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Following on after they could only muster 256 in reply to India’s 503, Sri Lanka’s No. 8 Ramesh Medis and No. 11 Lakshan Jayasinghe held firm till close of play to save the game

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2013
ScorecardFile Photo: Vijay Zol’s 173 powered India Under-19s to 503 for 7 in the first innings•ICC/Getty

Sri Lanka’s final-wicket partnership withstood 55 balls to salvage a draw against India in Dambulla. Following on after they could only muster 256 in the first innings in reply to India’s 503 – a total courtesy a magnificent 173 from captain Vijay Zol – Sri Lanka’s No. 8 Ramesh Medis and No. 11 Lakshan Jayasinghe held firm till close of play.India were asked to bat first and their top five all passed fifty. Shubham Khajuria dominated a 79-run opening partnership, striking 10 fours during an innings of 52 off 61 balls, while his partner Akhil Herwadkar collected his 71 runs at a more sedate pace. But India’s innings revolved around Zol’s century, which included 21 fours and two sixes. He and Sanju Samson, who made 89, put India on top with a third-wicket partnership of 200 runs. Samson was denied a century by Chamika Karunaratne, who also accounted for Zol and finished as Sri Lanka’s best bowler with four wickets. Shreyas Iyer chipped in with 65 as India declared at 503 for 7.Sri Lanka needed one of their batsmen to emulate Zol, but their top score was a patient 76 from Kavindu Kulasekara. Having begun gingerly, they lost Kusal Mendis in the eighth over, before opener Hashan Dumindu and Kulasekara steadied the innings. Kuldeep Yadav, who picked up four wickets in the innings, broke their 76-run stand for the second wicket. Minod Bhanuka was the only other batsman to cross fifty but after he became the fourth wicket to fall with the score at 197, India wrapped up remaining batsmen for an additional 59 runs and invited Sri Lanka to follow-on.Mendis fell early again and was followed by Kulasekara in the 13th over. Iyer compounded Sri Lanka’s problems by removing Dumindu and Bhanuka off successive balls before Sri Lanka recovered through Sadeera Samarawickrama, whose 88 off 141 balls included 15 fours and a six.But the home side were staring at defeat when Samawickrama fell, soon after notching up Sri Lanka’s only century partnership in the match with Thilaksha Sumanasiri. Sumanasiri’s half-century continued the resistance, though, and he ate away enough time before he fell for 62 off 133 balls for the last-wicket pair to hold on till the end of day’s play.

Simon Jones, the former England seamer, is going to pursue a career as a T20 freelance after announcing his retirement from first-class and List A cricket from the end of the season

