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Captain Sami Aslam almost single-handedly set up Pakistan Under-19s’ eight-wicket win over Bangladesh Under-19s in the triangular series at Market Harborough.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCaptain Sami Aslam almost single-handedly set up Pakistan Under-19s’ eight-wicket win over Bangladesh Under-19s in the triangular series at Market Harborough. His unbeaten century led his side to their second win in the tournament and put them at the top of the points table.Chasing 193 to win, Pakistan got off to a solid start, with Aslam and Imran Butt adding 107 for the first wicket. The game was all but decided by the time Bangladesh ran out Butt in the 29th over. Imam-ul-Haq was the other batsman dismissed, caught and bowled by offspinner Mehedy Hasan, but Aslam remained steady at the other end, his 120 off 142 balls, with 17 fours and a six, spanning the entire Pakistan chase. He added an undefeated 58-run stand with Hussain Talat to secure the match and as in the two previous partnerships, Aslam dominated this one too.After Bangladesh were invited to bat, left-arm seamer Zia-ul-Haq gave Pakistan the first breakthrough with the wicket of Shahriar Sumon in the fifth over. He added two more to his final tally to end up with three for 27, while Mohammad Aftab and left-arm spinner Kamran Ghulam chipped in with two wickets each. Wicketkeeper Jashimuddin top-scored for Bangladesh, his 50 off 67 balls, featuring five fours. He put on Bangladesh’s only fifty-plus partnership with Sadman Islam, who toiled for two hours to make 46 and was run out.The two sides play the next game of the Under-19 tri-series on Sunday at Kibworth.

Northants will have had better days than this. They were not at their best with the ball. The fact that they are still in a strong position speaks volumes of their season to date

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Northampton28-Aug-2013
ScorecardSteven Crook added four more wickets to the five he took against Glamorgan earlier in the season•Getty Images

Northants will have had better days than this. They were not at their best with the ball and allowed Glamorgan to score 50 more than they should have. The fact that they are still in a strong position speaks volumes of their season to date – one which looks to end in promotion should they capitalise on what, by their standards, was a modest first day.At stumps, Stephen Peters could rest easy knowing his call at the start of the day was vindicated, as a green pitch played honest and true. Both he and James Middlebrook played positively in a 21 over period that saw them score at over four-an-over, with crisp drives and the odd boundary through third man, to leave them unblemished and just 156 runs behind.Northants went into the match with five seamers, inserting the opposition upon winning the toss. But Trent Copeland, in his penultimate game for the county before he heads home for a second and final time this summer, was uncharacteristically wayward, struggling for a consistent line against the left-handed opening pair of Will Bragg and Gareth Rees.Rees looked at ease, particularly against David Willey, as Glamorgan built up a good head of steam, and the only thing the home support had to cheer on was the athleticism of their keeper David Murphy, who was sent tumbling down the leg side on numerous occasions throughout the day; but even he was powerless to stop a wide short-ball from Azharullah that had the members gasping.But Northants showed that when they’re not good they can be lucky, as they demonstrated in an afternoon session that saw six wickets fall.Soon after Murray Goodwin and Chris Cooke brought up their fifty partnership for the third wicket, Cooke looked to have played a short-ball comfortably into the leg-side. Suddenly, Andrew Hall, from first slip, starts cheering and runs up to the stumps at the strikers end, pointing to a grounded bail. It turned out that as Cooke prepared for the back-foot shot, he inadvertently clipped off stump with his bat, much to the bemusement of all in the ground.Just 17 balls later, Willey was the beneficiary of further good fortune. Despite coming around the wicket and swinging the ball into the right-hander, he somehow managed to strangle Goodwin down the leg-side. He then managed to effect the same dismissal with his very next delivery – this time from over the wicket – as Glamorgan’s left-handed skipper Mark Wallace departed for a golden duck. Between the dismissal of Cooke and Wallace, only 17 runs were added.It would be wrong to say that Willey did not deserve his four wickets. His control in his second spell was exceptional and his ability to move the ball in the air and off the seam, at good pace, was exciting to watch.Credit should also go to Steven Crook, who powered through an 11-over spell from the Abington Avenue End to finish with four of his own. Along with Copeland and Azharullah, who recently put pen to paper on a new two-year deal, Crook has been one of the signings of the summer. It is no wonder Middlesex were reluctant to let him leave.You will be hard-pressed to find anyone at Middlesex who would not want him back, and even fewer who begrudge the success he has enjoyed this year.

