WEST BEST IN DEODHAR TEST

When the journey for the Deodhar trophy 2013 in Guwahati got finalized in the midnight of 9^th March ,a particular song in its very own version uttered in my mind. “Amra korbo joy,Amra korbo joy,Amra korbo joy ekdin..” (Eng. Version: We shall overcome..someday..), a very popular song and the version which the mind came across was the one sung by Bhupen Hazarika,the renowned singer from Assam. Well,there were two genuine reasons. Firstly,the tournament happened in the home-state of this melodious singer. Secondly in this year’s Deodhar a lot of reputed and internationally acclaimed Indian cricketers played,who took the tournament as a platform to make a comeback in the National cricket team. The top-performers like Yuvraj Singh,Gautam Gambhir,Suresh Raina,Yusuf Pathan,Robin Uthappa and many other Indian cricket teams’ jersey owners played in this inter-zone tournament.

Suddenly,Guwahati for those four days (10^th March to 13^th March) in the presence of such top-class cricketers seemed like ‘Chander Pahar’(present craze for Bengali movie buffs) . The packed stadium,school children bunking to watch their heroes,high voltage security,more number of TV cameras justifies the story. Nehru Stadium in Guwahati unexpectedly got a good response from the very first match of the prestigious tournament,Deodhar trophy.

The first match was between South and East Zone.East Zone(EZ) was mostly comprised of members from Assam’s state cricket team,who were the runners-up in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2013. Wriddhiman Saha,the short-built from Bengal and known as the best wicket-keeper in the country captained the EZ side. Dinesh Karthik was the captain of the South Zone(SZ). SZ batted first and piled up a fighting total of 284 for the loss of 5 wickets. Baba Aparajith, the member of the U-19 World Cup 2012 winning Indian side scored a brilliant 121 runs off 129 balls with a good supporting hand from Uthappa,who was forced to retire hurt after suffering from cramps. Sachin Baby towards the end of SZ’s batting played a good cameo of 33 runs in just 19 deliveries and helped SZ is set a target of 285 runs for the EZ. Shami Ahmed,the pacer from Bengal was pick of the bowlers from EZ though got thrashed in his last spell. EZ didn’t got a smooth start but gradually Wriddhiman and Jaggi showed some hope.Jaggi’s run out of a brilliant direct hit at the stumps by Sachin Baby was the turning point of the match. After this EZ never hinted a winning chance .Cricket is said to be the game of uncertainties and when Abu Nechim and Gokul Sharma,the duo from Assam was registering runs in a quick fashion,the SZ might have viewed the bad side of the game. But that never turned to a worry for SZ,finally they won the match by 11 runs and secured their berth for the semi-final match against West Zone(WZ).Baba Aparajith received the MoM trophy and surely have caught the eyes of the Sandeep Patil,Roger Binny ,the National selectors who were present in the ground during the match.

Next day i.e. on 11^th March the 1^st semi-final match between Central Zone (CZ) and North zone(NZ) was played. Rain in the last night and early morning showers interrupted the match and so the start had to be delayed. The overs were reduced to 45 per side. But due to bad light in the second innings the score had to be revised under the VJD system. NZ had to chase the revised target of 160 runs in 33 overs. CZ’s batsmen couldn’t capitalize their good start. Raina,Ojha ,Menaria,Kaif got out after they had done their hard work. Amit Mishra,the leg-spinner picked up 3 wickets and Parvez Rasool ,the spinner from J&k origin performed quite well.Rasool picked up the wicket of Piyush Chawla by giving a good flight,indulging the batsman to go for the maximum. NZ came into bat with the openers Unmukt Chand ,the captain of the Indian side which won the U-19 World Cup 2012 and Chandan Madan.Madan was caught behind the stumps off Praveen Kumar in the third over. Gautam Gambhir the captain of the NZ side stepped in with a loud cheer from the crowds but couldn’t resist the belief of his fans that Gauti will give the selectors a good reply with his bat in his own manner. After the captain departed ,Yuvraj Singh was the man out in the crease and with his entry into the ground the already packed stadium doubled their cheering voice. Unmukt and Yuvraj batted really to finish-off the chase before 3 overs wer left to be bowled. Yuvraj was just brilliant with the bat and the backlifts raced towards the boundary at a speed of underwater current. Yuvi was in full flow,scored 70-ball 77 and remained not out . Unmukt after the century in the Vijay Hazare final, showed his potentiality scoring 56,his entry to the senior team is just a matter of time. NZ became the 1^st team to be in the final of Deodhar Trophy 2013 where they will play against the winner of the South Zone v West Zone semi-final .

