The first episode of “Cricketgraph Youngistan” is with Suryansh Shedge which was conducted over an insta live session on 31st July 2020.
Key Highlights from the Interview:-
- His Knock of 326 runs in 2016 Giles Shield, how that knock impacted his career?
- His experience of playing alongside seniors and being the youngest player to get selected in T20 Mumbai?
- Mindset when things are not going right?
- How difficult it is to sustain your place in a team like Mumbai?
Suryansh rose to prominence with the fastest triple hundred in Giles Shield 4yrs back & since then there has been no looking back, Suryansh went on to represent Mumbai Team at U14, U16 & U19 levels while also became the youngest at the age of 16 to make a debut in T20 Mumbai.
Interviewing Suryansh is Bhupen Lalwani who made his Ranji Trophy Debut this year Vs Tamil Nadu. Bhupen has also played for Mumbai at U16 & U23 levels while he was also in the India U16 Camp.
Keep following Cricketgraph as we keep unearthing cricketing talents from different corners of the nation.
Youtube Link to Watch the Video– Click Here
Kanga League is one of the most biggest & oldest cricket tournament conducted in Mumbai. Every year, thousands of grassroot level cricketers and hundreds of club level teams/clubs get an opportunity to play an MCA approved cricket match which is a dream for many.
As Harsha Bhogle had famously said, scoring a 50 or a 60 in a Kanga is equivalent to scoring a century under normal conditions. The hostile bowling friendly wickets, rains, long grass & uneven weather conditions tests the players to the core. It is during these matches bowlers enjoy taking wickets while many batters end up improving themselves at the end of the Kanga season as they survive and score runs in difficult conditions. Such was the importance of Kanga back then, even Ranji Trophy and India level cricketers would actively take part in the tournament. Even though now the number of established cricketers taking part in this tournament has dwindled but it hardly takes away the fact that Kanga continues to be a very big tournament where players even from A to G division gets good opportunities to showcase their talent.
With lockdown this year, the tournament has not yet started & might get cancelled. Hence, we at Cricketgraph decided to talk with the players from each division to know if not playing Kanga has affected their game or not & should Kanga be scraped? Let’s hear it out from the players themselves…
Sahil Gode-Shivaji Park Gymkhana (A Div), Made his debut last year
Well playing Kanga league is a dream of many young cricketers who play in mumbai and also beyond. For me personally I had not played Kanga until the last season. I had never been given the opportunity to play even in lower divisions but then SPG gave me the most awaited debut of my career until now. Kanga league should be played as it helps all the cricketers to gain a certain experience which they can’t in any other tournament except the Kanga league. The wickets, the outfield everything is different and more challenging. I didn’t score much in my debut but just the feeling of playing the tournament at its highest level was a great feeling.
From Rudra Dhanday- Karnatak Sporting Association (A Div), Holds the record for scoring 3 Kanga League Centuries in 3 Consecutive years
Kanga league is a unique tournament, it tests your mental toughness and your competitiveness while playing on severely wet pitches and knee high grass outfields. It completely changes the dynamics of the game by making it miserable for the batsman and favors the bowlers which is a big challenge for everyone. I as a batsman enjoy these challenges as it brings the best out of me.
I miss Kanga league very much since I have had 3 Kanga league centuries in 3 consecutive years. The only positive outcome of this can be that players will take less time to adapt to the fast and skiddy pitches we will recieve during the season which can give positive outcomes to our domestic results.
From Omkar Rahate -Apollo Cricket Club, (B Div Player), scored an unbeaten 108* as a wicket keeper batsman last year in Kanga including a 21 run over!
Kanga League should not be scraped, the tournament makes us mentally strong, our technique gets tested as a batsman and whenever we fail to score runs on such difficult batting conditions, we go to the nets, work on our mistakes and come back as a better player by the end of the Kanga Season when the big tournaments begin which helps us to perform confidently in the core season. Hence, this tournament is a must for all the aspiring cricketers.
