Sehwag, Gambhir ditched by luck & Jharkhand association

Poor Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. As if form weren’t by their side, luck is also betraying them. Delhi Cricket saw today’s edition of the Hindustan Times and felt really sorry about what the Delhi’s iconic players have to go through. The Ranji Trophy game against Jharkhand was abandoned without a ball being bowled. This first round Ranji game was the second successive first class game that Sehwag and Gambhir played but which was washed out.

While Duleep Trophy final at Kochi suffered due to poor drainage facilities as Shashi Tharoor lashed out on twitter, the one at Jamshedpur was a result of plain lackadaisical attitude.

Firstly, why did the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) stage the game at Tata Steel’s Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur when the Ranchi stadium was available as the ODI had already taken place on October 23 while the Ranji game was to begin on October 27.  And while there was no rain on all the four playing days, the damage done by rains was enough to make the ground slushy, the pitch wet enough to cause abandonement.

As DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan learnt shockingly that they didn’t even have super-soppers --- just one small one. The JSCA official curator, SB Singh, didn’t even bother to visit Jamshedpur and stayed put in Ranchi. The local curator, an employee of Tata Steel had no clue how to manage things and while the equipment was lying in Ranchi for the one-dayer, he was left using primitive techniques which weren't enough.

“It is a loss not just for Sehwag and Gambhir but also for Delhi. Our competitors like Punjab and Gujarat have scored full points while we have to split points,” Delhi coach Sanjeev Sharma was quoted by HT as saying.

So, basically Delhi begin afresh when they play Gujarat in the next round. One feels sorry for Viru and Gauti as also for the Delhi team. Jharkhand were easy runs and points for them.

Delhi-Jharkhand Ranji tie abandoned without a ball bowled

The Delhi-Jharkhand Ranji match was abandoned without a ball being bowled on all four days due to wet outfield. The match was being played at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur.

Delhi Colts emerge North Zone champions but not without a strange ending

The golden rule is -- never change a winning combination. And when the combination is cruising along, it is almost a sin to change it. However, in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) precincts, these rules can be bent. Ahead of Delhi U-19’s final one-day match at Jhajjar, three players were sent as re-inforcements to join the Delhi team which had won all its previous three matches, all of them against the Zone’s top teams and was already on the verge of becoming zonal champions and qualifying for the knockouts to be played in Ahmedabad next month. In fact, the think-tank decided to send three players for the final match against a weak Jammu & Kashmir side.

No one seemed to have a clue, however, of why it was being done. The convenor of the BCCI junior tournament committee, Manveer Singh Bhatia said he had no idea why the players were sent. The poor kids didn’t even get to play and it was a futile exercise.

The three boys drafted in for the last game were: Abhishek Pradhan, Viren Singh and Aakash Yadav.

However, leaving the controversy bit aside, the Delhi U-19 team continued their rampaging run and thrashed J&K by five wickets to top the Zone and advance to the knockouts of Vinoo Mankad Trophy. Sumit Mathur took five for 30 in the final game to help Delhi win. Pratyush Singh and Himmat Singh scored as well like they did earlier.

Brief Scores: J&K 179 in 49.1 overs (S Khajuria 83, S Mathur 5/30) lost to Delhi 180/5 in 46.2 overs (Pratyush 58, Himmat 45)

Previous games (a quick recap)

October 21

Match 1: J&K beat Himachal Pradesh Opener SP Khajuria scored 103* while Abrar Farooq took 2/29 as Jammu and Kashmir shocked Himachal Pradesh by six wickets in the first match of the U-19 domestic one-dayers for Vinoo Mankad Trophy.

Match 2: Haryana beat Punjab In a low-scoring match played at Lahli, Haryana beat Punjab by two wickets. Punjab were all out for 145 in 44.2 overs while Haryana chased it in 46.2 overs. HJ Rana took 3/15.

October 22

Match 3: Delhi beat Punjab In another low-scoring match at Jhajjar where run-making was not that easy Delhi triumphed over Punjab by 4 runs. Himmat Singh top-scored with 62. Delhi made 217 all out in their 50 overs and restricted Punjab at 213/9 to seal the win. It was a closely-fought match that hung in balance till the latter half of the Punjab innings. Delhi showed nerves to stop them just short of their total.

Match 4: J&K beat Haryana Jammu and Kashmir beat Haryana Colts by 32 runs at Lahli. SP Khajuria top-scored for J&K with 72 runs while Lone Nasir, RK Sharma, AM Mangnoo took three wickets each.

‘October 24

Match 5: Punjab beat J&K Punjab beat Jammu and Kashmir by 50 runs at the Teri Oval in Gurgaon. NS Chaudhary scored 90 as Punjab made 259/9 in 50 overs. Then  Anmolpreet and AG Pannu took four wickets each to dismiss J&K for 209.

Match 6: Himachal beat Delhi Delhi beat Himachal Pradesh by four wickets in Jhajjar. Himachal made 156 as Abhishek Vats took 5 wickets. Delhi romped home in 36.1 overs with Sarthak Ranjan hitting 60.

October 26

Match 7: Delhi beat Haryana Delhi thrashed Haryana by nine wickets at Jhajjar. After Sumit Mathur’s 4/60 helped Delhi dismiss Haryana for 229 in 48 overs, openers Sarthak Ranjan (108*) and Hiten Dalal (93) helped Delhi reach home in 43.1 overs.

