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

Ranji Trophy 16-17: Jharkhand vs Odisha

Match Summary: Odisha (152 & 103) lost to Jharkhand (348) by innings & 93 runs   

Points: Jharkhand 7, Odisha 0

It was a dead rubber with both teams having qualified. However being the only game underway, it had the undivided attention of India's domestic cricket followers with the key point of interest being whether Jharkhand would overtake Karnataka to be the group toppers.

And top they did and in quite some style smashing Odisha by an innings to take a bonus point as well. They ran through the Odisha batting on first day with spinners Nadeem and Sunny Gupta doing most of the damage. Then put on a big lead with fifties from Virat Singh (on comeback), Saurabh Tiwary and Kaushal Singh. Then they ran through Odisha once again with Nadeem and Kaushal Singh doing most of the damage. Certainly a morale-boosting win to take into the knock-outs.

A 5th win of the season and impressive performance throughout was bound to bring you in the limelight. And Cricinfo did a whole article on the youthful Jharkhand team, who are looking ahead to create a name for themselves.

Highlights

• Team Changes: In - Virat Singh, Sunny Gupta, Vikash Singh; Out - Ashish Kumar, Pratyush Singh, Rahul Shukla (after a Man-of the-Match effort in the previous game!). 
• Kaushal Singh received the Man-of-the-Match award.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Ishank Jaggi 675 @61.36

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 39 @28.26
Player Count: 17

Points Tally - 39 after 8 games to take the top spot in the group. Meanwhile Odisha keep 3rd place to also qualify for the knock-outs.

Coming Up Next - Haryana in the Quarter-finals. They will be likely to be bolstered by the return of Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav from national duty (injuries permitting). 

Ranji Trophy 16-17: Jharkhand vs Delhi

Match Summary: Jharkhand (473) drew with Delhi (334 & 484/ (f/o)) 

Points: Jharkhand 3, Delhi 1

After the previous game against Vidarbha, I had posted that it would be interesting to see the side-battle between two 19-year-old left-handed wicketkeeper batsman. And Boy! was I right. The Jharkhand vs Delhi game was reduced to a Ishan Kishan vs Rishabh Pant affair.

Delhi won the toss and put Jharkhand into bat. Jharkhand were soon 80 for 4 before Ishank Jaggi and Ishan Kishan joined forces. Kishan put up big stands with Jaggi, Kaushal Singh and Nadeem to take the score to 404 for 7. At the fall of Nadeem's wicket he opened and smashed 86 of the last 89 runs to take Jharkhand to a formidable 493. In the process breaking many Jharkhand batting records.

Delhi replied with Unmukt Chand and Rishabh Pant scoring 100s but there wasn't much support from the others as they folded up for 332. Jharkhand imposed the follow-on but Delhi easily cut into the deficit. The match was heading towards a draw when in walked Pant. And smashed a 67 ball 135 for his second century of the game with 13 sixes. Delhi decided to bat on and the game ended in a draw with Jharkhand getting 3 points on virtue of the first innings lead.

Highlights

• Team Changes: In - Sunny Gupta. Out - Ajay Yadav. 
• Ishan Kishan's records
• 273 - Highest first class score by any Jharkhand batsman.
• 14 - Joint most sixes in a single innings in Ranji Trophy
• 3rd first class century and during the course of the innings completed passed the 1000 run mark as well.
• Meanwhile Rishabh Pant blazed a faster than run-a-ball 100 in both innings and broke the record for fastest first-class century by an Indian in just 48 balls. And as for his first-class numbers his average is Bradmanesque and Strike Rate Sehwagesque.
• Ishan Kishan received the Man-of-the-Match award.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan 459 @65.57

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 24 @35.67
Player Count: 15

Points Tally - 19 after 5 games to retain 2nd spot behind Karnataka (23 from 4). Meanwhile Delhi remain in 3rd place.

Coming Up Next - Saurashtra, who are at the bottom of the Group.

Ranji Trophy 16-17: Jharkhand vs Rajasthan

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

Points: Jharkhand 6, Rajasthan 0

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

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

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

Highlights

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

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Kaushal Singh 193 @48.25

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

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

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

Ranji Trophy: 13-14: Jharkhand vs Karnataka

Match Summary: Jharkhand (364 & 215/5) drew with Karnataka (424/7d)

Points: Jharkhand 1, Karnataka 3

After a washout against Delhi, this was effectively the first game of the season for Jharkhand. In terms of personnel Karnataka would have been considered a stronger side. Like most Ranji games this turned out to be a battle for the 1st innings lead.