From Abhishek Pandey- Sainath Sports Club (C Div) -Took multiple 5wkt hauls last season
“By playing Kanga League i learned that hitting big runs are not important but spending your time at wicket is important as a small amount of total can also help you in winning the game and in bowling you have to be consistent. Kanga league teaches us how to play in every condition i.e if its dry how you have to play if it rains then how you have to change your plans according to the conditions and its a very good experience playing Kanga League as you get chance to play with Ranji Trophy players in upper division”
From Aamir Karatela- Bohra Cricketers (D Div)
“Yes of course not playing the Kanga League Tournament has affected a lot because it gave us a chance to showcase our talent and we can gain lot of experience from senior players. Suspension of tournament has not only let us out of grip of flow of practice but also keeping us from opportunity to represent in upper level cricket”
By Vansh Chabaria, Regent Cricket Club, E Div
“I played the tournament when I was 15yrs old and I was the youngest player in the tournament in E division Regent Cricket Club. Which other tournament gives so much opportunities to youngsters? It’s Kanga which is helping so many of us.
It’s very important to play Kanga league because it develops mental skills and also it helps us keep track with the rapid increase in competition of cricket in Bombay. If it will not be played this year, then the mental skills, mindset of future cricket will be affected a lot.
By Vishal Adagatla, Taki Team Sports Club, F Div (Last Year F Div’s Highest Wicket-taker)
“Kanga league is one of the greatest & biggest tournament in Mumbai where i made my Kanga debut at the age of 17. As a league, it gives you opportunity to show your talent. If we not played league then it will effect you mentally as well as on game when other all tournaments are knock out based in Mumbai Circuit where players do not get chances. If suppose he is 12th man in first knock out match and team loses then there is no option for such players…
Kanga league produce lots of great players for Mumbai and India as well
It should continued as it helps players to show their talent in different conditions of league as league starts in rainy and ends in winter so players can learn and take experience of such conditions and also can learn alot. I think it just needs improvement where in matches should be played for 2 days. By this MCA will be able to select players for Ranji Trophy”
By Ranvir More, Canara Vijay, (G Div)
“Especially in the lower divisions, the kanga league stretches till November, and also the tournament is not played anymore in the dampy conditions like before. Today even the players, be it domestic or international refrain from even stepping into the field in such conditions let alone play. Also the tennis crowd on the weekends makes it practically impossible to focus on the game…the fielders are playing with their lives just for sake of opportunity. I believe the Kanga league must be hosted in better conditions where players don’t have to fear injury or any incident with the tennis cricketers, also given there is shortage of space due to metro work on azad maidan. I know it is difficult to organize matches with less interference, but these conditions are not acceptable.
The game has become more like dodgeball where we are more focused on tackling the tennis cricketers rather than playing the game
The tournament i believe has lost its originality. And after looking at wasim jaffer sirs interview from your page i totally agree with the points wasim sir made”
By Sumeet Khanna- Kanga League Player and MCA Level O Coach from Payyade SC
I think in Kanga League batsman needs to have lots of patience for staying on the wicket. For opening batsman i think he needs to leave lots of balls outside off stump at the start of the innings because conditions are helping for bowlers, ball swings a lot, pitches do a lot.. Not easy to bat. Batsman needs to look the ball till the end,i feel real test for a batsman is to play to spinners because balls turn a lot, sometimes keeps low, bounces high.. Same goes for wicket keepers also.. Keeping in kanga League is a very tough job specially to spinners one needs to see the ball till the end till it reaches safely in his gloves, it’s important for a keeper to rise with the ball.
I feel batsman needs to play the ball close to his body.. Avoid driving the ball till he’s settled as there’s lots of close catching fielders around. In Kanga League i feel a batsman needs to have a good defence, middling the ball is the key while playing forward defense while playing to spinners as there’s always a possibility that the ball will pop to short leg or silly point. Hitting boundaries is not easy in kanga League because of wet outfield, long grass so it’s very important for a batsman to focus more on getting singles and twos. All these factors make you a very improved cricketer, hence Kanga is very important.
_______
As we can see, we got a mixed bag of reviews from the players with majority of them missing out on playing the tournament. We hope this pandemic ends as soon as possible and cricket begins in full flow at the earliest
After the huge success and appreciation from the cricket community for the Maali ko Do Taali campaign, cricketgraph is back with another campaign to support deserving & needy cricketers. This time the campaign is through “CricketGraph Auctions“, wherein used / new cricket items will be auctioned and part of the auction money will be given to these needy cricketers in form of money or goods.
The highest bidder of the auction will be featured on cricketgraph as a the,“The Goodwill Winner”.
CricketGraph Auctions will have 3 partners, The Goodwill Cricketer (TGC), is the one who decides to donate his new / used cricket goods & the beneficiary (The needy cricketer who gets benefited from the auctions and The highest bidder who wins the auction as ” The Goodwill Winner (TGW)”.