In the second semi-final on 12^th March West Zone(WZ) won the toss and decided to field first. SZ never looked comfortable throughout their innings. Munaf patel and Jaydev Unadkat tormented the SZ batsmen and never let them to settle down. Sachin Baby and Stuart Binny played a good hand to set off target of 259 runs for the WZ. Sachin Baby played a really good knock of 58 runs hitting just 3 boundaries at the dire situations. Stuart Binny,the son of legendary cricketer Roger Binny made a handsome score of 65 runs before he got runout. Abhishek Nayar,the WZ allrounder equalled the record of Mohammad Sami,as he bowled a 17-ball over in the match. WZ suffered some early blows as they lose Parthiv Patel and Manprit Juneja in consecutive overs when the score was just below 30 runs. Vijay Zol and Ambati Rayudu then managed to overcome the situation.Rayudu was stumped when the score was 97. From then on,WZ never looked down.Yusuf Pathan , Zol and Kedar Jadhav batted with ease and took WZ into the final very comfortably. Pathan and Jadhav played blistering knocks ,both of them gave the SZ bowlers severe smashing and reached the target within 42^ndover.

On 13^th March the final was played between NZ and WZ.WZ won the toss and asked NZ to bat first. (Unmukt)Chand and Chandan(Madan) collaborated well and marked a quality start which built a good platform for the forthcoming batsmen of NZ. Gauti arrived after Madan departed when the score was 59.Gambhir got out when he was on 9 and failed to use the best opportunity to prove the selectors that he shouldn’t be out of the National team. With the captain’s exit Yuvi came in and played a brisk knock of 67 runs off only 52 deliveries with 3 huge sixes. Yuvraj throughout his innings played in his very own way,glancing towards the fence,hitting hard over the mid-wicket,lifting through the off-side gaps and when he got out NZ’s score was 192 runs. On the otherside,Chand again proved himself as a big match player with such a solid temperament and hinted few classy character, a good player possesses. He was out for 88 runs . The two quick wickets in the form of Mandeep Singh and Chand caused worry in the dressing room of NZ. But the cameos from Rasool and Gony helped NZ set a fighting target of 290 runs for the WZ. WZ suffered an early blow when Vijay Zol was picked up by Rasool. Then on,Parthiv and Juneja built a good partnership of 87 runs. Parthiv got out when the score was 111 runs. After his exit the collective effort of the batsmen like Juneja,Ambati Rayudu and Jadhav helped WZ reach the target within 49^th over and clinch the Deodhar Trophy 2013.Ambati Rayudu was declared the Man of the final for his pleasuring knock of unbeaten 78.

This year’s Deodhar in Guwahati was the perfect stage for the cricketers who are aiming for their places in the national cricket team for the last time and also for the cricketers who’re looking for the debuts. The stadium is located in such a place from where the famous Kamakhya temple can be viewed,in other way we can say the Goddess in Kamakhya temple gets a good view of the ground. Hope that Yuvi,Unmukt,Aparajith,Rayudu,Rasool got her blessings,I believe Goddess might have surely overlooked Gauti . So he remained Gambhir throughut the tournament. Now it’s turn for IPL,hope the gamble for KKR works .Optimism at its peak- Dhoni’s team India adds Gautam to the list of players to stake on season after season just the way people of Assam indulge themselves in playing cards with 10 bucks for each winnings during their train journey from home to office and vice-versa. All be happy with good hope,Deodhar 2013 WZ’s scoop.