Match 8: Punjab beat Himachal Punjab edged out Haryana by three wickets in a low-scoring encounter by three wickets. Haryana made 112 while Punjab surpassed the target in 37.1 overs losing just three wickets.

October 28

Match 9: Haryana beat Himachal Haryana beat Himachal by 37 runs at Teri Oval in Gurgaon. LS Kumar scored 71 for Haryana who were all out for 264 in 49.4 overs. Himachal replied with 227.

Match 10: Already described above. 

Mayank Agarwal hits 94 as Delhi U-25 fightback through Sood and Anand

Sanity returned a day after the drama at Ferozeshah Kotla on Monday, when former cricketer Navdeep Tomar slammed the selectors and coach following a decision to leave out Yogesh Nagar from the Delhi U-25 eleven, a decision which upset many top officials and former cricketers in DDCA.

Sitting in his SUV, Nagar looked forlorn and lost after the end of second day’s play on Tuesday. For a player who has brushed shoulders with the best in Delhi over the past five seasons, and snared an amazing catch for the Delhi Daredevils to become a TV star, life had taken a strange turn. Not yet 25, he was being made to warm bench for even a junior team.

There were no words. He was lost as he stared blankly across into the emptied field.

Delhi, though, did something to forget that horrendous opening day when they were shot out for 146.

The Karnataka boys were looking good with Mayank Agarwal (94) in command. However, spinner Varun Sood and medium pacer Jagrit Anand took three wickets each while Sunny Sehrawat and under-fire captain Shelly Shaurya took two each to restrict Karnataka to 277. Delhi still lag by 131 runs and it’ll be up to a batting line-up generally considered weak due to the inclusion of certain batsmen whose places have been questioned.

Nevertheless, it was Sood who got the wicket of Agarwal to provide the much-needed breakthrough. Shaurya got a couple of important wickets, albeit via poor shots, but those were enough to dent Karnataka.

There was tight security around and the guards didn’t allow people to enter the ground after Monday’s incident.

Scores: Delhi U-25 146 & 10/0; Karnataka U-25 277 all out (M Agarwal 94, K Nair 54, V Sood 3/48, J Anand 3/37)

Day 3 of Delhi-Jharkhand Ranji tie called off

For the third successive day, the Ranji Trophy game between Delhi and Jharkhand was abandoned as there was no play possible due to wet outfield

Drama at Ferozeshah Kotla after Nagar left out of U-25 team

Few days back Delhi Cricket read a story in a national daily about a former state cricketer, who created ruckus in Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) years ago. Navdeep Tomar had a tiff with selectors after he was left out of Ranji Trophy in 2006-07. The daily quoted him as saying that he has now found a good life in Bollywood, had his first release and doesn’t want to return to the cricket field and wanted to live in peace and harmony.

Tomar returned to the Kotla on Monday afternoon, and reportedly had some harsh words for U-25 coach Rajiv Vinayak and the selectors. He asked them to resign for not doing their job properly. The sports committee was pissed off with the incident and even thought about calling the police.

The cause of the furore was the team that was picked to play Karnataka in the Col CK Nayudu Trophy. Tomar's friend Yogesh Nagar, a veteran of 15 Ranji games and 16 List A matches besides countless T20 games for Delhi and Daredevils, was surprisingly left out of the team led by Shelly Shaurya, a surprise pick for captaincy. Shaurya was playing in U-25 for the first time and was given the lead role ahead of seven players, who had far more experience of playing for Delhi senior team. That had already caused controversy. Ignoring Nagar added to the controversy.
The decision to leave out Nagar irked not just Tomar but everyone, even the chairman of selectors for Ranji Trophy Chetan Chauhan and also former India cricketer Surender Khanna, who made his displeasure known by sending SMSes to various officials, criticizing the decision and saying that Nagar deserved a place in Ranji squad, leave alone U-25 team.

Delhi, not surprisingly, were shot out for just 146 in 50.5 overs and the batsmen looked more like cats on a hot tin roof.

Opener Abhishek Kapoor and one-down Nipun Malhotra, shock inclusions ahead of Nagar, failed miserably and so did others. Only left-arm spinner Varun Sood (47 not out) and opener Aditya Kaushik (36) resisted. The rest budged.

The current sports committee says that both Kapoor and Malhotra are good players. Last year though, one of them had three successive ducks and the other failed to get even a fifty in age-group cricket.

Asked about their credentials, an official jokingly said, “Well, it is their parents who play cricket.”

Nevertheless, tart comments aside, the sports committee had a reason to explain the exclusion of Nagar. “He has been out due to injury. He can’t be played straightaway,” confided an official.

Delhi’s captain, Shelly Shaurya (0/30 off 8 overs), however, opened the bowling when Karnataka’s turn came to bat. Sunny Sehrawat, his opening partner, took 2/28 to give hosts some joy.

And by the way, the Delhi U-25 squad of 16 didn’t even have space for left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, a regular at Delhi Daredevils and an experienced state player (two Ranji, 5 List As and 29 T20s). Watch this space for more naatak!

SCORES

Delhi U-25 146 (Varun Sood 47*, Aditya Kaushik 36, HS Sharath 5/37) vs Karnataka 84/2 (Mayank Agarwal 33 not out)