Rajasthan's fairytale continues…
Zeenews logo
        English        
Follwo us on: Facebook Follwo us on: Twiter RSS Mail to us
Thursday, May 31, 2012 
Jobs | Sitemap
Search
Follwo us on: Facebook Follwo us on: Twiter RSS Mail to us Mail to us Mail to us

Rajasthan's fairytale continues…

Last Updated: Wednesday, January 25, 2012, 19:34
views 1021 Comments 1  
Rajasthan's fairytale continues…Biswajit Jha

What their predecessors failed to realize repeatedly in 1960s, they have achieved it twice by winning two back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles. It’s no mean achievement considering the fact that only three teams, apart from Mumbai, have done it before.

No doubt they were fortunate. They qualified after a lot of permutation and combination going right for them. But clichéd it may sound, fortune never befriends losers.

If last year’s sojourn was ‘out of the blue’, this year, their story can be termed as ‘second season blues’. They started their title-defence in disastrous fashion, getting hammered by the Rest of India team in the Irani Trophy in all departments.

At that time, there were a large number of people who thought that the last year’s Ranji high was a fluke. And when the initial matches of 2011-12 Ranji matches were being played out, their convictions became a reality.

No one thought that they would stay in the Elite league, let alone become the best team again. Everything was going downhill for them. Amidst this, injuries started to haunt them and consumed in-form batsman Ashok Menaria, who had slammed a double ton against the Railways.

At that time they conceded first innings lead in first five matches and were facing relegation!

Opener Aakash Chopra, who depicted their last year’s journey in his delightful book “Out of the Blue”, thinks it is the resilience and the never-say-die attitude which helped them keep their hopes alive.

Despite posting huge totals on the board, they were not able to bowl the oppositions out in the earlier matches. They were really worried about their bowling.

When skipper Kanitkar said that it’s a team effort, you have to include the Rajasthan Cricket Board (RCB) in it. The way they showed the promptness to rope in former South African paceman Meyrick Pringle, who was already in Jaipur, coaching at a private academy, as their bowling coach was really unique in Indian domestic cricket. It once again showed that champions are not always born; you can also create them with a proper support system.


Co-incident it might sound, but their bowling unit suddenly got a new lease of life after Pringle’s appointment. A team which struggled to take 20 wickets in the first five matches, Rajasthan registered two outright wins against Saurashtra and Orissa and from there on they never looked back.

Despite losing last year’s hero, medium pacer Deepak Chahar, in the knock-out stage due to jaundice, they found a new sensation in Raturaj Singh, who claimed 26 wickets in only four matches.

He came up with a match-winning performance in the semi-final against Haryana after his team was shot out for a paltry 89 in the first innings. His 12-wicket haul in the match gave Rajasthan a much needed boost going into the finals.

His senior pace bowling partner, Pankaj Singh, also started to perform and formed a potent partnership with his junior new ball bowler. That pace bowlers like to haunt in pair was once again proved!

As bowling performances went up, the batsmen started to feel less burdened. Robin Bist, who became the highest run-getter in the Ranji season with 1034 runs and has put forward his case for a spot in the Indian Test team once Dravid and Laxman decide to retire, did not allow his team to miss their star batsman Ashok Menaria. Opener Vineet Saxena, who scored a match-winning marathon knock in the final, contributed in almost all the matches and also scored close to 1000 runs.

The professionals in the team, Aakash Chopra, Rashmi Ranjan Parida guided the local Rajasthan lads like Bist , Puneet Yadav and Dishant Yagnik like elder-brothers. Chopra also scored a crucial hundred in querter-final.

The ‘captain cool’ Kanitkar, who allowed his players to make mistakes and learn from it, was like a father figure to the team. His calmness helped the team during the trying circumstances. And remember, they had faced enough of it this year.

But once they were in the knock-outs, they were on a roll, playing like true champions. They might not have played ruthlessly like a boxer, they were rather calculative in their approach like a chess champion.