Here are the details of the first cricketgraph auctions
Part of the proceeds from this & other auctions will go towards buying a brand new pair of cricket spikes, which should motivate him!
Reserve / Base Bid Amount: Rs. 1000/-
Bid Increase Amount by: Rs.150/-
Auction End Date: 28 July 2020 Tuesday 1 PM
To join the auctions pls click on this link to join Whtsapp CG Auction Group
This whtsapp group is active only till the auction winner is announced and later gets deleted>
Pictures of the cricket helmet, pads and english willow cricket bat-
Time Stamps
0:40- Match winning six vs Rajasthan Royals to qualify for play-offs in IPL 2014
2:05- Team strategy & atmosphere in the MI Dugout during that last ball six incident
2:37- On James Faulker missing out on Yorker & bowling him on leg stump!
6:35- On his colorful celebration at Wankede like a footballer after helping MI win the game
8:32- The biggest compliment he received from the star studded Mumbai Indians Camp
10:05- On the performance of Mumbai Ranji Trophy team post 2015 as a Mumbai Team Skipper
13:55- On Mumbai Team’s stability due to increased number of change in Coaches
15:50- On losing a few matches at home ground in Ranji Trophy in last few seasons
18:30- On his 120 vs Services in 2012-13 semis of Ranji Trophy
20:55- On his experience of playing with team-mate Ajit Agarkar
23:30- On upcoming IPL 2020, will it happen or not?
25:55- Should Mumbai Team find a new keeper to relieve Aditya Tare so he can focus on his batting more?
28:26- One thing wicket-keeper should always keep in mind?
31:35- As a leader, how he manages the junior-senior barrier in the Mumbai Domestic Set-up?
The Mumbai Ranji Trophy skipper and wicket-keeper Aditya Tare gets candid with Cricketgraph as he shared his journey right from his beginning to Mumbai Ranji Trophy to hitting james faulker out of the park in IPL, Aditya happily answered to everything including Community Questions powered by Healthtrek Healthcare.
There is a saying that behind every successful cricketer is a coach who works hard behind the scenes with the players. During this coronavirus pandemic many people from the cricketing fraternity have got affected & the hard working coaches at the grassroot level are one of those who are facing a stressful time.
For a person who spends almost half of the day on the ground daily between cricket bats, balls, stumps and players on a soil whose smell is a like perfume to them, its indeed difficult to stay away from the game. Staying distant from the game is just one of the concerns which they are dealing with, the bigger concern for many coaches is the financial difficulties which they are going through. The coaches who work in small cricket academies, schools & colleges, the coaches who work independently on a student to student basis, most of them are sitting at home since last few months which has made things going difficult for them. There are many coaches who are sole earners of the family & we came across many such coaches who were forced to sell vegetables and daily essentials to support their families.
Cricketgraph checked with a few coaches at the grassroot level to get some insights about how they are dealing in lockdown and we got to know different perspectives from the coaches.
Sunil Mehra, who is an experienced coach with 20+ yrs of experience shared with Cricketgraph: “As a cricket coach, things are getting very difficult, since the beginning of lockdown, the schools and academies have kept shut, our feet have not touched the ground since months, we have not received our remuneration since last few months. When Sunil raised this concern for” Support to the Coaches” with one of the big authorities in the cricket fraternity, all they offered to such senior coaches was a month of ration which Sunil & other coaches felt humiliating. When asked further on how he manages during lockdown and what future looks like, Sunil shared “I am conducting online training sessions with a few students, even though it’s good to do something than nothing, it can never ever match the experience of live training on the ground being one on one with the player….Sunil further said, if things continue to be stressful like this and lockdown doesn’t end, I might have to take up a job outside cricket fraternity too”
The one thing which actually made it emotional was when Sunil Mehra shared “There are a few coaches at academy & school level who are selling vegetables and daily essentials to support their families, with no hopes or support around, these coaches have already left for their native place…
One more Coach from Saurashtra who also works in the railways shared “things are indeed difficult and I am dedicating my time in fight against coronavirus, as a western railway employee I am working in extra shifts while my academy has been closed since last 4 months with not a single rupee of revenue coming out of it…. Also once the lockdown is lifted, it’s not going to be easy as parents will be hesitant to send their kids immediately to practice with the fear of corona around.
Powered by CS and Sons , our next interview with the senior statesmen of the game-Pravin Amre was quite insightful ! .The former Indian Cricketer-Pravin Amre has represented India in Tests and ODIs. Pravin Amre made a hundred on test debut vs the most hostile bowling attack and playing conditions in South Africa. A pace attack which consisted of Donald, Pringle & Macmillan.