Alan Gardner12-Sep-2013Simon Jones, the former England seamer, is going to pursue a career as a T20 freelance after announcing his retirement from first-class and List A cricket from the end of the season. He is expected to play for Glamorgan in the Yorkshire Bank 40 final on September 21 and will then focus on securing potentially lucrative contracts to play in T20 competitions around the world.Jones is coming to the end of a two-year deal with Glamorgan but will discuss a potential T20 contract with the county’s incoming chief executive, Hugh Morris, in the close season. Injuries have blighted Jones’ career since he became an Ashes winner in 2005 but the 34-year-old is not quite ready to follow his former England team-mate Matthew Hoggard into full retirement just yet.”If I get the gigs I want to get I won’t be resting much,” Jones said. “T20 is the option that we’re looking at and I’m excited at the prospect of playing in different tournaments if I can. Getting back on the park is something I’ve worked for a long time and for me to carry on playing it’s the obvious choice, to go down that route, as the likes of Shaun Tait have done.”There’s a lot of opportunities out there but you’ve got to get a gig. I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully I get the opportunities I feel I deserve, because I still feel I have a lot to offer the game.”Jones will certainly be the first Welshman to take the path of the T20 itinerant. Andrew Flintoff, another of Jones’s 2005 team-mates, planned to end his career that way, before injury had the final word, and while Tait, the former Australia bowler, is among several one-time internationals – such as New Zealand’s Scott Styris and Jacob Oram – to play just the shortest format, few England-qualified players have seriously entertained the idea.The choice may seem a little surprising, given that Jones only made his senior debut in the format in 2008 and managed one T20 appearance for Glamorgan in 2013. His T20 record comprises 43 wickets at 21.46, with an economy of 7.43.”It’s giving me the opportunity to play for another couple of years,” Jones said of his decision. “I still feel good in my body, I still feel good in my mind and I still feel I’ve got the skills and the pace to perform at the highest level. We’ll see what happens.”Despite plans to play Championship cricket this year, Jones has only featured in Glamorgan’s limited-overs teams, missing the early part of the season due to continued problems with his knee. But he hopes to end on a high with victory at Lord’s a week on Saturday and could still be turning out in Cardiff next summer.”If Glamorgan do want to keep me for the T20 I’d be delighted to stay but if they don’t I’m going to pursue other options,” he said. “I’ve had some niggles this year, which have happened in the gym. Glamorgan have a settled team in the four-day stuff and I wasn’t quite going to get in there. It has been a frustrating season but this will hopefully be another chapter in my cricketing career.”Glamorgan’s head of elite performance, Matthew Mott, who will be leaving the county at the end of the season, added: “Simon has shown great character and determination to keep pushing himself despite his time out of the game at Glamorgan. We wish him well in his endeavours to concentrate on T20 and thank him for his contribution both on and off the field.”It is a smart and well-thought out decision and I am sure that a number teams around the world will be keen on him given his increased availability for T20 competitions. He is still in great shape and has the passion to keep playing and bowling quick for a few more years to come. Hopefully he can sign off his one-day career with Glamorgan in a winning team at Lord’s.”Simon Jones was speaking ahead of the Yorkshire Bank 40 final at Lord’s on Saturday September 21. Tickets are available from tickets.lords.org

West Indies A spinners, led by left-arm spinner Nikita Miller, dominated proceedings for the second successive day to set up the side’s 162-run victory over India A

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2013
ScorecardNikita Miller had superb figures of 36.4-16-40-5•BCCI

West Indies A’s spinners, led by Nikita Miller, dominated proceedings for the second successive day to set up the side’s 162-run victory over India A in Mysore. Miller finished with 5 for 40 – showing astonishing accuracy over 36.4 overs – and took his match haul to 9 for 101 off 71.4 overs.West Indies declared on their overnight score of 130 for 3 and set India a target of 315 for victory. India had a slow start and Miller struck early, dismissing opener KL Rahul in the 11th over for 9 off 42 balls.Playing defensively, India were stifled by the West Indies bowlers and lost wickets at regular intervals. Jiwanjot Singh and Cheteshwar Pujara got starts and added 28 runs – the highest stand of the innings – in 12.5 overs for the second wicket but the batsmen fell to Veerasammy Permaul and Miller, respectively.Manpreet Juneja struck a stoic 70 off 193 balls, doing his best to string together partnerships with the lower order to save the game for India, but with just four overs left in the day’s play, Juneja was out leg before to Miller. Juneja was the last man dismissed, and knock was the lone bright spot for India. It followed up his lone hand in the first innings, and his first-class average after 13 matches is 79.44.The win gives West Indies A a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second four-day game between the two sides begins on October 2.

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has said that the Indian board is willing to extend all kinds of help to Afghanistan, who want to use an Indian venue to play their matches

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-20150:33

‘Afghanistan want a home ground in India’ – Thakur

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has said that the Indian board is willing to extend all kinds of help to Afghanistan, who want to use an Indian venue to play their matches.”Afghanistan Cricket Board has requested BCCI that they want to come and play here, use the infrastructure and also to have one venue as the Afghan venue,” Thakur told . “Their board has requested to create one centre in India which can be dedicated to Afghanistan cricket.”BCCI will be more than happy to accommodate the Afghan cricket team for any kind of help for the promotion of the game.”Asked if any kind of financial assistance will be given to the Afghanistan team by the BCCI, Thakur said: “Let’s see, let them write to BCCI. Any knowledge, any kind of help which Afghanistan board requires, we are more than happy to help them.”Afghanistan have used Sharjah as the venue for some of their bilateral series in the past.

