to the team for the audacious attempt at the 4th innings chase. But they were simply outplayed by the J&K team.

Too much chopping and changing going on in the team!

Highlights

• Playing XI:Changes - too many of them!
• In: Utkarsh Singh, Anand Singh, Kumar Deobrat (all in their first appearance of the season), Sunny Gupta
• Out: Kaushal Singh, Ashish Kumar, Shasheem Rathour, Sumit Kumar (who was the star in the previous game!)
• Utkarsh Singh makes his first-class debut and first taste of senior cricket. Had been part of India U19s earlier this year. Decent performance on debut!
• Ishan Kishan crossed the landmark of 2000 FC runs in his 31st game.

Season Stats

• Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan - 427 @47.44
• Top Wicket-taker: Sunny Gupta - 17 @25.47
• Player Count: 20
• Captain Count: 2

Points Tally - 8 after 5 games. Drop down to 5th and out of contention of the Quarter-finals.

Coming Up Next
Jharkhand take a break in the next round before taking on defending champions Gujarat in the last round. They can play spoilport for others though!

Ranji Trophy 17-18: Jharkhand vs Saurashtra

Match Summary: Saurashtra (553/9d & 59/4) beat Jharkhand (270 &341 (f/o)) by 6 wickets
Points: Saurashtra 6, Jharkhand 0

Cheteshwar Pujara has had a lean patch in recent times and he chose this very match to come back into form! In the process shattering the record for the most double centuries by an Indian batsman. For some reason Ranji, after whom the Trophy is named is not counted as an Indian batsman!!

Jharkhand were simply outplayed by the Saurashtra side. Although there were some passages of play when they were on top. In the first innings after taking down the first 4 Saurashtra wickets quickly. And in the entertaining passage of play following-on when Nazim Siddiqui and Sumit Kumar were going at over 5 runs per over. Siddiqui was unlucky to miss out on a century by a whisker - out for 99 off just 75 balls! With the ball, they did knock off 4 Saurashtra wickets while defending a meager target of 59.

The result makes the task of qualifying even more difficult.

Highlights

• Playing XI:Changes: 
• In: Sumit Kumar, Sonu Singh, (both in their first appearance of the season), Ashish Kumar
• Out: Jaskaran Singh, Sunny Gupta, Virat SIngh
• Maiden first-class century for Sumit Kumar, who also kept wickets, while Ishan Kishan played as a pure batsman.
• First-class century #18 for Ishank Jaggi, also his 3rd of the season.
• 50 FC wickets for Ashish Kumar in his 15th game

Season Stats

• Top Scorer: Ishank Jaggi - 399 @66.50
• Top Wicket-taker: Sunny Gupta - 15@20.20
• Player Count: 17
• Captain Count: 2

Points Tally - 8 after 4 games. Stayed at 4th. However, the gap with Top 3 has widened quite a bit. Need outright victories in both remaining games to stay in contention.

Coming Up Next

Jammu & Kashmir who are in the 6th place.

Ranji Trophy 17-18: Jharkhand vs Haryana

Match Summary: Haryana (208 & 296) lost to Jharkhand (425/9d & 81/0)
Points: Jharkhand 7, Haryana 0

The return of Shahbaz Nadeem bolstered Jharkhand as they romped home to a 10 wicket victory over Haryana. They knocked out Haryana quickly after having lost the toss. The top order failed but the middle and lower order took them to a big lead. After knocking over the Haryana top order in the 2nd innings, Jharkhand must have started scenting an innings victory. But there was some stubborn resistance, which lasted well into the final session. But the young openers chased down the target with ease and also secured a bonus point. 

Highlights

• Playing XI:Changes: 
• In: Shahbaz Nadeem, Shasheem Rathour (both in their first appearance of the season), Varun Aaron
• Out: Babul Kumar, Ajay Yadav, Ashish Kumar 
• Saurabh Tiwary continues to captain the side
• First-class century #17 for Ishank Jaggi which turned the game in Jharkhand's favour.
• Ishan Kishan crosses the landmark of 50 catches in his 29th game.
• 14th career 5-wicket haul for Shahbaz Nadeem
• 50th first-class game for Sunny Gupta

Season Stats

• Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan - 271 @54.20
• Top Wicket-taker: Sunny Gupta - 15@20.20
• Player Count: 15
• Captain Count: 2

Points Tally - 8 after 3 games. Moved up 2 places to 4th.

Coming Up Next

Saurashtra who are in the top spot.

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 17-18: Jharkhand vs Kerala

Match Summary: Jharkhand (202 & 89) lost to Kerala (259 & 34/1) by 9 wickets

Points: Kerala 6, Jharkhand 0

The worst possible start to the new season losing the opening game! In a low scoring encounter, Jharkhand were on the back-foot from the start. However, being routed out for 89 in the 2nd innings must have been really soul-crushing. They were done in by the all-round efforts of Jalaj Saxena who took 11 wickets and scored a half-century as well. 

Jharkhand certainly missed Shahbaz Nadeem, who is on India A duty.

Highlights

• Playing XI: Babul Kumar, Nazim Siddiqui, Virat Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Kishan, Kaushal Singh, Sunny Gupta, Varun Aaron, Ashish Kumar, Samar Quadri.
• Varun Aaron was leading the side.
• While most of his team-mates had an outing to forget, Sunny Gupta managed a 6-wicket haul in the first innings.
• First Class debut for Nazim Siddiqui, also his first official game at the senior level.
• Kaushal Singh reached the career milestone of a 1000 first-class runs
• Babul Kumar returned to first-class cricket after nearly 4 years. Innings of two and a duck now follow his maiden game of a single and a duck!

Season Stats

• Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan - 59 @24.50
• Top Wicket-taker: Sunny Gupta - 6@16.50
• Player Count: 11

Points Tally - 0 after 1 game. Placed right at the bottom of the table.

Coming Up Next

Rajasthan who are currently in 4th place with a solitary point form their opening game

Jharkhand Domestic Schedule: 2017-18

As is wont with Indian Cricket these days, we finally have the schedule for the Domestic season less than a week before its start. And as is also the case, the Domestic tournaments have once again been tinkered with!

Ranji Trophy will be now played in 4 groups of 7 each with the top two qualifying for the knock-outs. Done away in the promotion-relegation system. In the process reducing the minimum number of games for each team from 8 to 6. Vijay Hazare Trophy retains the previous year's format.

Slipstream Cricket will be back in action covering all of Jharkhand's games. Below are Jharkhand's domestic fixtures.

Ranji Trophy

1. October 6-9, 2017, vs Kerala

2. October 14-17, 2017, vs Rajasthan

3. October 24-27, 2017, vs Haryana

4. November 1-4, 2017, vs Saurashtra

5. November 9-13, 2017, vs Jammu & Kashmir 

6. November 25-28, 2017, vs Gujarat (the defending champions)

The knock-out rounds will be played in December, with the the Irani Trophy to be contested in mid-January, 2018.

Vijay Hazare Trophy

1. February 16, 2018, vs Vidarbha

2. February 17, 2018, vs Hyderabad

3. February 19, 2018, vs Services

4. February 22, 2018, vs Saurashtra

5. February 23, 2018, vs Chhattisgarh

6. February 25, 2018, vs Jammu & Kashmir (we just seem to keep running into them!)

The knock-out rounds will be played in March, 2018.