Karnataka won the toss and put Jharkhand in. It was attritional batting from the Jharkhand team with runs coming at a slow pace. They ended up at 364 with the usual suspect Saurabh Tiwary & captain Shahbaz Nadeem getting half centuries along with new import Bhavin Thaker. Karnataka scored at a much faster pace and managed to go past the Jharkhand score with good contibutions from Mayank Agarwal and Manish Pandey. Having got the important 1st innings lead, Karnataka declared hoping for a second innings collapse which did not happen. Solid innings from Ishank Jaggi & Saurabh Tiwary prevented any further damage. And the game meandered onto a draw.

Key point of interest was the comeback of Varun Aaron after a long injury layoff. He put in a decent number of overs but just got one wicket. While Saurabh Tiwary continues from where he left last year. The lack of success of the spin twins Nadeem & Sunny Gupta would be a cause of concern though.

Season Stats

Leading Scorer: Saurabh Tiwary - 118 runs

Most Wickets: Rahul Shukla - 3 wickets

Standings - 2 points after 2 games; Quotient - 0.637; 7th in the group. Well the team needs to start pulling up its socks if they are to remain in contention for a knock-out berth.

Coming Up Next: Away vs Haryana. The Lahli pitch should be of interest to the likes of Aaron and Shukla. A result is a distinct possibility. Lets hope it goes Jharkhand's way.

Jharkhand Domestic Schedule: 2013-14 Season

The domestic season in Indian cricket is underway with the NKP Salve Trophy & Duleep Trophy already having been contested for. However, now begins the real contest, the Ranji Trophy. Like last season I will try to cover the entire Jharkhand campaign in this blog. 

Ranji Trophy - The previous Ranji campaign was quite a successful one as Jharkhand reached the Ranji knock-outs from Group C. With the knock-out appearance, the team has been rewarded with a promotion to Group A from which 3 teams will go into the knock-outs. Here is the calendar for the 2013-14 Ranji Season.

1. Oct 27-30, 2013: vs Delhi (H)
2. Nov 7-10, 2013: vs Karnataka (A)
3. Nov 14-17, 2013: vs Haryana (A)
4. Nov 21-24, 2013: vs Odisha (A)
5. Nov 28-Dec 1, 2013: vs Gujarat (H)
6. Dec 6-9, 2013: vs Mumbai (A)
7. Dec 22-25, 2013: vs Vidarbha (H)
8. Dec 30, 2103- Jan 2, 2014: vs Punjab (H)

Vijay Hazare Trophy - The domestic 50 over tournament. Here is the schedule for the inter-zonal league stage. (All matches in Agartala, Tripura)

1. Mar 1, 2014: vs Tripura
2. Mar 3, 2014: vs Bengal
3. Mar 5, 2014: vs Assam
4. Mar 7, 2014: vs Odisha

Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy -The national T20 Champioships. Following is the schedule for the inter-zonal league stage. (All matches in Kolkata)

1. Apr 2, 2014: vs Tripura
2. Apr 3, 2014: vs Bengal
3. Apr 4, 2014: vs Odisha
4. Apr 5, 2014: vs Assam

Given the performance of the last year, the expectations will certainly be higher although the group stage is tougher this year. With Dhoni  most likely to be unavailable for the entire campaign the likes of Shahbaz Nadeem, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi & Sunny Gupta are again expected to be the key players. After an excepional Champions League T20, lots is now expected from Rahul Shukla also. Varun Aaron is also reportedly fit and should grab his chances of getting back into the national team.

The team for the inital matches have been aanounced. Like last year Shahbaz Nadeem will continue to lead the team. There have been a couple of transfer joinees as well. Here is the full team list.

Rameez Nemat, Manish Vardhan, Aakash Verma, Ishank Jaggi (Vice Capt), Saurabh Tiwary, Bhawin Thakker, Bhavik Thaker, S. P. Gautam, Shahbaz Nadeem (Capt), Sunny Gupta, Samar Quadri, Varun Aaron, Rahul Shukla, Ajay Yadav, S. S. Rao

Wishing the best for my team for the season ahead.

Ranji Trophy 2012-13: The Jharkhand Campaign

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

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

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

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

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

Season Stats

Top Batsmen 

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

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

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

Top Bowlers

1. Shahbaz Nadeem - 42 wickets @25.98 

2. SS Rao - 26 wickets @24.65

3. Sunny Gupta - 25 wickets @31.48

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

Ranji trophy 12-13: Jharkhand vs Andhra

Match Summary: Jharkhand (257 & 295/9d) drew with Andhra (410 & 32/4)

Points: Jharkhand 1, Andhra 3

This was a crucial game in terms of deciding who goes through into the knockouts. A top order collapse in the 1st innings put Jharkhand in big trouble but a century by Saurabh Tiwary and some good lower order partnership with Nadeem helped put on a decent total. Andhra were in a big spot of bother with 6 wickets gone and still trailing by almost 90 runs, but a big hundred by Amol Mazumdar, the all-time leading Ranji run getter took Andhra to a comfortable lead. Wicket-keeper Shiv Gautam took 5 catches in the Andhra innings. Tiwary missed a second century in the match getting out for 99 while Akash Verma scored 82. Though Jharkhand declared and gave Andhra some fright there wasn't enough time and the match ended in a draw.