Mominul Haque, the Bangladesh batsman, has said he is not thinking about his impending opportunity to become only the second batsman after AB de Villiers to score fifties in 12 consecutive Tests

Mohammad Isam08-Jun-2015Mominul Haque, the Bangladesh batsman, has said he is not thinking about his impending opportunity to become only the second batsman after AB de Villiers to score fifties in 12 consecutive Tests.”You remind me of it [the record] but then I forget about it,” Mominul said. “I don’t feel pressure. I will not think about it after you all go from here. I will try not to remember it next time too.”De Villiers scored his 12 successive fifties between November 2012 and February 2014. Mominul started his streak in October 2013 when he scored his maiden Test century against New Zealand in Chittagong. He made 13 and 68 in Bangladesh’s previous Test, against Pakistan in Mirpur last month.Mominul said he will not change his training methods, and would go about his preparation for the Test against India the same way he has throughout his career. “I am nowhere near him [de Villiers],” Mominul said. “You know he is the king of all forms of cricket. I don’t think of myself as his competitor. I am not thinking about who I will sit next to, or not. I will try to achieve a similar target that I have had in previous matches. I will prepare similarly so that I can fulfill the expectation of the public and my own target.”He remained steadfast when asked if he feels the pinch of being called a Test specialist. Mominul lost his place in Bangladesh’s ODI side after failing twice in the World Cup earlier this year. “It is not about whether I accept something or not. I am doing well in Tests so some people are saying I have become a Test player. They will praise me if I do well in other formats. But I don’t want to think too much about it. I just need to improve where I have gaps in my game.”Mominul felt that the pitch for the Test against India at Fatullah would not have much pace. “I think the wicket will be on the slower side. I will see on Wednesday how the wicket behaves. I don’t get wickets much. I try to play in this way.”

Jason Holder claimed figures of 3 for 11 in four overs, including a maiden, to set up Barbados Tridents’ third win in a row

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJason Holder was the key performer in Barbados Tridents’ third straight win•Caribbean Premier League

Jason Holder claimed figures of 3 for 11 in four overs, including a double-wicket maiden, to set up Barbados Tridents’ third win in a row. The support cast was also impressive as Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel were kept to 95 for 9. Dwayne Smith and Dilshan Munaweera then launched the chase with a flurry of boundaries as Tridents sealed the win in 13.1 overs with eight wickets to spare.After having opted to bat, Red Steel’s top order was blown away by Holder and Ravi Rampaul. Cameron Delport perished for a two-ball duck before Jacques Kallis pulled a short one straight to long leg. From 2 for 2, Red Steel stumbled to 4 for 3 next over; Holder striking twice in two balls to remove Kamran Akmal and Darren Bravo. The other Bravo, Dwayne, however, offered semblance of a fight through 30 off 28 balls, adding 46 for the sixth wicket with Jason Mohammaed.However, Bravo’s wicket triggered another collapse as they went from 66 for 5 to 93 for 9. While Holder was the best bowler for the hosts, Rampaul, Robin Peterson, Kieron Pollard and Jeevan Mendis pitched in with a wicket each, before ceding the stage to Smith and Munaweera.The openers got into their groove quickly, sending Tridents racing to 51 in six overs. Munweera who was reprieved on 25 by Kallis added 14 more before holing out to deep cover off Sulieman Benn. Smith was out for 33 next ball but Shoaib Malik, aided by Jonathan Carter, finished the chase with a pulled four.

Trevor Bayliss has promised England will “fight fire with fire” in the Investec Ashes this summer

George Dobell01-Jul-20152:15

‘Wanted option to play two spinners’ – Bayliss

Trevor Bayliss has promised England will “fight fire with fire” in the Investec Ashes this summer.In his first press conference as England coach, Bayliss suggested the team had fallen behind the rest of the world over the last few years and promised a continuation of the spirit shown in recent games against New Zealand. He also confirmed that Moeen Ali remains England’s first-choice spinner.

