Monday, March 20, 2017

Vijay Hazare 2016-17: Jharkhand Review

Jharkhand followed the successful run in Ranji Trophy with another good run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the national List A tournament. The team had a good outing in the Group stages winning 4 and losing 2 to enter the Quarter-finals edging past Hyderabad on Net Run Rates. The Quarters were another walk in the park against Vidarbha before the team lost in the semi-finals to Bengal.

It was an eventful run for Jharkhand, both on and off the field with a fire incident in the team hotel causing the semi-finals to be delayed by a day. Dhoni's presence as captain lead to an increased media coverage of the team, which certainly put the spotlight on the good performers. However, it was the usual suspects who made the most of the spotlight - Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Ishan Kishan and Shahbaz Nadeem - all of whom strengthened their claims for an India A berth.

The batting at the top remains an area of concern with the middle order of Tiwary , Jaggi and Dhoni having to regularly bail out the team.

Best Perfomance: Dhoni's 129 vs Chhattisgarh, almost single-handedly taking the team to victory.

Top Scorers:
1. Saurabh Tiwary - 368 runs @ 52.57
2. MS Dhoni - 330 runs @ 66.00
3. Ishank Jaggi - 279 runs @ 55.80

Most Wickets:
1. Shahbaz Nadeem - 15 wickets @ 18.00
2. Varun Aaron - 14 wickets @ 21.64
3. Rahul Shukla - 13 wickets @ 26.54

Overall this was a good season for Jharkhand with the zoanl T20s being the only blip. They have moved deeper in both Ranji and Vijay Hazare this year. Hopefully next season we will get our hands on that elusive Trophy.

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