So Jharkhand get only 1 point taking their tally to 18 for the season. The team has now dropped to the 3rd place 2 points behind Andhra having played the same number  of games. With 2 matches in hand, it could turn out to be a very close race for the 2 quarter-final spots.

Coming up next -  a must win game against Kerala who are in 8th place in the group, starting December 22.

Season Stats

Lead Scorer - Saurabh Tiwary 554 @ 61.6, over 300 more than the next highest Akash Verma

Most Wickets - Shahbaz Nadeem 29@ 24.6, with Sunny Gupta close behind with 26

Ranji Trophy 12-13: Jharkhand vs Tripura

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

Points: Jharkhand 6, Tripura 0

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

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

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

Next Game - vs Andhra starting December 15.

Season Stats

Top scorer - Saurabh Tiwary - 336 runs @ 48

Most wickets - Shahbaz Nadeem - 26 @ 20.42

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

Ranji Trophy 12-13: Jharkhand vs Goa

Match Summary: Jharkhand (360/10) vs Goa (208/10 & 292/8 following on)

Points: Jharkhand 3, Goa 1 (1st innings lead basis)

A solid batting & bowling performance got Jharkhand 3 points from their 3rd game of the season against Goa. The Goa side lacked international names but had some domestic IPL star performers like Asnodkar, Bisla & Jakati. And it was Bisla's 2nd innings heroics which stood between Jharkhand & an outright victory. With 5 rounds left every game is becoming crucial.

Jharkhand made a few changes from the previous games with Nemat & Jasakaran missing out due to injury. Ajay Yadav made his First Class debut, while Deobrat came in for Nemat. Consistent scores from the entire top order with half centuries for Vardhan, Sunny (who opened in this game), Jaggi & Deobrat took the score to 360. Nadeem took another 5 wicket haul with Sunny & Rao taking 2 each to knock out Goa for 208 and enforce the follow on. (in a 4-day game a 150 run lead is sufficient for the follow-on). In the 2nd innings Goa hung in against the spin of Sunny (6 wickets) & Nadeem (2 wickets).

Nadeem is currently the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji season with 24 wickets already from 3 games. Should start to figure in the plans of Indian selectors soon.

The result ensures that Jharkhand retain the 2nd position in the Group C points table with 10 points. Coming up next is Himachal Pradesh who have former India opener Aakash Chopra in their ranks and are currently in the 3rd place with 7 points. Match begins Nov 24th. 

Ranji Trophy 12-13: Jharkhand vs Assam

Match Summary: Assam (179/10 & 207/10) beat Jharkhand (174/10 &159/10) by 53 runs at Jamshedpur.

Points: Assam - 6, Jharkhand - 0

Coming on the heels of a good victory against Jammu & Kashmir, this was a bad result. Specially given the fact that there were many instances Jharkhand were in full control of the game. And the defeat coming at home makes the qualification chances slightly  slimmer. A golden opportunity to be in pole position for the race to quarter-finals has been squandered. Instead its now Assam leading the way in the group.

Batting collapses in both innings and allowing Assam lower order to get away with a lot of runs in the second innings were the key contributors to this loss. The pitch was spin-friendly and batting difficult but this was a match which should have been won. 

Assam's 1st innings was restricted to 179 thanks to 4-wicket hauls for Nadeem & Sunny Gupta. Jharkhand in response were cruising along before losing the last 7 wickets for just 32 runs to concede a 5 run lead. Nemat was the top scorer with 53. Nadeem picked up another 4 wicket haul while Sunny got 3 to restrict Assam to 207. It could have been quite worse but Assam's last 3 wickets added 82 runs which in the end proved decisive. In the 2nd innings chasing 213 Nemat was once again the top scorer with 42 but another collapse saw the team fall short by 53 runs.

Overall a bad result. Hoping for a better performance against Goa in the 3rd game starting on November 17th. 

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"

IPLV - Jharkhand Review

After having decided to champion the cause of Jharkhand cricket and the cricketers, I thought why not a post on the performance of the players. There weren't many of them, so not too difficult to track. Here we go.