Hampshire made the most of the 90 minutes of play possible on the third day of their rain-interrupted Division Two meeting with Worcestershire

13-Sep-2013
ScorecardJames Tomlinson grabbed two key wickets in the brief play possible•Getty Images

Hampshire made the most of the 90 minutes of play possible on the third day of their rain-interrupted Division Two meeting with Worcestershire at New Road.James Tomlinson took two wickets, while Matt Coles took the other to fall as the home side reached 189 for 5 in their struggle to avoid the follow-on. They will go into the final day with a lot resting on Ross Whiteley if the lower order are to score a further 90 runs to make Hampshire – who made 428 in their first innings – bat again.Steady drizzle prevented any play before lunch and when the players did come out, Tomlinson ended a partnership of 84 by Moeen Ali and Thilan Samaraweera. In an eventful opening over Moeen edged a boundary and then survived an lbw appeal in the first two balls but there was no reprieve when the fifth delivery hit the pads.The England Lions left hander was never at his best in making 32 and with a maximum of three innings left, he needs 169 runs to become the first Worcestershire player to reach 1,500 in a championship season since Tom Moody in 1995.Samaraweera went beyond 50, but with nine boundaries to his name, the Sri Lankan went for 51 when caught at mid-on after a miscued attempt to pull Tomlinson. Worcestershire overcame this setback as young prospect Tom Fell and former Derbyshire all-rounder Whiteley scored at better than five runs an over.The left handed Whitley was quick to profit from a wayward start by Coles, clipping Hampshire’s on-loan seamer over long leg for six and then taking four boundaries in his next over. However, Coles was back in business when diving forward in his follow-through to hold a low chance from Fell (32) after a stand of 58.The arrival of more bad weather then became the main focus. Umpires Nigel Cowley and Mike Burns made the first move by taking the players off for bad light and then a forecast belt of rain then arrived before the game could re-start after tea.

Glamorgan have added to their South African contingent by bringing in Wayne Parnell for the NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2015Glamorgan have added to their South African contingent by bringing in Wayne Parnell for the NatWest T20 Blast. Allrounder Parnell will fill the second overseas slot and is initially expected to be available for the first ten of Glamorgan’s 14 group games.”I’m very excited about the prospects of joining up with both Jacques Rudolph and Colin Ingram and playing for Glamorgan,” Parnell said. Rudolph, Glamorgan’s captain, is the main overseas signing in Cardiff, while fellow former South Africa international Ingram has joined on a Kolpak deal.Parnell, who has been capped in all three formats and was a member of South Africa’s recent World Cup squad, has taken 118 T20 wickets, with an economy of 7.56. He has previously appeared in the IPL, as well as playing county cricket with Kent and Sussex.”We are delighted to have secured the services of Wayne Parnell, who was earmarked at a young age as one of South Africa’s brightest talents and who is a naturally gifted allrounder,” Glamorgan’s chief executive and director of cricket, Hugh Morris, said.”He will give us a wicket-taking threat and also the potential for valuable runs. Even more importantly, Wayne is available to us for the vast majority of our NatWestT20 Blast group games and we will re-visit discussions around a potential extension as the competition unfolds.”