‘I remember when bombs and bullets were flying’

Trevor Bayliss has admitted his outlook on life was changed by the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009. Bayliss, the Sri Lanka coach at the time, survived the attack alongside his assistant Paul Farbrace, who will link up with him once again in the England job.
“The short answer is yes, it did change my outlook,” he said. “I certainly remember when the bombs and the bullets were flying around. I thought ‘I can’t believe we’re actually being shot at; keep your head down and your arse up.’
“I actually had my head leaning back on the bus that morning because I had a bit of a headache. I had my eyes shut, so I was a bit slow to react and there was no room left in the middle of the aisle of the bus.
“I jumped down in between the seats and felt some shards of glass come down through my hair. I looked up and could see three bullet holes in the window about a foot above my head.
“To everyone’s credit in the bus there was no shouting. Everyone was very calm. There was no crying, just ‘ooh I’m hit, ooh so am I’ and nothing louder than that for two or three minutes. Then there was a shout to get the bus going and get out of here.
“You just deal with it as best you can and get on with it. My philosophy is that if you worry about it too much it will follow you around. The way I’ve dealt with it has been from that point of view. There was nothing I could do about it.”
That sense of perspective has fed into his coaching. He said that he has some sympathy for Shane Warne’s oft-repeated view that the only coach you need carries the team to the ground in the morning.
“The best players have all been self-reliant,” he said. “One of my philosophies is that the best coaches are the other 10 players in the team. The younger players look up to the older players and learn from them. If you’re watching and listening and asking the right questions, you will learn more about the game than you will from any coach.”

“You’ve got to get out and fight fire with fire,” Bayliss said. “You have to be positive and aggressive. And individuals have to play their own natural game.”If you are going to be successful against Australia it’s certainly not going to be by taking a backward step, or allowing them to dictate terms.”The way the game has been played over the last five or ten years, you could argue that maybe we haven’t kept up to date maybe as some of the other teams. Whether you like it or not, the T20 format and the one-day format do have a bearing on the way the game is played at Test level. It’s that philosophy of being positive and aggressive.”But such an approach will not necessarily lead to changes in the side. Bayliss hinted that the England batting order – with Gary Ballance at No. 3, followed by Ian Bell, Joe Root and Ben Stokes – will remain the same for the first Test in Cardiff, while the slip cordon which missed a few chances against New Zealand – Alastair Cook at first, Bell at second and Root at third – will also remain unchanged.”At the moment the batting order is fairly stable,” Bayliss said. “And we did a lot of slip catching in Spain. Certainly I think Cook, Bell and Root, from what I saw in practice, are our three best slippers.”He said that Moeen remains “at the moment” the first-choice spinner, with Adil Rashid to play, at Cardiff at least, only if England go into the game with two spinners. With the weather warm and the pitch slow, that is a possibility, though the fact that England have not won a home Test with a side containing two spinners since 1985 suggests it is still unlikely.”Moeen, at the moment, is the No. 1 spinner,” he said. “But if we want to play two spinners, we’ve got Adil there and ready to go.”Despite reports elsewhere, Bayliss insisted he had not turned down the head coach’s job previously and, while he did not apply this time, had no qualms from a cricketing perspective in taking the job.”I had some issues around family – my youngest is in her last year at school – but when you get that call from one of the three big teams around the world, I felt very honoured. It came out of the blue. I certainly didn’t put my name forward.”I was quite happy doing what I was doing. I had just re-signed with New South Wales and Kolkata Knight Riders had a three-year deal on the table as well. But when the opportunity came up with a team like England it was very difficult knock back.”From a family point of view it wasn’t necessarily perfect timing but, from a cricket point of view, I had no reservations.”Trevor Bayliss was unveiled as England’s new coach at Lord’s•Getty Images

Was there a slightly non-committal tone to questions about Cook’s captaincy? It could probably be interpreted that way. As well as praising only “Eoin Morgan and Paul Farbrace” for getting things “heading in the right direction” in recent weeks, he answered a direct question about how he rated Cook’s leadership with the reply: “I’ve not seen him up close or worked with him before.”But Cook, like the rest of the team, is going to be expected to embrace the new positivity that Bayliss wants to see as the hallmark of England cricket. “With this group of players,” Bayliss said, “you will see a bright, attacking style of cricket being played.”

