Ranji twists and VB series turn(around)s!

An eventful fortnight this has been - the Ranji semis did not go at ALL according to form and the VB series keeps throwing sliders at every pundit who dares predict an outcome.

First off, the Ranji semis - Bengal qualified for the semis at the expense of K'taka after they made full use of a sporting declaration by Railways in their laast league encounter and scored 303 in 54 or so overs. Railways gambled for a win and lost - but in the bragin, Bengal gained a semi spot and K'taka paid for their lacklustre performance aginst Gujarat. Bengal then had to face a strong Baroda side in the semis , a side that had totally dominated their group like Mumbai in the other half, and who looked good to go on to hte finals AND lift the trophy. At least, thats what the pre-match predictions would have been - they didn't reckon with Bengal's batting machine clicking into top gear in the semis, with India discards LR .Shukla and D.Dasgupta both scoring big hundreds to take Bengal to an unbeatable 619 in the first innings . Barodaa could only fight to avoid an innings defeat after that and ended up drawing the match but conceded the crucial first-innings lead, sending Bengal into the semis.

In the other semi, Mumbai , entering the semis after a last-match thumping in the league stage from Maharashtra, never looked like the side that had sewn up a semi spot half way through the league stage. Their batting collapsed twice against Mah. and in the first innings against UP in the semis virtually blocking out their chances of qualifying for the finals. A sad end for a team that had promised much early on.

So, for Ranji 2005-06, its Bengal vs. UP - a united Bengal team versus a UP team reliant on Kaif and Raina's batting. Lets see how that turns out.

Now for the VB series. Its been a long while since the annual triagulars in Oz have been this keenly contested. We're halfway through the series and its still not clear who are going to be the finalists. Australia looked to be in command early on with successive victories over SAF and SL until SL decided to rewrite the script with their own run of victories over SAF and Aus. SAF, shellshocked by SL, took a little while to recover but bounced back with their own victories over SL and Aus. Aus are now leading the table with SL close behind. With the last two results, thugh, SAF are right back in contention - the VB series may go any way now and thats so much better for cricket, if not for the hairlines of Aussie,SL or SAf fans!:)

Ranji tourney at an exciting stage!

The battle for semifinal spots is really heating up in the Ranji Trophy. After a long while, it finally looks like the BCCI's dedcision to split the tourney into two levels is actually bearing fruit. I say this in the context of the number of close matches and the spirited resistance beng put up by unfancied teams against stiff opposition - features that were rare in Ranji preliminary round matches until recently. Here's the status quo:
In the Elite groups, Baroda and Mumbai have already qualified for the semis. But its in the struggle for the second semifinal spots from each group that the really interesting contests are taking place. In group 'A', Karnataka , at present, lie second behind Mumbai at 12 points [ after two victories against Delhi and Maharashtra]. Although the next closest teams, TN and Bengal, are at 9 points, Karnataka daare not rest easy. If either win their matches, they'll leap frog K'taka and waltz into the semis.
At the time of 'going to press',as it were, K'taka had conceded a first-innings lead to Gujarat [ so no extra points there for K'taka] , Railways continued to defy Bengal with their slow batting and TN [oh nooooooo!] had amassed 450+ against Delhi and appeared all set for a thumping win. If Delhi can somehow manage to thwart TN, then K'taka are through. Although , going by past form, Delhi will, I'm guessing, succumb to TN. aaargh...and there goes the semifinal spot.

In group B, Punjab are in a position similar to K'taka's with UP and Hyd. looking good to overtake or at least draw level with them. [ Although Hyd. have conceded a first-innings lead to Baroda, the match is still open] If so, UP look set to draw level with Punjab. I wonder waht the BCCI's rules are , in such situations. Do they go with the result of the encounter between the tied teams, then take into account the number of victories,etc.? Need to find out....

This is the good part of the new two-tier championship - weaker teams like Tripura and Goa will now no longer be thrashed absent-mindedly by Bengal, K'taka,et al but instead can compete with teams at their own level and win. This worked,too - in that Tripura registered their first-ever win , in 21 years of competition, against Himachal Pradesh., whom they would never have played in the old zonal system.

All said and done, in spite of the lack of crowds and overall lack of interest, such fierce competition can only bear good tidings for Indian cricket's future.

Good Start

It's tea time at the India v/s Pak A match and looks like the top 3 batsman have got a good workout.

The selection of the squad is interesting - Ganguly, Sehwag, Kumble and Parthiv left out. I think the onus is to give match practice to those players who did not play much in the recent Ranji matches.

Jaffer and Gambhir both made healthy scores. It will be a tough one to chose between the two. I think Gambhir will pip Jaffer as he has not done too bad at the opening slot except the SL Test series. In either case, such a healthy competition bodes well for the team.

It will be interesting to see how Bhajji and the fast bowlers perform. Given that Kumble and Pathan are a certainty, it will be interesting to see who grabs the 2 bowling slots amongst Agarkar, Khan, RP and Bhajji.

Finally, my top 6 for the first test will be :
Sehwag
Gambhir/Jaffer (toughie!!)
Dravid
Tendulkar
VVS
Yuvraj (Ganguly on the bench, no brainer)

I was glad that the selectors decided to take Ganguly on tour instead of Mohammad Kaif who I personally think has a long was to go before staking a good claim in the classy Indian batting order. More on that later.....

Kallis and the art of slow batting

Recently read this article by Peter English on cricinfo on the effect of Kallis's second innings on the match.

Kallis has on more than one occasion sacrificed his team for personal glory. Apart from this Test match other occasions that come to immediate memory is the 4'th ODI between India and SA and the Champions League semifinal again v/s India where Gibbs almost took them to victory single-handedly. Not only was Kallis oblivious to the team cause, his painstaking run accumulation reduced the chances of his victory drastically.

The fact that he has been the highest run accumulator in the last few years and the best batsman in the SA lineup has prevented any reprimand from the authorities concerned.

The argument that he cannot up the run-rate when required as he is a technically correct batsman holds no ground as he has the fastest Test fifty to boot against a hapless Zimbabwe attack in a farce of a Test match. Rahul Dravid, who is no less a technician than he is, has shown wonderful improvement in his strike-rate for the betterment of the team cause.

His not-so-good average against the Aussies probably prevented him from taking undue risks and history will judge him by the averages (reason why I sometimes hate statistics so much). It all boils to being a team player or not. Gibbs's daring display and Smith's wonderful declaration brought the crowd and interest back to the Test. Sad that a brilliant batsman who could have turned the tide decided to stay away.

As Peter English aply said in his article, "Kallis has managed to be a great batsman without being a thoughtful one".

Henry to stay a Gunner !!

I hope this news is true though a part of me wanted me to see him ply his trade along with the likes of Ronaldinho, Eto, Deco and Messi at Barcelona.

I still believe Arsene Wenger will bring back the club back to the top in the Premiership next year, and who knows what might happen in the Champions League this year with the players not having to fight for the Premiership title. More funding for players will be available once they move to their new stadium next year.

Henry staying put at Arsenal must have calmed the nerves of a lot of Gunners. Go Thiery !!