Former West Indies fast bowler Wes Hall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the lunch break on the opening day of the Sabina Park Test, becoming the fourth cricketer to receive the honour this year after Betty Wilson, Anil Kumble and Mar

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2015Former West Indies fast bowler Wes Hall was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame during the lunch break on the opening day of the Sabina Park Test between West Indies and Australia. He became the fourth cricketer to receive the honour this year after Betty Wilson, Anil Kumble and Martin Crowe.Hall, 77, received his commemorative cap from fellow Hall of Famer Courtney Walsh, and is now the 18th cricketer from the Caribbean to be bestowed with the award.Hall, who played 48 Tests for West Indies between 1958 and 1969, said he was “privileged” and “honoured” to receive the award which put him in the company of the “many greats of the game”.”Anytime you get these kind of encomiums, it is memorable,” he said. “It is fantastic to receive the award in the West Indies and in front of adoring fans, which makes it even more special. I have represented the West Indies as a cricketer, as the team manager, and as the President of the WICB, so I will treat this as something I value and will always remember.”Cricket has been extremely good to me and I was happy to give back to the game. This honour, presented to me by the ICC, is one I will cherish. It is not just for me but for the people of the West Indies.”Hall took 192 Test wickets at an average of 26.38. Overall, he played 170 first-class matches, collecting 546 wickets. He picked up a five-for on nine occasions in Tests, including 5 for 63 in the second innings of the famous tied Test against Australia in Brisbane in 1960, where he bowled the last over of the match with the hosts needing six runs with three wickets in hand.During the 1958-59 tour of India and Pakistan, Hall took 46 wickets from eight matches. In the third Test against Pakistan in Lahore, he became the first West Indies bowler to claim an international hat-trick.After retirement, he become an ordained minister as well as the Minister of Tourism and Sports in the Barbados government. Hall also managed the West Indies touring sides and in 2001, took over as the president of the WICB. In 2012, he was knighted in the Queen’s birthday honours list for his “services to sport and the community”.

Evin Lewis’82 led St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots to the second-largest win in a T20 competition hosted in West Indies, as Patriots thrashed Jamaica Tallawahs by 119 runs in Basseterre

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEvin Lewis smashed six fours and six sixes in his 82•Caribbean Premier League

Evin Lewis’ boundary-laden 82 led St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots to the second-largest win in a T20 competition in the West Indies and the largest in CPL history, as Patriots thrashed Jamaica Tallawahs by 119 runs in Basseterre.Lewis and Martin Guptill got stuck in right from the beginning, clobbering three fours and four sixes in the first six overs. Rusty Theron ended Guptill’s 25-ball 35 in the eighth over, but Lewis showed no signs of letting up. He smashed Nikita Miller for two fours in the next over and Andre Russell for two sixes in the following over. The second-wicket stand of 72 in 42 balls between Marlon Samuels and Lewis – in which Samuels contributed 19 – gave the Patriots the ideal platform to reach 200, a feat that had been achieved just twice since the CPL’s inception in 2013. Though Lewis and Samuels were dismissed in consecutive overs, Carlos Brathwaite ensured there wouldn’t be a shift in momentum with an 18-ball 36, which ensured the Patriots got to 199 for 5.In reply Tallawahs lost Chris Gayle, who had scored half-centuries in his last two games, in the second over for 8 and were never in the game after that. A brief 25-run third-wicket stand between Chris Lynn and Mahela Jayawardene was the best partnership of the innings. They lost wickets in clumps and were eventually bowled out for 80 in 16 overs. South African chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi picked up 4 for 23 – his career-best figures – and Sheldon Cottrell took three wickets, those of the top-three batsmen.

The memories of two previous heartaches are now serving as fuel for inspiration at the World Twenty20 Qualifier for Papua New Guinea