Nepal’s wretched tour of Ireland wrapped up in timid fashion on Saturday as Jersey easily beat them by seven wickets at Malahide with 23 balls to spare

Peter Della Penna in Malahide18-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNepal’s wretched tour of Ireland wrapped up in timid fashion on Saturday as Jersey easily beat them by seven wickets at Malahide. Another insipid batting display from Nepal, who were 2014 World T20 participants, after being sent in to bat left their bowlers a target of 106 that was far too few, which made them the first team eliminated from contention for the knockout stage in Group A.On the other hand, Jersey can still reach the knockout stage with a win over Ireland on Sunday but will need help in the form of two Hong Kong losses and will also require Papua New Guinea to beat USA.Nepal came into the match needing to not only win but do so by a massive margin to have any chance of keeping their playoff hopes alive. However, they lacked intensity throughout the majority of the morning. In the first 15 overs, they struck only two boundaries, both of which came off edges past Jersey keeper Ed Farley.Left-arm spinner Nat Watkins removed both openers inside the Powerplay to leave Nepal at 19 for 2 after six. Binod Bhandari’s dismissal summed up Nepal’s struggles, as a waist high full toss was spliced to cover in the second over. Pradeep Airee fell for 2 off 13 balls edging a desperate drive to Ben Stevens at backward point in the fourth over.Captain Paras Khadka’s disappointing tournament concluded with just 48 runs in five innings as he managed to york himself against the left-arm spin of Ben Stevens for 11 to start the ninth over. Rajesh Pulami was done in by a slower ball from left-arm seamer Cornelis Bodenstein, which was patted back for a simple return catch.Gyanendra Malla sliced a cut to short third man for 26 with one ball to go in the 15th over to give Watkins his third wicket and with nothing else seemingly working, Sharad Vesawkar tried a reverse sweep but was bowled behind his legs for 16 to make it 79 for 6.Making his senior team debut, 20-year-old Siddhant Lohani was the only batsman who demonstrated any sort of vigour. He top-scored with 27 off 16 balls, including two sixes over midwicket and long off. Thanks to his late boost, Nepal managed 44 off the last five overs but it was never enough to make up for their lifeless start.Lohani fell in the final over attempting to slog another off Anthony Kay, the first of two in the last over. Basant Regmi was the eighth man down, caught at midwicket mistiming a pull and Nepal finished on 105 for 8.Shakti Gauchan struck in the second over to remove Farley for a duck, but Jersey cruised to the halfway stage at 61 for 1 behind a half-century stand engineered by captain Peter Gough and Jonty Jenner. A flick behind square was bracketed by two sweeps through the leg side by Gough in a 12-run eighth over to get Jersey on the move.Momentum was briefly halted with a double-strike in the 11th as Khadka nabbed Gough spooning a drive to mid-on for 27 before Jenner ran himself out two balls later for 30 calling for a run to backward point. Lohani swooped in to field and throw in one motion, catching Jenner just short.Bodenstein and Stevens took Jersey the rest of the way with an unbroken 44-run stand for the fourth wicket. Stevens finished 13 not out while Bodenstein ended unbeaten on 27, including the winning boundary hit over midwicket with 23 balls to spare.

