AGENCY
KALYANI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Jharkhand entered the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a six-wicket thrashing of Jammu and Kashmir here today.
Their campaign in tatters after their 21-run loss to Hyderabad, Jharkhand not only needed a big win against Jammu and Kashmir but wanted Hyderabad to lose to Services. Hyderabad had cleared Dhoni’s hurdle at Eden Gardens in the afternoon by losing to Services after they were shot out for 88 in 28.5 overs.
At the Bengal Cricket Academy, about 50 kilometres from Kolkata, Dhoni entertained his fans with an unbeaten 19 off 17 balls (2×4, 1×6) to take his team to a resounding victory. Chasing 185, which was possible after Shahbaz Nadeem’s (5/42) second five-wicket haul bowled out Jammu and Kashmir in 43 overs, Dhoni finished the game in his trademark style, with a huge six over fine leg.
He pulled Mehjoor Ali to seal the chase with 15 overs to spare as Jharkhand joined table toppers Karnataka in the quarterfinals from Group D. The knock-out round will be played in Delhi from March 13-18.
Dhoni did not have to bat in their facile win over Services, leaving the crowd here disappointed. Therefore, the biggest cheer came on 156 for three when the former India captain walked into the middle.
The excitement shot up when Singh removed the Jharkhand top scorer Kumar Deobrat (78 from 94 balls; 5×4, 4×6) three balls later. But as anticipated, Dhoni dished out the finishing shot on a day he made some clever decisions with left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (5/42) returning with his second five-wicket haul.
This was Deobrat’s first game of the meet after being brought in place of Virat Singh, while Rathour made his List A debut in place of Anand Singh on a day Dhoni made three changes in the must-win match.
The third change was of seamer Monu Kumar who replaced Jaskaran Singh and conceded just 23 runs from his seven overs. Having won the toss, Dhoni was quick to put Jammu and Kashmir in as they were 39/2 inside 12 overs with Varun Aaron and Rahul Shukla claiming a wicket each.
Jharkhand’s wobbly fielding once again was a big setback for Dhoni as Ishan Jaggi dropped opener Owais Shah on zero as he was quick to remove him from the position.
The drop proved costly as the left-hander revived Jammu and Kashmir with his careerbest 59 in a 66-run partnership with skipper Parvez Rasool (45).
Shah was patient in his knock as he took 106 balls and hit five fours but introduction of spin in Nadeem and offspinner Kaushal Singh (2/31) dented their revival.
Nadeem gave the breakthrough after Rasool tried to sweep and play across the line to top-edge to Rahul Shukla at fine leg, before Shukla claimed two wickets in two overs to derail their opponents as the leftarm spinner now has 14 wickets from six matches. The left-arm spinner dismissed Shah off his own bowling as Jammu and Kashmir lost eight wickets in 79 runs.
score board
Jammu & Kashmir innings
AO Bandy c Monu Kumar b Aaron 11
Pranav Gupta b Shukla 11
OA Shah c & b Nadeem 59
Parvez Rasool* c Shukla b Nadeem 45
P Bisht† b Kaushal Singh 04
R Dayal lbw b Kaushal Singh 03
M Gupta not out 26
Vishwajeet Singh c Kaushal Singh b Nadeem 00
Anshuman Singh lbw b Nadeem 01
M Mudhasir c †Dhoni b Nadeem 07
Mehjoor Ali run out (Ishan Kishan) 01
Extras 16
Total 184/10
Jharkhand innings
Ishan Kishan c Anshuman Singh b Dayal 02
SS Rathour c Bandy b Parvez Rasool 36
K Deobrat c sub (SP Khajuria) b Anshuman Singh 78
SS Tiwary c †Bisht b Anshuman Singh 30
MS Dhoni*† not out 19
IR Jaggi not out 07
Extras 13
Total 185/4
Citing J&K’s cricket scene, Rasool mulling state switch
AGENCY
KALYANI: Unhappy with the manner in which cricket is being run in Jammu and Kashmir, an angry Parveez Rasool today said that he would be forced to play for a different state if things didn’t improve drastically.
“Yes, I am the pride of Jammu and Kashmir. Youngsters get inspired from me. But things have not improved over the years.
A player has a time span of three to four years which can be termed as a make-or-break period. I am in national reckoning.
If things don’t change, I may have to think about other options like playing for a different state,” Rasool said
The first cricketer from the valley to play for senior national team and state’s only representative in the cash-rich IPL is hurt that cricketers from the region don’t even get basic facilities for top level cricket.
“We lack facilities. We just have two wickets in entire Jammu and Kashmir — one in Jammu and another in Kashmir 300 kilometres apart. Players will obviously suffer. When I was included in Team India, I thought our problems will be over.
Look at the environment in Kalyani. There are so many nets here. Here you can enjoy cricket,” the off-spinner lamented.
“But back home, infrastructure is almost nil. There’s talent definitely. But nothing has changed. Worst things happening. Hope the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators improves the conditions.”
“Cricket must go on. There’s politics everywhere but cricket does not suffer. There’s infrastructure, coaches and facility. I’m thinking of quitting but it’s at an early stage and there’s nothing official as yet.” He is also peeved with the cricket administration and revealed he had offers from two-three states a couple of years back but he stayed on for the pride of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Non-cricketers are ruling the association without any knowledge of the game. If your team does well your chances of representing India also improves. We have huge potential but our problems not helping the situation.