Peter Della Penna in Bready11-Jul-20152:14

‘PNG a more mature side now’ – Vare

In their first two trips to the World T20 Qualifier, Papua New Guinea experienced more than their fair share of heartache.In 2012, it was the Americas representatives who tormented them. Canada held off a late charge from Geraint Jones and Mahuru Dai in defense of 167 to win by six runs. Five days later against Bermuda, captain Rarua Dikana had the ball in his hand tasked with protecting 15 runs off the final over with Bermuda five down but he gave up three straight sixes to Janeiro Tucker. It meant PNG finished in fourth place in Group A, one spot out of the playoff positions.In 2013, PNG made it to the playoffs and defeated Namibia in their first knockout game to come within one more win of a berth at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh. In their way stood Hong Kong, a team they had defeated in the previous year’s qualifier by six wickets chasing down a total of 131 with a ball to spare. Hong Kong was pinned down in the rematch at 19 for 4 and only managed 139, but with a ticket to Bangladesh in their grasp, PNG stumbled to 108.The memories of those heartaches are now serving as fuel for inspiration at the qualifier for the pacific island nation. PNG captain Jack Vare says that this time around he’s hoping the team’s fortunes will change to get them over the hump and into next year’s World Twenty20 in India.”We have missed out in the last two tournaments in Dubai,” Vare told ESPNcricinfo ahead of PNG’s first match of the tournament on Sunday against Jersey. “Everyone is growing arms and legs. There’s a lot of experience in this time. Third time lucky I guess but everyone is confident that we will do well in this competition.”PNG’s build-up to this tournament included a magnificent four-day win over the Netherlands on their Intercontinental Cup debut, with Assad Vala and Dai spearheading the pursuit of a fourth innings target of 305. Though they lost the subsequent WCL Championship fixtures against the Dutch, PNG eased into T20 mode with four games against a pair of County second XIs. In one match, PNG racked up 268 for 3 versus Gloucestershire’s 2nds, a reminder of their potent top order featuring Lega Siaka and Tony Ura.”I think the biggest challenge we go through is from playing longer forms to shorter formats,” Vare said. “Most people know we play a lot of shorter formats but we are trying our best to develop all forms of the game. Playing in our first four-day game and to win that was a big experience for us and a special day.”PNG leaves no stone unturned in preparation as Coach Dipak Patel observes sliding practice during training at Bready CC•Peter Della Penna

PNG’s players have also accumulated experience playing in the Australian Country Cricket Championships as well as the South Australia Premier League. Getting access to better facilities and opponents within the Australasia region has helped lift up their skills and their confidence levels.”Playing in the competition in the South Australian Premier League gives us more experience and more exposed to the outside cricket world what’s happening,” Vare said. “Everyone has been doing well. We’ve been on the road for 18 months in preparation for this tournament. I’m more confident. I’ve got a good side, more mature side coming into this tournament.”PNG is the final team to play their first match of the tournament and on tap for them on Sunday at Bready is Jersey. Coach Dipak Patel and other members of the PNG squad were in attendance to see Jersey’s triumph by nine-wickets over Hong Kong on Saturday, a fresh reminder not to underestimate any opposition. Vare says the team is well-prepared and not about to be caught off guard whoever stands in front of them.”There’s no doubt teams will come and compete hard but we’ll focus on the job at hand,” Vare said. “We won’t look ahead too much. We’ll take every game as it comes and concentrate on our roles as individuals and as a group. That’s our major important thing to do playing top teams. We won’t take any team lightly.”

Samit Patel and James Taylor guided Nottinghamshire to a seven-wicket victory over Essex in the Royal London Cup contest at a sold-out Chelmsford following an unbroken 215-run stand

ECB/PA02-Aug-2015
ScorecardSamit Patel’s unbeaten hundred took Nottinghamshire to a comfortable win•Getty Images

