PJ Hindu Gymkhana have started their season on a very good note giving a strong statement to the opposite teams. In the 1st match where they dominated against Apollo CC, now it was turn to showcase their strong batting line up against Parsee Gymkhana on their home ground.
After being made to bat first, PJ Hindu Gymkhana hardly looked affected as they notched up a very healthy total of 284/5dec which is really good in terms of Kanga matches. Openers Sachin K & Ankit R gave solid start but it was their promising all-rounder Sachin Wagh top scoring the innings with a gritty 90. Sachin Wagh who took 5wkts in the last match this time showcased his batting skills as he smashed 5sixes with 4fours enroute his 114ball stay at the crease. Captain Anup Revandkar also added crucial 59*runs with the bat while stitched a 85run stand with Neelkanth(31*) before they declared their innings in 61overs.
Parsee Gymkhana were 43/2 in 17overs before the match ended in a draw with no results being obtained.
0Young Mohmmedans CC have always been a strong team and why not when they have such experienced cricketers like Naushad Khan in the playing XI. Naushad Khan who is 40+ still plays cricket like a pro while his two sons Musheer and Sarfaraz are already making waves in cricket.
In the match between Young Mohmmedan CC and DPC Sports Club at Dadkar Maidan, Young Mohmmedan CC with the help of Arsalan Shaikh reached a healthy total of 185/5dec in 33.5overs. Arsalan Shaikh top scored the innings remaining unbeaten smashing a solid 93 ball 76* which even had 5sixes. Arsalan played his natural game while at the same time looked very solid. Kadir Patel also looked impressive for his 26ball 40 giving good support to Arsalan.
DPC Sports Club in reply were bundled out for 111runs in 34overs as Naushad Khan inflicted maximum damage with his wily spin taking 6/33 in 14overs with 7maidens. Naushad Khan’s consistency and fitness at this age is commendable as he kept on troubling the batsman with his tight spin bowling. Young Mohmeddan CC declared 2nd innings at just 24runs while DPC batted for 6overs before the match ended with Young Mohmmedan CC winning the match on 1st innings lead.
In the rain drenched season where the wickets become a treat for the bowlers, it was a welcome opportunity for the young Omkar Mandrekar to showcase his bowling abilities as he extracted the best from the wicket to register the best bowling spell of Kanga League this season.
Played between SKP Athletics and Rizvi SC at the Dadkar Maidan. SKP boys were made to bat first after losing the toss as they notched up 152/9dec in 49overs. Rizvi SC in reply recieved the most unexpected treatment from SKP team as they received a hostile spell from medium pacer Omkar Mandrekar. Omkar ripped through the batting line up of Rizvi taking 8/22 in 10overs which included 5 batsmen getting out clean bowled. It’s just a different feeling to register such bowling spells and more than that it’s a dream for any bowler to clean bowl a batsman five times in an innings. Omkar not only has the best bowling figures so far but 5 clean bowled in an innings is another record which no bowler has achieved this year.
It was Omkar’s tearaway bowling spell which helped SKP Athletics win the match on 1st innings lead.
Started in the year 2014, Sportsqvest is a brand that is designed to cater to the cricket & sports clothing needs of the players. Be it customized jerseys or pure cricket whites, Sportsqvest serves them all. Digvijay Sinh Kathiwada, who started Sportsqvest, identified the dire need of players to avail top quality, international standard cricket gear. “Being a cricketer myself, I could sense the difficulty that players faced in accessing good quality cricket wear. Taking cognition of this, I wanted to professionalize the process of buying cricket gear & sports apparel”, explained the founder of Sportsqvest.
From a humble start in India, Sportsqvest has spread its wings to USA, Australia, and England in no time. Providing international standard of clothing sets them apart from the rest of the manufacturers. Sportsqvest boasts of serving the players from Cricket Club of India, Australian High Commission, British High Commission, JSW, Tata, among many. “We at Sportsqvest offer best quality polyester dry fit material with great designs that can be customized at competitive prices”, elucidated Mr. Kathiwada.
Sportsqvest has garnered tremendous success in the international markets, which is evident from the fact that Digvijay felt the need to have physical presence in Australia and UK. “Excellence is the key to retain customers and hence we do not compromise even an iota on the quality of our products”, added Mr. Digvijay.
Apart from cricket, Sportsqvest caters to the clothing needs of people playing Rugby, Football, and Basketball. Many of the professional cyclists also resort to Sportsqvest. Belonging to a family which gave some of the greatest cricketers to India, Mr. Digvijay himself a tremendous cricket enthusiast is serving the cricket community at large. “To the best of my knowledge, Sportsqvest is the only Indian brand catering to the global audience. I want to place India on the global map as far as sports apparel manufacturing is concerned”, stated the patriotic founder of Sportsqvest.
Cricketgraph team wishes success to brand Sportsqvest with their global journey.
When you are batting at no.6 or 7, most of the times you get to bat under pressure situations where either you have to bat with the tail or rescue the team from a low total or just slog in the last overs. Amitkumar Kori just did that recently in the ongoing Kanga League scoring a gem of knock from nowhere.
