Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019 | Hits and Misses from the first week of the tournament

The first week of the Vijay Hazare trophy brought with it upsets, high scores and a string of impressive fast bowling performances from the domestic players. The 18th edition of the tournament kicked off from September 24th. A total of nine teams are featuring in Group A and B while Group C and Plate group have 10. The quarter-final line-up will see five teams from both Groups A and B, two from Group C and only one from Plate group forming the core.

Five-time champions Tamil Nadu have started strongly with three wins out of three. The Dinesh Karthik-led side look a team with the right kind of balance between power-hitting and sensible stroke play. Karthik has himself been in tremendous touch. On the other hand, Karnataka also started strongly, winning two out of two matches with Indian players KL Rahul and captain Manish Pandey assenting their good form.

Seven out of 30 Vijay Hazare Trophy matches were dented by rain in the first three days of the tournament. The unprecedented rain hampered any chance of play or a result, thereby forcing BCCI to reschedule the matches to October this year.

Hits

#1 Chattisgarh upset Mumbai

Shreyas Iyer (R)

Elite, Group A, Vijay Hazare Trophy at Alur, Sep 28 2019

Mumbai 317/5

Chattisgarh 318/5 (49.5/50 overs)

Chattisgarh cricket had their moment when they upset defending champions Mumbai in a Group A encounter. After restricting Mumbai to a formidable 317 runs, all of Chattisgarh batsmen, except Shashank Chandrakar, contributed in a historic run-chase that went down to the wire. A match that saw three fifties, one hundred and three 40-plus scores, soon turned out to be a thrilling encounter at the end when Chattisgarh needed 20 runs off seven balls.

Centurian Amandeep Khare and bowler Ajay Mandal scored the required runs with one ball to spare. The victory brought in a new sense of belief into the Chattisgarh side which would help them a lot going into the latter stages of the tournament.

Coming from Rahul Dravid school of cricket, Amandeep had been coached by the Wall himself during his time with the under-19 Indian team in 2016. After the win, Amandeep described the win as a different kind of high which had never been experienced before.

#2 Amandeep Khare's century [117* (94) vs Mumbai]

Sarfaraz Khan

A week back, not many knew about a young Amandeep Khare from Chattisgarh. Part of the India under-19 squad in 2016 under former India Captain Rahul Dravid, Khare has played his initial cricket in Mumbai. Therefore, a century against his former teammates Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan meant a lot, especially as it took Chattisgarh past a formidable-looking defending champion, Mumbai.

Set a target of 318, Chattisgarh needed solid partnerships to overhaul Mumbai’s target. He struck the ball convincingly and hit the middle of the bat more often than not. Striking at a rate of over 124, Khare’s innings included eight fours and four sixes. Without a doubt, the performance of the week so far in the Vijay Hazare trophy, Amandeep will have to go through a lot of scrutiny in the upcoming fixtures but until then, Khare and Amandeep can reminiscence in the upset result against Mumbai.

#3 KL Rahul back to scoring runs [131 (122) v Kerala]

KL Rahul

A knock of 29 runs against Jharkhand wasn’t the ideal start KL Rahul was looking for. After a string of poor scores in Test cricket, the selectors have started to look at other youngsters like Prithvi Shaw and Shubhman Gill or even the limited-over specialist Rohit Sharma.

Coming into the second game with a cloud of tentativeness hovering around Rahul’s batting technique, he answered his critics with more than run-a-ball 131 that consisted of 10 fours and four sixes. KL Rahul started his career for Karnataka with a batting technique better suited to the longest version of the game. Leaving balls off the good lengths, he was rated highly by Rahul Dravid, a player who knew where his off-stump was and a great timer of the ball.

Even now, when you see Rahul in full flow, you wonder if more consist performances are the need of the hour. However, Virat Kolhi and Ravi Shastri will be keeping a keen eye on Rahul’s performances before he gets out of selectors’ radar altogether.

#4 Pace bowlers leading the way- Gaurav Yadav, SV Trivedi and Rahul Shukla

Conditions are helpful to fast bowlers

Wondering who these names are and which teams do these players represent?

Gaurav Yadav, a 27-year-old medium-pace bowler from Madhya Pradesh, stands at the top of the most wickets list in this year’s Vijay Hazare trophy. In the four matches played, Gaurav has taken 12 wickets at an average of just 14.66 with a best of 5/45 against Railways.

With a six-for against Uttarakhand, Sagar Trivedi of Puducherry stands second in the wicket-takers list. Sagar’s 10 wickets have come in only two matches at an average of only 6.80.

Two good performances from Rahul Shukla in the opening week has caught everyone’s attention. Rahul might already be in his 30th year, but a six-for against Goa and a four-wicket haul against Karnataka augurs well for the Jharkhand team in this year’s Vijay Hazare trophy.

Misses

#1 Not a happy return for Ambati Rayudu [0(2) vs Kerala]

Hyderabad captain Ambati Rayudu

A duck against Kerala in the first game would not have gone down well with Ambati Rayudu. With a fair bit of media attention, this former India cricketer will be raring to go in the matches to come. But looking at Ambati’s calm and composed outlook towards his batting, he won’t be too perturbed and will be looking at a bigger picture at hand.

Making a comeback post a controversial retirement announcement, Rayudu has had his fair share of experience being in the limelight. Whether it was playing in the tainted Indian Cricket League (ICL) or a sarcastic tweet after a non-selection in the World Cup squad, Rayudu career choices haven’t been as on point as his shot-making.

Returning to cricket as Hyderabad’s captain wasn’t long-lasting but despite a perpetual hysteria around the talented Rayudu, BCCI has been quite lenient in their treatment. A man of second chances, Rayudu played in the IPL despite a stint in the ICL. He also came back to the domestic circuit despite a long-lasting World Cup fiasco. But a comeback won’t be remembered unless it is backed up by numbers. And Ambati Rayudu is experienced enough to realise that.