Samit Patel and James Taylor guided Nottinghamshire to a seven-wicket victory over Essex in the Royal London Cup contest at a sold-out Chelmsford following an unbroken 215-run stand. The fourth-wicket partnership, Patel contributing 124 off 112 balls and Taylor 94 off the same amount of deliveries, enabled the visitors to chase down a 269 victory target with eight balls to spare.New Zealand allrounder Jesse Ryder had earlier compiled an unbeaten 81 in Essex’s 268 for 8, which looked like being enough when Notts slipped to 56 for 3 in the 14th over.Riki Wessels and Alex Hales put on 42 for the opening wicket but the former upper-cut David Masters to Graham Napier on the third man boundary for 21 in the 10th over. Dangerman Hales was bowled by Graham Napier after making 28, while Brendan Taylor was out for a golden duck after edging Masters behind to leave Essex well placed.However, Patel and Taylor were able to eschew any risks while keeping the scoreboard ticking over smoothly to thwart the hosts. This was due to their prowess of being able to push the ball confidently into the gaps and wait for the wayward delivery before opening their shoulders to find the boundary.Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate continually juggled his bowlers in a bid to halt their progress – but it was to no avail. Patel was the first to his half-century off 54 balls while Taylor reached the landmark off 67 deliveries. Patel brought up his third List A hundred in the 44th over off 96 balls, with 10 fours, and it was fitting he confirmed victory with his first six in the scheduled penultimate over.Essex had been put into bat and the innings had been placed on a solid foundation by Mark Pettini and Tom Westley. They shared in an opening stand of 80 in 16 overs before Westley, having made 38, was trapped lbw by Patel.Pettini, who excelled with some fine square drives, went on to make 61 from 77 deliveries but was eventually undone by an Imran Tahir googly as he attempted to cut the legspinner – who then removed Ravi Bopara for 28 with a similar delivery.Ryder and Ryan ten Doeschate shared a fourth-wicket stand of 61, while Napier struck two sixes in a breezy 27 from 18 balls before he was caught in the deep off Jake Ball. Tahir, easily the pick of the Outlaws attack with his teasing flight and variation, finished with 2 for 45 from his 10 overs while Ball and Steven Mullaney picked up two wickets each.Speaking afterwards about the match-winning innings from Taylor and Patel, Nottinghamshire coaching consultant Peter Moores said: “They are batsmen who can adapt to all forms of cricket and they confirmed just what good players they are. They didn’t panic after we lost those three early wickets and displayed a range of strokes to go with their ability.”Ten Doeschate paid credit to Taylor and Patel, adding: “We did all we could to find a way to end their partnership but they batted superbly and showed their class. We’ve now lost two matches in succession and need to get back to winning ways soon if we are to reach the quarter-finals.”

Trouble-shooter Chris Read guided Nottinghamshire into a strong position at New Road, helping eke out a total of 330 by making 90

ECB/PA08-Aug-2015
ScorecardWho else but Chris Read to steer Notts from trouble?•Getty Images

Trouble-shooter Chris Read guided Nottinghamshire into a strong position at New Road, helping eke out a total of 330 by making 90 – his seventh score of 50 or more in 14 championship innings this season – before Worcestershire lost three wickets in clearing a deficit of 61.After a backs-to-the-wall final session, they were 54 in front on 115 for 4 and looking for much more from Joe Clarke, who closed 43 not out, and Ross Whiteley, on 22. It seemed they could not escape from those who piled on the pressure as Notts added 157 in the afternoon session. Brett Hutton, who made 40 out of 83 with Read, and Jake Ball, who reached a career-best 38 in a stand of 60 in seven overs, hit them hard with the new ball.Richard Oliver departed in Ball’s opening over – Read holding the catch – and Tom Fell’s off stump was knocked back when he played forward to Hutton with only nine runs on the board by the sixth over. With the score on 44 it was three down with Brett D’Oliveira lbw to Hutton for 19 and more trouble followed when Steven Mullaney took a well-deserved wicket by bowling Alex Gidman, middle stump, for 21.For Worcestershire it was yet another frustrating day in which they did so much right, taking 10 wickets in two sessions, but saw a promising position slip away despite claiming maximum bowling bonus points for the 39th time in 40 matches.Nottinghamshire were able to get away from them thanks to Alex Hales, who survived a mid-morning collapse to make 85, his first half-century since April, and Read, who has regularly dragged his side of trouble down the years. This season alone he has impacted on numerous matches, making 73 when Worcestershire lost at Trent Bridge and more recently scoring hundreds as Notts took 35 points in drawing with Middlesex and overwhelming Sussex.Although they secured the lead they wanted in this match, it was not done with total conviction. As soon as the opening stand was broken at 75 – with Brendan Taylor lbw to Joe Leach for 31 – they nosedived to 128 for 5.Charlie Morris became the third Worcestershire seamer to reach 40 Championship wickets this season when he took three in 10 balls. Mullaney edged to third slip, James Taylor was bowled off stump, and Riki Wessels went lbw for a duck. More upsets were not far away. A slip by Hales in turning for a second run caused the confusion which saw Samit Patel run out without scoring, and immediately after lunch, Hales shouldered arms when he was lbw to Jack Shantry after hitting 15 fours.From there it was the Read show. Dropped at first slip off Whiteley on 55, he picked off a dozen fours and a six until he was last out, falling leg-before to Shantry when wafting across the line.