1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings) - Team Captain - 19 matches, 357 runs (SR 128), 12 Catches, 2 Stumpings. Not a great IPL by his standards. Played a few crucial knocks and his famed luck returned and CSK went to the play-offs. Some of his famous helicopter shots were back in action.
2. Saurabh Tiwary (Royal Challengers Bangalore) -  15 matches, 191 runs (SR 112), 3 catches. One of the more expensive buys in last year's auction. Shift from Mumbai Indians has not done him much good. Why he came to bat before de Villiers is a mystery. Hit one match winning six of the last ball though. On current indifferent form doesn't look like adding to his 3 India caps soon. (Aside - RCB not playing Pujara more frequently was another mystery)
3. Varun Aaron (Delhi Daredevils) - 8 matches, 1 run, 8 wickets (ER - 8.74), 1 catch. Missed the initial games due to injury which had caused him to miss the Australia tour as well. Along with Morne Morkel & Umesh Yadav formed part of the fastest pace attack in IPL. May have gone for a few runs but likely to keep rattling the batsmen with sheer pace. (Aside - Should have been touring West Indies with the A Team)
4. Shahbaz Nadeem (Delhi Daredevils) - 12 matches, 8 wickets (ER - 7.06), 3 catches. One of the finds of the tournament. Bowled economically, opened the bowling, held up one end while the Daredevils' extreme pace attack took care of the other. Got the Player of the match on 2 occasions. Why he wasn't played at the later stages of the game specially in the 2nd eliminator is still a mystery to me.
5. Ishank Jaggi (Deccan Chargers) - 3 matches, 15 runs (SR 71), 1 catch. A very ordinary start saw Jaggi being dropped from an under-performing Deccan team (not that it improved the team much). And he didn't get a chance after that.
6. Rahul Shukla (Mumbai Indians) - 1 match, no wickets (ER 10.33). Just one game in which he got hit for a few runs. Chances very hard to come by in a team like Mumbai Indians.
7. Sunny Gupta (Delhi Daredevils) - 1 match, no runs, no wickets (ER15.67). Technically not a Jharkhand player. He was earlier part of the Jharkhand team, now playing for Tamil Nadu. Shock selection ahead of Nadeem in the 2nd eliminator. Daredevils in an attempt to catch CSK by surprise ended up shocking themselves with this selection.

So 7 (including Sunny) players from Jharkhand in IPLV of which 4 were regulars. Nadeem was the standout performer amongst them. Hopefully next edition will seem more players emerging from Jharkhand.

IPL5 - Post 4 - Qualifier2 Thoughts

Hadn't planned on writing much during the IPL. And a single match review was certainly out of the question. But the way the events in the 2nd Qualifier between Delhi Daredevils & Chennai Super Kings unfolded have left quite a few uncomfortable questions in my mind.

Chennai played extremely well. After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, their entire batting line-up came good while Delhi's bowling failed. The score of 222 was highly unlikely to be chased down and Delhi imploded in the run chase. Nothing much to be read out in the way the game played out. A one-sided game in the knock-outs is nothing unusual and in itself shouldn't warrant any suspicion except in some nutcases. But there were quite a few events which lead to lets just say, doubts in the mind.

• Morne Morkel not in the playing XI. Why? No cricketing logic can explain the absence of the lead wicket-taker of the tournament in a knock-out game. And if he was injured then why aren't Delhi open about it.
• Shahbaz Nadeem had a good start to the tournament, winning 2 Man of the Match awards.. Then later on was dropped in favor of Pawan Negi (maybe because of Negi's better batting abilities). But still did not return for the eliminator. Instead a newcomer Sunny Gupta was handed an IPL debut. Logic of playing Sunny & omitting Nadeem, if any exist, are not easy to figure out.
• Murali Vijay, who was a bit out of form steps down the track to loft Sunny Gupta's first ball for a boundary. The confidence probably coming out of a sense of familiarity. After all, Sunny plays Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu. But why was he handed the first over. As a shock weapon?
• Some fielding mishaps. Happens. Not much should be read in here.
• Now for the chase. Sehwag, for the first time ever in IPL does not come out to open the innings. The logic looks quite dodgy given that he is the best bet to chase down the target.

So a series of strategic(???) decisions which Delhi took backfired badly on them. And CSK romped home in a pretty convincing fashion. But for the neutral viewer, all the events taken together make it look really fishy. Its hard not to jump on to the "scripted" conclusion. And N. Srinivasan's conflict of interests (BCCI & CSK head) makes the jump even easier. 

I hope the match was clean. But there has been a seed of doubt sown in the mind. (And not just mine, my facebook & twitter feed also has similar views).