Played between Taki Team SC and Maharashtra Young Cricketers at the Dadkar Maidan, Maharashtra young cricketers who were made to bat first were in deep trouble at one point with 5down for mere 35runs. It was right handed Amitkumar Kori who came at no.7 and rescued his team by scoring an attacking 91* of mere 81balls hitting 7fours and 5sixes. Amit not only batted well with the tail but also played freely not sparing the bad balls which helped Maharashtra YC team reach 162runs in 41.5overs. Medium pacer Atish Golatkar was the pick of the pick of the bowlers looking impressive for his 4/62 in 19overs.
Taki Team survived with 8wkts down batting for 35overs till the game ended in a draw. Mahesh Jadhav bowled an excellent spell of 5/29 in 15overs with 7maidens as he did not allow the batsman to score runs easily. The match did not obtain any result but Amit’s 91* certainly saved his team from a defeat.
Vishal Adagatla
It’s always a good feeling to play alongside someone who is also your mentor and such was the case between the experienced Ajit Rodrigues and the young lad Arman Pathan. Ajit who also coaches Arman played together in the same team and the pair together spelled trouble for the opposition in the ongoing Kanga League.
Parsee Cyclists who won the toss made Bohra Cricketers to bat first restricting them to a very low score of 31runs with just 1batsman scoring in double digits. The principal destroyer for Bohra team was Parsee Cyclists medium pacer Ajit Rodrgues who came up with a yet another stunning spell conceding mere 11runs with 6maidens in his 9overs along with 7wkts. Ajit who took 7wkt hauls even last year seems to be in a great form while Arman Pathan took 4catches out of Ajit’s 7wickets in the 1st innings and 4wkts in the second. Ajit’s accurate bowling and Arman’s tight fielding wrecked havoc over the Bohra Cricketers.
Parsee Cyclists too struggled with the bat declaring their innings at 87/8 in 21.4overs. Bohra cricketers were left to struggle in the 2nd innings too with 8down for 90runs before the match ended. Ajit took another 4/27 in the 2nd innings taking his tally of wickets to a stunning 11wkts in the match. Farhad Daruwala, Ajit’s bowling partner also took 6wkts in the match. Parsee Cyclists won the match on 1st innings and it was a great day for Ajit, Farhad and Arman to begin the season with.
Rains did not wreck havoc today and thus we got to see a proper day of cricket in Mumbai. Certainly a great feeling for all the cricketers today who are practicing hard to perform to their full abilities. Today we got to see a talented opener registering the 1st ton of Kanga this season.
Played at the National CC Ground, Cross Maidan, Victory Cricket Club and Fort Vijay CC locked horns with Fort Vijay CC winning the toss and bowling first. Victory Cricket Club could have been bundled out for a low total but their opener Dhrumil Matkar played one of the elegant knocks you can see during this season. Left-handed Dhrumil went on to score an attacking 126 off mere 123balls in bowler friendly conditions which were laced with 10 huge sixes. 10sixes also happens to be the highest so far for an individual batsman in the tournament. Dhrumil treated bowlers with disdain as he showcased his big hitting abilities taking Victory Cricket Club to a very respectable total of 226/10 in 47overs. From the bowlers, right arm medium pacer Pankaj Jaiswal was the pick of the bowlers taking 4/47 in 11overs which turned out to be a very good spell.
Fort Vijay CC batted for 33overs for the loss of 3wkts before the match ended in a draw. It was a welcome change with no rains and Dhrumil certainly made the most of it by stamping his presence with a brilliant ton.
Sarfaraz Khan who is hailed as one of most talented young cricketers right now returned back to Mumbai after a 3yr stint with Uttar Pradesh. Sarfaraz played his 1st Kanga match today representing Payyade SC at Shivaji Park and he has certainly given a strong statement in his comeback match.
Payyade SC who took on Shivaji Park Gymkhana were struggling with 3wickets down for just 6runs. It was the arrival of right handed Sarfaraz at no.4 which helped Payyade to make a comeback into the game. Sarfaraz scored a superlative 87 off 107balls as Payyade SC from 3/6 reached 148/5dec in 45.4overs. Sarfaraz took on the bowlers with ease as he looked confident at the crease while wickets were tumbling from the other end. Sarfaraz smashed 9fours and 3sixes stamping his presence into the Mumbai Cricket with a bang.
Shivaji Park Gymkhana batted for 22 overs scoring 56/3 as the match ended in a draw. No results were obtained in the match but it was a good opening game for Sarfaraz as he rescued his team from a low total.
There was a hot debate going on since team India’s prominent players like Yuvraj Singh, Washington Sundar, Mohammad Shami, Suresh Raina & Ambati Rayudu failed the yo-yo test and being dropped out of the team.
Since then, some players have made a comeback to the Indian team & others still struggling to get that benchmark score of 16.1. Let us look at what exactly you can do to get that benchmark score (set by the BCCI) of 16.1 and some hacks to get the tremendous scores up to 19-22.
What is Yo-Yo test?