ESPNcricinfo provides an overview of the top 18 sides in six parts. First up runners-up Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

25-Sep-2015

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu will look to captain Abhinav Mukund to give them a solid start•K Sivaraman

Where they finished last season
Runners-upBig Picture
Tamil Nadu began the last season not having made it to the knockouts for the last two years, without two big players in S Badrinath and KB Arun Karthik, were bottom-placed in their group after five matches and had regular captain R Prasanna ruled out for a few games with an injury. Then, like a switch had been flicked, new captain Abhinav Mukund, who has played five Tests, led a comeback that ended only when champions Karnataka proved too strong for them.”We hadn’t found ideal replacements [for Badrinath and Arun Karthik],” Abhinav said. “A lot of players were in their first seasons, or they were just trying to get their feet in first-class cricket, like [B] Indrajith or Vijay Shankar. But now, there are three of us in India A squad, a couple actually pushing for places [in the senior side].”Indrajith has been given a bigger responsibility as vice-captain, so, I think, with a mixture of Dinesh [Karthik] and Prasanna, and obviously Malolan [Rangarajan, offspinner] doing well with the ball, it’s definitely looking a lot more settled.”As bowling-coach-cum-player, former India bowler L Balaji provides the young and reinforced seam attack experience. Malolan will lead the spin attack, and Tamil Nadu will look to captain Abhinav, brothers Indrajith and Aparajith, and youngster Vijay Shankar to team up with the experienced Kathik and Prasanna for the runs.Players to watch out for
B Indrajith, 21 years old, is only into his third season of first-class cricket, but has already been made the vice-captain of the side. He scored 713 runs at an average of 44.56, including five fifties and a century in last year’s Ranji Trophy to finish third on the list of Tamil Nadu’s run-scorers.Over the last two seasons, Aswin Crist has emerged as one of the most promising pacers from Tamil Nadu. Abhinav called him the “quickest bowler in the team.” Crist finished with 15 wickets at 25.93 in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy, including four wickets in the semi-final against Maharashtra. At 21, he will be expected to lead the seam attack this time around.Coaching staff
Tamil Nadu have dispensed with WV Raman’s services, and have named M Sanjay, Raman’s assistant last year, coach. They have roped in RI Palani as cricket manager. Palani had played a similar, overarching role during the 2011-12 season, when they were finalists.The big news, however, is that of L Balaji being named bowling coach and player, if conditions suit his bowling.Preparation
Ahead of last season, Tamil Nadu had fitness and skill-training camps in Wayanad and Mumbai, but they have opted to train in Chennai this time. A major reason for that is the amount of cricket they have been playing in the build up to the Ranji Trophy. Apart from the highly competitive TNCA first-division league, most players have been playing in tournaments like the KSCA invitation, Buchi Babu and the Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup. Aparajith, Shankar and Abhinav have turned out for India A matches.”I think we never had a problem with the lead-up,” Mukund said. “Chennai is known to have a very strong league structure. They are all playing a lot of games and there is no one short of match practice.”Team news
Left-arm seamer Prasanth Parameswaran has moved to Goa, while left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas hasn’t found a place in the squad for the first three games.Squad
Abhinav Mukund (capt), B Indrajith (vice-capt), Umashankar Sushil, B Aparajith, L Balaji, Bharath Shankar, DT Chandrasekar, Kaushik Gandhi, J Kousik, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ramaswamy Prasanna, M Mohammed, Malolan Rangarajan, Rahil Shah, Vijay Shankar, Lakshminarayanan Vignesh.In their own words
“It [making the final last year] has changed the way a lot of people are looking at our team. Not only from the outside, but within ourselves we have got the inner belief that we can go on to do better things. The youngsters that have come in want to win, which is good.”