Amre sir also had a celebrated first class career with an average of almost close to 50.00 in 86 first class games representing 7 states including our Mumbai Ranji Trophy Team. As a coach, he is regarded to be one of the respected seniors in the cricket field, under his tutelage, India U19 team won World Cup in 2012.
Amre sir has also coached Mumbai team while he has worked as a talent scount with Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in IPL. His latest assignment was with the United States National Team where he was selected as the Batting Coach. The interview is powered by @csandsons which is one of the oldest and reputed leather ball manufacturing companies producing high quality leather balls for professional level cricket matches at great prices
Powered by @healthtrekhealthcare
Our next interview is with a man whose stature for Mumbai would be on par with the former domestic greats of Mumbai. . . Yes we are talking about Abhishek Nayar , the former Indian Cricketer who has had a prolific domestic career primarily for Mumbai with 5749 runs @45.62 with a highest score of 259 & 173 wkts to his name.
Stats apart, he has been one player who has played a crucial part in numerous Mumbai wins & to name a few, it was his knock of 99 which set up Mumbai to its 38th Ranji Title. That was him as a player, as a coach too, he has been a transformational personality who has helped numerous players at grassroot to international level.
We all know by know his contribution as a coach for Dinesh Karthik making a comeback to the Indian side, apart from that too, the KKR head coach has mentored a number of cricketers with his unique style of coaching & talent spotting ability.
In this elaborate interview, Abhishek spoke quite honestly about the way he coaches, his relationship with Dinesh Karthik and other Indian players he has groomed. Abhishek Nayar also speaks at length about his own career to his coaching stint with KKR and his experience with Shubman Gill who is hailed to be the next big thing of Indian Cricket. Abhsihek also answers the top Cricketgraph Community Questions powered by Healthtrek healthcare.
Powered by @healthtrekhealthcare
.
.
For a man who has achieved so much and yet he deserved much more, there was a certain amount of gratitude, humility & grace with which Faiz fazal gave this honest interview to Cricketgraph.
We got to know a player with zero complaints towards what he missed out on achieving while his positive attitude towards everything is also something to learn for every aspiring cricketers.
Faiz spoke on a number of topics right from being a back to back Ranji Trophy Winner to his approach on not getting enough opportunities in India team or IPL to his leadership abilities. Faiz also happily answered the top community Questions powered by Healthtrek healthcare.
When you are humble with a clean heart, you tend to be very clear and honest with your thoughts & approach. There is some level of purity in every word you speak and interview with Wasim Jaffer was probably one of those honest interviews we have had in the recent times.
Without mincing any words, Wasim Jaffer spoke about so many insightful things right from his opinion & feedback for Mumbai Cricket, the tournaments of Mumbai Cricket, his opinion on the current generation of coaches, the underage issue, the over emphasis on fitness amongst today’s young athletes to his coaching stint with Bangladesh U19 Team to the players he found impressive from the Vidarbha setup where he conquered the final frontier i.e his last Ranji Trophy Title in 2019 before retiring in all forms of the game in March, 2020.
The Cricketgraph community section powered by @nutrezy will be released tomorrow.
Our recent interview with Sarfaraz Khan was quite fun as he shared a number of things to our Cricketgraph host Anoop Bindal from his hometown, U.P.
From making a comeback to Mumbai Ranji Trophy in supreme style to how he copes up with the pressure of Mumbai Cricket to how he interacts with his seniors Suryakumar & Aditya Tare to his IPL Journey to his interactions with Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Sachin Tendulkar & Chris Gayle .The interview has been quite gripping for the cricket fans to watch.
Sarfaraz marked his presence from a very young age itself. From scoring a gigantic knock of 439 in the Giles Shield to representing India U19 team in two world cup editions wherein he was amongst the top scorers both the times.
Sarfaraz this season made a fitting comeback for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy notching up 928 runs at an average of 154.67 which includes a double hundred followed by an unbeaten 301*, the kind of knocks wherein he stamped his mark all over the country.
Apart from that his IPL journey with RCB was also quite special wherein he invented his own ramp and scoop shots taking on International bowlers with ease. Sarfaraz is currently picked up by Kings XI Punjab & he will be one batsman to watchout for in the coming seasons.
Sarfaraz also answered Community Questions powered by Hell Energy.