Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19: First impressions of 9 new teams 

BCCI has done a commendable job by getting in eight new teams for the current domestic season. With the World Cup to follow after the end of the 2018-19 domestic season and the Indian Premier League, the management would have seen all they would like to pick the best fifteen.

But what is even heartening is the fact that native players from most regions of the country would directly feature for their teams this time around. BCCI has introduced 6 teams from the north-east: Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh; a team for the relatively new political state of Uttarakhand; one for the Union Territory Puducherry and has reinstated Bihar after 15 years.

Many senior and renowned players have been transferred from the established teams to the new teams, including players like Abhishek Nayar, Pragyan Ojha and Taruwar Kohli now representing new teams. Though the domestic season began with the Duleep Trophy less than a month ago, the teams got a first chance to play during the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where all the teams have played only two of their minimum of eight matches in the first round.

Let us have a look at how each team has fared, and the players who have stood out in the first round of matches.

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Manipur

Manipur's opening two matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy proved to be a mixed bag. While their first match against Puducherry proved to be a one-sided, eight-wicket defeat; the only notable performances for them were those of young opening batsman Lakhan Rawat, veteran batsman Yashpal Singh and medium pacer Bishworjit Konthoujam.

They turned the tables around in their next match against Sikkim though, bowling them out for 84 while bowling first. While Bishworjit stood out with three wickets, Rajkumar Singh and Thoudam Singh both took two wickets apiece. Lakhan Rawat and Pukhrambam Singh batted cautiously to provide their team with a ten-wicket win to fetch their first points this season.

Mizoram

Taruwar Kohli, who shone under Virat Kohli in India's 2008 U-19 World Cup win, is now a senior pro.

Punjab-transfer Taruwar Kohli's 217 runs from just two innings were not good enough for Mizoram in their first two matches. In their first match against Arunachal Pradesh, Kohli's 127 was helped by useful contributions from Akhil Rajput and Sinan Khadir to put up a total of 234. Marema bowled his heart out, taking three wickets, but Arunachal chased the target with four wickets in hand and three overs remaining - thanks to a century from Samrath Seth.

Their second match against Meghalaya was more of a dampener, with only Kohli and captain Lalnunkima scoring 124 out of their team total of 154. Kohli even opened the bowling and took a wicket, but an unbeaten 95 from Delhi's veteran wicket-keeper batsman Puneet Bisht ensured an easy eight-wicket win for his new team Meghalaya.

Nagaland

Nitesh Lochab's fighting 79 went in vain in their season opener against Bihar.

While they put up a decent score of 253 in their first 50-over match against Bihar, Nagaland were done in by a Kumar-Kumar special, as both Kumar's - Babul and Keshav snatched the game from Nagaland with an unbeaten 130-run partnership for the third wicket. Nitesh Lochand and Imliwati Lemtur were the only men who impressed for Nagaland.

In their second match against Meghalaya, Nagaland were chasing a score similar to the one they put on in their first match. This time though, they treated Meghalaya the same way they were treated in the previous game themselves by Bihar - winning the match by seven wickets. Wicket-keeper batsman KB Pawan scored an unbeaten 113, with helpful contributions from captain Rongsen Jonathan and Sedezhaile Rupero.

Puducherry

Mumbai sensation Abhishek Nayar is playing a leading role in mentoring newly inducted team Puducherry.

Puducherry is another time that had a mixed start to their one-day season. Sagar Trivedi and Sarag Udheshi combined to take seven wickets in their opening game to bowl Manipur out for 120. An unbeaten 63 by Shashank Singh made short of the chase.

Their second match against Uttarakhand proved to be a rather tough one. A century from Karna Veer Kaushal took Uttarakhand's first innings score to 291, despite wickets from Pankaj Singh and Narayanan. Govindarajan and Abhishek Nayar scored fifties, but Puducherry still lost the match by 65 runs.

Sikkim

Captain Nilesh Lamichaney scored 123 against Arunachal Pradesh in a losing cause.

Sikkim's first match against Manipur ended in a ten-wicket defeat, as a meagre target of 84 proved too low for the latter team. While the bowlers bowled economically, only Lee Yong Lepcha looked to survive with the bat.

Sikkim's bowling in the second match proved flat again, with the team conceding 306 runs to Arunachal Pradesh. A 99-run opening stand between Faizan Khan and captain Nilesh Lamichaney came slowly, and it took over 25 overs for the team to cross their first hundred runs. Even a 123 from the skipper went in vain as they lost the match by 49 runs.

Meghalaya

Yogesh Nagar scored 58 not out for Meghalaya in their second match against Nagaland.

Meghalaya got off to a flying start, bowling Mizoram out for just 154 in their first match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. While Yogesh Nagar, Abhay Negi and Raj Biswa all took two wickets apiece, wicket-keeper batsman Puneet Bisht scored 95 not out, while captain Jason Lamare scored 41 not out to affect an eight-wicket victory.

Meghalaya missed just out on a first-innings score of 250 in their second game against Nagaland with noteworthy performances from Biswa, Bisht, Nagar and Gurinder Singh. But an unbeaten century from KB Pawan was enough to affect a seven-wicket victory and render most of Meghalaya's bowlers wicketless.

Uttarakhand

Rajat Bhatia, who has seen it all, will relish the challenge of leading Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand's campaign began poorly with a five-wicket defeat to Bihar in their Vijay Hazare Trophy opening game. Only Vineet Saxena and Deepak Dhapola managed respectable scores in their first-innings total of 160 all out. A 79 from Bihar's Vikash Ranjan was enough to get over the line, as none of Uttarakhand's bowlers managed more than one wicket.

In their second match against Puducherry, Uttarakhand responded well, with Karna Veer Kaushal's 101 and Vaibhav Bhatt's 73 getting them to a total of 306 batting first. A four-wicket haul from Sunny Rana and two wickets from Dhapola helped Uttarakhand secure a 65-run victory.

Arunachal Pradesh

Kshitiz Sharma scored a 56-ball 61 to win Arunachal's first match against Mizoram.

The only new entrant to win both of their first two matches, Arunachal Pradesh has been clinical in both their matches. In their first match, they restricted Mizoram to 234 despite 127 from Taruwar Kohli. Myendung Singhpo was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 for 34. 107 from Samrath Seth and 61 from Kshitiz Sharma ensured a four-wicket win with three overs to spare.

In their second game against Sikkim, Arunachal scored 306 for 4 with 89 from Samrath Seth and 122 from Techi Doria. Akhilesh Sahani and Techi Neri both took two wickets apiece to secure a 49-run victory in the team's second game in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Bihar

Leg spinner

Samar Quadri, who moved from Jharkhand, took 6 wickets in the first two matches for Bihar.

Bihar, reinstated to the Indian domestic calendar after 15 years, did not disappoint their cricket-deprived fans one bit during the first two games of their season. Bowling first in their first game against Uttarakhand, the comeback team bowled the newbies out for 160. Samar Khan and Anunay Singh were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets apiece, while Diwan Khan took two. A 79 from Vikash Ranjan helped Bihar win their first match by five wickets.

With three wickets, Quadri was again the standout bowler in their second match against Nagaland. He was helped by Keshav Kumar and Diwan Khan, both getting two wickets apiece. Chasing a target of 254, Keshav's 76 not out and Babul Kumar's 121 not out ensured a comfortable eight-wicket victory for Bihar in the end.