Madhya Pradesh

Aditya Shrivastava was a big positive for Madhya Pradesh last season•MPCA

Where they finished last season
Fourth in Group A with one win and six draws in eight matchesBig Picture
In their second match of the season last year, Madhya Pradesh took a 116-run, first-innings lead on a green top and put themselves in a comfortable place to notch up an early win. All they needed to do in the second innings was post a target to shut UP out of the game. Instead they crumbled for 63. Set a target of 180, UP’s lower order kept their nerve for the six-wicket win.For MP, it was the beginning of a pattern that repeated a few times through the season, against Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and most critically, in their final league match against Bengal, a draw which snuffed out their chances of a knock-out place.It’s a weakness that captain Devendra Bundela says the team will work hard towards this season. “At crucial times when we had to click we fell short by a bit,” Bundela said. “This season, however, we are confident of a good performance.”Like last season, much of the onus, particularly in the run-scoring department will rest on the shoulders of the 37-year-old Bundela, off-spinning allorunder Jalaj Saxena, Naman Ojha, who played India’s last Test, and Mohnish Mishra. The bowling department, led by Ishwar Pandey, has a few youngsters, and Bundela is keen for them to make an impression.The side for the first two matches – against Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – includes young medium-pacers Puneet Datey and Yogesh Rawat, who were impressive last season, left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (their second-highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 2014-15) and 18-year-old medium-pacer Avesh Khan, who made his first-class debut last season after representing India Under-19s in the 2014 World Cup. Udit Birla, who did not play a first-class game for MP last season, has been picked for the first two games. The squad also features uncapped opening batsman Rajat Patidar and wicketkeeper-batsman Ankit Dane as the 16th man.Players to watch out for
In Jalaj Saxena, Bundela and N Ojha, MP can count some of the most established names in domestic cricket among their line-up. The focus this season, however, will be on their youngsters – some of whom made their debuts last season.Twenty-two-year-old Aditya Shrivastava notched up scores of 91, 108*, 0 and 151 in the four first-class innings of his maiden season, including knocks against Karnataka and Bengal. Datey, an allrounder playing his first full Ranji Trophy season after a debut in 2013, was the leading wicket-taker for the side with 31 scalps in 14 innings at an average of 21.83. Rawat, who played five matches, took 15 wickets including a five-for against Bengal that allowed MP to enforce a follow-on in a crucial game. Another impressive performer was Avesh, who also finished with 15 wickets in five matches. Shrivastava, along with Datey and Rawat, were the positives of last season for MP, according to Bundela. With some experience behind them, the bowlers will be crucial in helping MP shut out matches.Coaching staff
Harvinder Singh Sodhi (coach), Mayank Agarwal (trainer), Balasaheb Tate (physio)Preparation
The preparation for MP’s main squad and reserve pool has included matches in the Nimbalkar Trophy in Pune, a tournament organised by the Vidarbha Cricket Association and a pre-season camp of 20 players.Squad
Devendra Bundela (capt), Naman Ojha, Avesh Khan, Ankit Sharma, Udit Birla, Ankit Dane, Puneet Datey, Harpreet Singh, Mihir Hirwani, Mohnish Mishra, Ishwar Pandey, Rajat Patidar, Rameez Khan, Yogesh Rawat, Jalaj Saxena, Aditya Shrivastava.In their own words
“We have wicketkeeping back-ups for Naman Ojha in Ankit Dane and Zafar Ali. The season is also quite long now so we have developed a good bench strength of fast bowlers.”