Yo-Yo is a variation of beep test, a running aerobic fitness routine that International cricketers had to undergo in the past. But passing beep test was not mandatory for selection as in the case of Yo-Yo. It probes a sports persons endurance and ability to pace himself towards the end of the maximal running aerobic fitness drill, an element of speed comes into play.
The grueling routine has two sets of cones that are 20 meters apart. Once, the beep is sounded, the athlete has to reach the marker on the other side by the time the next beep sounds, turn and get back to where he started before the third beep.
The frequency of beeps gradually increase for the subsequent trips, a trip is a successful completion of a run to the cones at the other end and back. There is a gap about 7 seconds between each trip.
What starts as a fast jog at the start becomes distinctly quicker as the test progresses with the duration between beeps decreasing. The point at which an athlete misses two beeps (twice unable to finish before the third beep goes off) is his score.
Why to fitness test an athlete?
Given the volume at which the cricket season goes on throughout the year, there is a belief that optimal fitness must be achieved. Irrespective, of the cricketers ’ability, the BCCI feels a minimum fitness level is non-negotiable.
Minimum benchmark scores of Yo-Yo test in some cricketing countries:-
COUNTRY SCORE
New Zealand 19
Sri-Lanka 17.4
England 19
Pakistan 17.4
India 16.1
As we can see India’s minimum benchmark score to pass the yo-yo test is very low, yet players fail to pass the test should really be a concern.
How to hack the Yo-Yo test?
As there is so much going around about the yo-yo test let us see some tricks and tips on how you can improve your individual scores.
- Improve your fitness level
This is an obvious tip that if you train yourself regularly and develop your current fitness level will eventually give you better scores in the future.
- Perform a Warm up
If you do not perform a warm up before the test then probably you will not be able to perform at your best and more worryingly, you could risk injury which could set your fitness back several levels.
Ideally 5-10 minutes of warm up which includes jogging, dynamic stretching and gentle turning motions would get you ready for the test.
- Turn efficiently
People who have done the beep test usually complain that the turning is the most difficult part.
You can perform a turn by placing one foot on the line, this will eventually cut down small steps that would save you the valuable seconds. Take sharp turns rather than taking wider U turns in the movement.
- Prepare your body
1. You are properly hydrated, making sure that you take sufficient liquids in advance.
2. You have eaten a light meal 1-2 hours before the test.
3. You have had enough sleep. (At least 8 hours)
(To know about how much and what should be consumed before the test please refer to my previous article)
4. Also before you do the test make sure that you use the bathroom. It’s difficult enough doing the test, never mind trying to do it with a full bladder.
- Mentally toughen yourself up
When your body says quit, your mind says “drop and give me another 10”.
Just push yourself to the fullest that’s the only mantra.
- Pace yourself and play your own game
When you are running these tests in a group, it can often be tempting to focus too much on other participants.
Don’t try to run other persons test just worry about yourself and keep pace with the beep- there is nothing to be gained by charging off too quickly or trying to match anybody else.
Some of the first people that give up early on the beep/yo-yo test are the ones- who run the fastest at the beginning. Save your energy for the later stages.
- Perform the test in favorable conditions
If somebody else is setting the test for you, this is not something that you can influence. However, if you do get choice over where and when you do the test you should remember that only extreme heat, wind or rain may impair your score.
- Ignore the boasters
Somebody is going o tell you that they have completed the score of 16.1 without any training. You have to prepare yourself for the test depending on your own fitness level as it may cost you a big selection & worst case scenario even your career.
This was all about the yo-yo test, I hope this article turns out to be helpful for you and you achieve enormous scores of 20-22 someday. Let’s take India ahead in the global standings of the yo-yo test. In the future, we are not sure what will be the gold standard for being fit would be. But, passing the yo-yo test is the need of the hour.
It was way back in 1968, Surinderpal Thukral learned the intricacies of sports manufacturing from his uncle & started Sunil Sports foraying into manufacturing of sports products. Sunil Sports had their own brand in the name of Brooks and Navina which at one time were distributed all over Mumbai, Karnataka, Secundrabad, Goa, Pune, Solapur, Hibli amongst other locations. There was a time between 1968 to 1990 when most of the sports shops in Dhobi Talao, Bandra, Ghatkopar, cst to Dahisar and cst to Kalyan sourced their products from Sunil Sports.
It was in 1992 Sunil Sports stopped manufacturing and entered into retail business. Exclusively speaking with Cricketgraph, Surinderpal Thukral explained the reason- “till 1990 the manufacturing we used to do was with original leather, post 1990 artificial materials started doing the rounds plus increase in labor costs were some of the reasons they stopped their manufacturing unit’
Now a sports retail outlet with the same team of employees he started many years ago, they supply sports products to various schools and corporate companies like CEAT Tyres & L&T. They are also the authorized dealers of SG and SS bats with various brands of cricket shoes.
Located in Bhandup west and celebrating 50 years, now it’s the next generation joining the business as son Jitin Thukral takes care of the shop along with his father Surinder Pal Thukral who started this brand 5 decades ago.
Sunil sports can be reached on
022-5661319
Shop no.9, Estate no.3, Below Raj Jog, LBS Marg, Opposite Pannalal Compound, Bhandup West, Maharashtra, Mumbai – 400078