They may have resorted to ‘playing ugly’ method but there is hardly any doubt that they played effectively. Their successors might not learn how they had won, but one thing they will remember is the team won two back-to-back Ranji titles despite being underdogs…

First Published: Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 17:41


Comments

pankaj jain - bhopal
the new one for us...
Reply



Post your Comments

X
Name
Place :
Email :
Comments :
 

Pages: 1     

Post your Comments

Name
Place :
Email :
Comments :
 

Most liked Comments



Latest Most ReadFixtures
FIXTURE
West Indies tour of England
Test England v West Indies at Edgbaston, Birmingham - 06/07/2012
ODI England v West Indies at The Rose Bowl, Southampton - 06/16/2012
ODI England v West Indies at Kennington Oval, London - 06/19/2012
ODI England v West Indies at Headingley, Leeds - 06/22/2012
IPL 2012
Blogs
Shahrukh and Mamata - IPL circusShahrukh and Mamata - IPL circusIf you needed any proof of the cringe making vulgarity that is the IPL look... Read More
Five things about IPL which won't be missed!Five things about IPL which won't be missed!There are quite a few things about IPL and things that come along with it w... Read More
Rank Country Points
1 Australia 123
2 South Africa 118
3 India 117
4 England 111
5 Sri Lanka 110
6 Pakistan 105
7 New Zealand 86
8 West Indies 86
9 Bangladesh 67
10 Zimbabwe 46
Rank Country Points
1 England 116
2 South Africa 116
3 Australia 112
4 India 111
5 Pakistan 108
6 Sri Lanka 99
7 West Indies 85
8 New Zealand 85
9 Bangladesh 8
Rank Country Points
1 England 129
2 South Africa 122
3 Sri Lanka 117
4 New Zealand 114
5 Pakistan 107
6 Australia 107
7 India 103
8 Ireland 95
9 West Indies 93
10 Afghanistan 83
Rank Name & Nationality Points
1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) 11800
2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 10060
3 Roger Federer (SUI) 9790
4 Andy Murray (GBR) 7500
5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 4965
6 David Ferrer (ESP) 4640
7 Tomas Berdych (CZE) 4500
8 Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 3010
9 Juan Martin Del Potro 2910
10 Mardy Fish (USA) 2625
Rank Name & Nationality Points
1 Victoria Azaranka (BLR) 9020
2 Maria Sharapova (RUS) 8390
3 Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 7080
4 Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6275
5 Serena Williams (USA) 5695
6 Samantha Stosur (AUS) 5440
7 Na Li (CHN) 4965
8 Marion Bartoli 4870
9 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 4586
10 Angelique Kerber (GERq) 3560
Rank Driver &Country Points
1Mark Webber-Australian73
2 Sebastian Vettel-German73
3Lewis Hamilton-British63
4Nico Rosberg-German59
5Kimi Räikkönen-Finnish51
6Jenson Button-British45
7Fernando Alonso-Spanish43
8Romain Grosjean-French35
9Pastor Maldonado-Venezuelan29
10Sergio Perez-Mexican22
Rank Country Points
1Red Bull Racing146
2McLaren108
3Lotus86
4Ferrari86
5Mercedes61
6Williams44
7Sauber41
8Force India28
9Toro Rosso6
10Caterham0
Rank Country Points
1 Rory McIlroy, Nir 9.53
2 Luke Donald, Eng 9.36
3 Lee Westwood, Eng 8.13
4 Bubba Watson, USA 6.45
5 Matt Kuchar, USA 6.08
6 Hunter Mahan, USA 5.53
7 Tiger Woods, USA 5.22
8 Steve Stricker, USA 5.17
9 Phil Mickelson, USA 5.11
10 Justin Rose, Eng 5.09
Rank Country Points
1 Spain 1442
2 Germany 1345
3 Uruguay 1309
4 Netherlands 1207
5 Portugal 1190
6 Brazil 1165
7 England 1132
8 Croatia 1114
9 Argentina 1076
10 Denmark 1069
Contact Us : Privacy Policy : Legal Disclaimer
Copyright © Zee News Limited. All rights reserved