Uttar Pradesh

Praveen Kumar takes charge of Uttar Pradesh•Getty Images

Where they finished last season
After starting the Ranji Trophy with a win over Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh went on to lose three of their remaining seven matches to finish seventh in Group A, just ahead of Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir.Big Picture
After making it to the quarter-finals in 2013-14, UP managed only two wins last season, just avoiding relegation. To add to that, none of their batsmen featured among the top 50 run-scorers and their leading wicket-taker, Praveen Kumar, was 45th overall.UP have had a stronger bowling unit in recent times than batting with Praveen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, RP Singh and Piyush Chawla. They will be without Bhuvneshwar for at least the duration of the South Africa ODIs and T20Is, leaving much of the responsibility on new captain Praveen and Chawla, since RP Singh has moved to Gujarat and Imtiaz Ahmed is not in the squad. So the challenge for the younger bowlers such as chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav and medium-pacers Amit Mishra and Ankit Rajpoot will only get steeper.In the batting line-up, UP will bank on opener Tanmay Srivastava and the pressure will not cease for the inexperienced middle order – they relied a lot on Eklavya Dwivedi last time. They will be desperate for the return of Suresh Raina, who didn’t play a single Ranji match last year. This time he might be back in November, unless he gets a surprise call for the South Africa Tests.Players to watch
Sarfaraz Khan made his name in IPL 2015, after making numerous school records in Mumbai. Known for picking the gaps in the shorter formats with unorthodox shots, Sarfaraz’s main challenge will be to adapt to the four-day format. He was a part of the India squad for the 2014 Under-19 World Cup. He was dropped by Mumbai last season, soon after his first-class debut, after scoring only 95 runs from three matches, but followed that with 111 runs at a strike rate of 156.33 in his maiden IPL season. How UP will use the teenager will be interesting to watch.Twenty-year-old chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav also made his first-class debut last season just after being named among the 2015 World Cup probables. With Chawla the lead spinner and Ali Murtaza not in the squad, Kuldeep could move up the ranks this time. He got only five matches last season and is known to bowl good lengths with control and variations under his belt, including the wrong ‘un. He impressed against Bangladesh A in the third one-dayer recently with figures of 6-0-29-2, taking the wickets of Mominul Haque and Liton Das.Coaching staff
UP have a new coach this season in Rizwan Shamshad, replacing Venkatesh Prasad. A former middle-order batsman, Shamshad played most of his 108 first-class matches for UP between 1990 and 2006, scoring over 7000 runs with 19 hundreds at an average of 46.Preparation
In the lead-up to the season, there has been much happening with the UP squad. Seventeen-year-old Sarfaraz Khan switched from Mumbai to UP and the experienced RP Singh left his native state to join Gujarat. And to weaken UP’s middle order further, Parvinder Singh made the switch to Tripura.Team news
UP have named three uncapped players this season – Almas Shaukat, Deependra Pandey and Israr Khan. Shaukat made his name as an opener at the Under-19 and Under-22 levels and Pandey is an offspinner. “We didn’t have an offspinner and other teams have left-hand batsmen so we thought that would pinch us earlier,” Praveen said of Pandey’s selection. Israr is a fast bowler Praveen is confident about. In addition, there are six players in the squad of 16 who have played under ten first-class matches each.Squad
Praveen Kumar (capt), Eklavya Dwivedi (vice-capt), Umang Sharma, Mohammad Saif, Tanmay Srivastava, Himanshu Asnora, Almas Shaukat, Sarfaraz Khan, Akshdeep Nath, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Israr Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Deependra Pandey, Ankit Rajpoot.In their own words
“The team is good, there are good fast bowlers and we have added some batsmen. There is a good mix of senior players and youth from Under-19 and Under-22 level, so it’s a good team. There was a good preparatory camp in Noida, we focussed on fitness.”