A string of fifties, and a particularly brisk one late in the day from captain Ambati Rayudu, has pushed India A into the lead at stumps on the second day of the second unofficial Test in Wayanad

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Ambati Rayudu struck a rapid fifty to push India A into the lead•Getty Images

A string of fifties, and a particularly brisk one late in the day from captain Ambati Rayudu, has pushed India A into the lead at stumps on the second day of the second unofficial Test in Wayanad. South Africa A have fallen behind despite offspinner Dane Piedt’s four wickets. With the series still in the balance at 0-0, India A have four wickets including wicketkeeper-batsman Ankush Bains to work on the 82-run advantage come the third day.Much of the hosts’ good work with the bat came from the top order, with Abhinav Mukund and Jiwanjot Singh striking half-centuries in an opening stand of 96. Jiwanjot, in his first first-class fifty since January, struck seven fours while Mukund extended his good run – it was his third fifty-plus score in four unofficial Tests against Australia A and South Africa A.The visitors needed a lift and Piedt provided that, taking three wickets for 56 runs. Mukund was trapped lbw for 72, B Aparajith’s patience ran out for 34 and Sheldon Jackson was bowled for 25 as India A’s one-way traffic was threatened. The other success for South Africa A was Lonwabo Tsotsobe taking his 200th first-class wicket, as he picked up 2 for 38.But India A captain Rayudu helped himself to a breezy 81-ball 71 which included eight fours and three sixes and ensured South Africa A did not gather momentum. He looked set to take control of the match too, but Piedt fought back again when he had Rayudu caught by Bavuma eight overs before stumps.Bains, who had been Rayudu’s partner in a 56-run stand for the sixth wicket, took India A to stumps and will look to rally the tail around him tomorrow.

In the second installment of ESPNcricinfo’s overview of the top 18 in the Ranji Trophy, we look at Mumbai and Maharashtra

Amol Karhadkar26-Sep-2015

Mumbai

Shreyas Iyer scored 809 runs in 10 matches in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy at an average of 50.56•PTI

Where they finished last season
Lost to eventual champions Karnataka in the semi-final.Big Picture
Champions. Quarter-finalists. Semi-finalists. Any other team on the domestic circuit would be delighted with such consistency in the last three editions of the Ranji Trophy. Not Mumbai.Having won almost half [40] of the tournament’s 81 editions so far, anything but the title is treated as a failure in Mumbai cricket. As a result, to end a two-season drought, Mumbai have turned to coach Chandrakant Pandit.More than working on the skill sets of Mumbai players, Pandit’s main task is to get them to play as a unit. More than their loss to Jammu & Kashmir or the miraculous qualification for the knockouts or the first-innings collapse in the semi-final, the major talking point of Mumbai’s last season was the infighting within the team. It resulted in Suryakumar Yadav being replaced as captain midway through the season and being reprimanded along with a key pace bowler.The other major challenge to overcome for Mumbai is the lack of a stalwart in dressing room. Abhishek Nayar will be the senior-most player in the change room, which is used to seeing international regulars or domestic stalwarts leading the way.Players to watch
Shreyas Iyer‘s first-class season got off to a fascinating start. For a rookie playing his maiden season, to finish as the seventh-highest run-getter of the tournament was an outstanding feat, and it was followed by an enviable price in the IPL auction. He also featured for India A during their home series against South Africa A but it remains to be seen if Iyer can avoid the second-season blues.Captaincy, albeit of an IPL team, made Rohit Sharma a responsible cricketer, but Suryakumar Yadav appeared to have become complacent on and off the field with the additional responsibility. The talented batsman started the last season as the Mumbai captain and almost lost his place for the zonal Twenty20 tournament on disciplinary grounds. Will he be able to turn the tide?Coaching staff
Chandrakant Pandit has been reappointed coach of Mumbai’s Ranji team after 11 years. Omkar Salvi, elder brother of former India pace bowler Aavishkar Salvi, continues to be the bowling coach, while Ashutosh Nimse will be the physiotherapist.Preparation
A mix of regular and fringe players helped Mumbai win the Buchi Babu tournament, one of the most respected pre-season tournaments. It was followed by a fortnight-long training stint in Hyderabad, where Mumbai played two warm-up games.Team news
Wasim Jaffer has switched to Vidarbha while Sarfaraz Khan has moved to Uttar Pradesh, and Hiken Shah remains suspended by the BCCI. International commitments are likely to keep Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane away from the Mumbai dressing room for the second season in succession. This would mean that the likes of Iyer, Yadav, Siddhesh Lad and Nikhil Patil will have their task cut out. The bowling attack will be bolstered with Dhawal Kulkarni’s availability, at least for the first two games. Zaheer Khan, who missed last season due to an injury, has been left out of the squad for the first two games.Squad
Aditya Tare (capt & wk), Badre Alam, Vishal Dabholkar, Harmeet Singh, Akhil Herwadkar, Shreyas Iyer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Siddhesh Lad, Shrideep Mangela, Abhishek Nayar, Nikhil Patil, Abhishek Raut, Balwinder Sandhu, Shardul Thakur, Suryakumar Yadav.In their own words
“The expectations, like every year, are to win the title. We are not thinking about it at all. Our simple mantra is to work on the process rather than the result. I have been telling the boys not to take the pressure of winning the Ranji Trophy. If we do the right things in the middle, results will naturally follow.”

Maharashtra

Maharashtra will be looking at Kedar Jadhav to do the bulk of the run-scoring•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where they finished last season
Semi-finalists, bowing out against Tamil Nadu on the basis of first-innings leadBig Picture
For a better part of the last decade, Maharashtra had employed the policy of trying and testing youngsters. After trying out far too many, and dumping most of them, from 2005-06 to 2010-11, Maharashtra has emerged as one of the most settled units in the Ranji Trophy. And it has borne results of late, with Maharashtra making it to the final and semi-finals in the last two seasons.If they are to maintain the consistency, their pace quartet will have to work their magic again. Over the last couple of seasons, the BCCI’s policy of preparing seamer-friendly surfaces had worked in their favour, as Samad Fallah, Domnic Joseph and Anupam Sanklecha made the most of conditions, with Shrikant Mundhe playing the back-up seamer’s role to perfection.If the BCCI’s diktat of letting spinners back in the game is followed to the tee, then Maharashtra will have to hope Akshay Darekar can be complemented by either Nikit Dhumal or Chirag Khurana.Players to watch
Allrounders are a rare breed in domestic cricket, but Maharashtra are fortunate to have two. Shrikant Mundhe has emerged as a consistent pace-bowling allrounder who is tailor-made to bat with the tail. Chirag Khurana had a breakthrough season with the bat last year, tallying close to 700 runs to lead his team’s run charts. His offspin bowling also proved to be more than a handful, with him being preferred as the lone spinner in the team.For the first time in four decades, a Maharashtra team will feature an international centurion, thanks to Kedar Jadhav’s hundred in Zimbabwe, and Jadhav will have plenty to prove after a lean 2014-15 against the red ball. If Jadhav can repeat the heroics of 2013-14, where he garnered 1200-plus runs, then Maharashtra’s batting woes will be all but sorted.Coaching staff
Maharashtra have stuck to last year’s coaching staff. Australian David Andrews continues to be the coach with Abhishek Joshi doubling up as physio and trainer.Preparation
After competing in a pre-season tournament in Nagpur in August, rain proved to be a dampener for Maharashtra in a preparatory tournament. Only one round of the eight-team tournament, including three teams of state players, could be played before the weather turned nasty. The selectors then made up for the lost time by hosting a four-day match between Under-23 and Ranji teams.Team news
Vijay Zol is back in the reckoning after missing most of the last season due to a shoulder injury. He will have to fight for his place though with the likes of Nikhil Naik and Jay Pande having impressed with a strong showing in the pre-season outings.SquadRohit Motwani (capt), Harshad Khadiwale, Swapnil Gugale, Kedar Jadhav, Ankit Bawne, Chirag Khurana, Rahul Tripathi, Sangram Atitkar, Naushad Shaikh, Vijay Zol, Akshay Darekar, Shrikant Mundhe, Samad Fallah, Nikit Dhumal, Domnic Joseph, Anupam Sanklecha.