Played at the Old Payyade Cricket Ground at Kandivali in Mumbai, a record was created on 9th of December. More than a record, a history in local cricket got created from the bat of Rahul Khicha. We have all seen Chris Gayle and Mccullum do this at the international level but we hardly come across such type of dangerous batsman at the local level.
ECM logistics who won the toss decided to put KCD Group to bat first and little did they knew on what was about to come! Right handed opener Rahul Khicha went on to score a destructive 154 off mere 58 deliveries at a staggering strike rate of 265. Rahul reached his hundred in mere 32balls making it one of the fastest hundreds we have come across this year in Mumbai. Rahul took on the bowlers from the very 1st ball as he hardly spared any bowlers in his 54ball stay at the crease which included 12 fours and 15 sixes. Jimit Shah at the middle order also played well scoring an unbeaten 67* which took their team total to a mammoth 326/8 in just 32 overs.
ECM Logistics did not gave up easily and were not looking daunted of chasing such a big total as they gave a tough fight managing to score 290/9 in 32 overs. Almost all the batsman gave crucial contributions with the bat but they required someone in the middle who could convert it into a big total. From the bowling side, Amit Seth with 3/39 was the pick of the bowlers as KCD Group won the match by 112 runs. Rahul Khicha was certainly the ‘man of the match’ as with this knock he certainly registers his name into the Payyade ground’s hall of fame!
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While Bravish needs no introduction as he is one of the most shining prospects with the bat in the Mumbai Cricket, Srujan is also raising his stakes as a class batsman with this being his 2nd hundred in the same tournament. Athawale is certainly in a rich vein of form.
The latest match got ended on 14th December between A.G (L&R) Club and Nirlon Sports Club at DPC matunga where in A.G won the toss and elected to bat first as they had a strong batting line up to construct a big score. Batting first, opener Srujan Athawale scored a fantastic hundred smashing 112 off just 116balls. Srujan kept the scoreboard ticking as he batted with a healthy strike rate of almost 96 which included 15fours and 3sixes. That was not all from their team as their prolific right hander Bravish shetty continued to stamp his class with another aggressive ton scoring 102 off 104balls (11fours,1six). Bravish as always looked solid and confident against the bowlers and stitched a great partnership of 150+ runs with opener Srujan. Nikhil Patil and Swapnil Salvi also chipped in with crucial half centuries at the middle order helping their team reach a mammoth total of 493/10 in 108.5 overs. Spinner Kumar Boresa continued his form as he takes another 5wkt haul in the tournament coming up with bowling figures of 5/108 in 30 overs.
Chasing 494, Nirlon Sports Club were all out for 321runs in 79.5 overs. Left-arm spinner Madhusudan Acharya scalped 5/105 in 29.1 overs to inflict the maximum damage. Madhusudan took crucial wickets at the right time which helped his team win the match by 173runs.
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Purshottam Shield has been a perfect platform for talented cricketers to hone and showcase their skills. This year has been a no exception either where we got to see some tremendous knocks as well as some impressive bowling performances. Hence we bring the latest updates with good performances in the tournament so far.
In the match between Sainath SC and Payyade SC played at the National CC, Cross maidan, Payyade sports club won the toss and elected to field first as they have a good bowling attack. Their decision proved to be spot on as they restricted Sainath SC to just 128/all out in 27.2 overs. Slow left arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar bowled an impressive spell taking 5/42 in 7.2 overs to inflict maximum damage. Vishal showed excellent variety with his spin and was bowling with a lot of consistency and discipline which fetched good results for him as well as his team. Vishal also got good support from pacer Deepak Shetty who scalped 4wkts. Payyade boys eventually chased down the score comfortably in just 21 overs and won the match by 5wkts where in it was the bowling of Vishal and Deepak which helped their team win the match with ease.
In the other match which was held at Dadkar Maidan, New Hind SC won the toss and elected to bowl first. Victory CC notched up 237runs in 67overs with Manish Nigde top scoring with 48. From the bowlers, it was the John Abraham of cricket who was the pick of the bowlers. Fast bowler John made sure he troubled the batsman with his excellent line and length which helped him fetch amazing bowling figures of 5/33 in 20 overs with 7maidens. New Hind SC chased down the score successfully and won the match by 2wkts where in Bhavin Thakkar smashed a half century. New Hind SC won the match but it was John who stood out with his bowling as he looks really promising with the ball.
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Played at the Police Gymkhana in Marine Lines, two experienced teams filled with talented bunch of players took on each other namely Sind SC and Fort Vijay CC where in Sind SC won the toss and elected to field first.
Batting first, Fort Vijay boys did a good job as they notched up a healthy total of 335/8 in 70 overs. Opener Shubham Punyarthi gave a good start with an 88ball 56. Right handed Harshad Rawle who came in at no.3 continued the positive momentum as he scored a sublime and an elegant 111 off 137 deliveries. Harshad played with a cool head and hardly indulged in rash cricketing shots as he smashed 17fours & 2sixes at a healthy strike rate of 81. Even though the rest of the batsman failed to create a good start, harshad looked solid against the bowlers. Aiswarya Surve also gave a useful contribution down the order with his 42*. Experienced spinner Aditya Dhumal was the pick of the bowlers with 3/110 while Shahid and Hemant took 2wkts each.
Defending a total of 336, Fort Vijay restricted Sind SC to just 134/all out in 38.3 overs. Even though the whole batting line up crumbled, Aditya Dhumal stamped his class as a sole warrior with an 84ball 79 smashing 5fours and 5big sixes. Also this is not the first time, Aditya has come up with such promising all-round perfomance. Sagar Udeshi and Kunal Gawand were the pick of the bowlers taking 3wkts each. It was a match dominated by Fort Vijay where Harshad’ ton was the highlight perfomance while Aditya’s all-round show was noteworthy too.
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Played at the Bombay gymkhana ground, it was the all important finale between the promising SVIS who have performed really well this year vs the strong Al-Barkaat, a team which is considered to be the strongest every year. SVIS won the toss and elected to field first with an aim of chasing a low total.
However, Al-barkat showed such a strong batting line up they possess as they amassed a really competitive total of 374/9 in 128.5 overs. Opener Ankit Yadav scored a solid looking 72 batting for almost 3hours and facing 166 deliveries. Ankit displayed solidity and resilience while left handed Saumil Malandkar continued the positive momentum given by ankit as he went on to score a gr. Saumil smashed 12 fours in his 149ball stay at the crease. That was not all as their in-form Himanshu Singh scored a fantastic 63 off 91balls. Himanshu singh came in at no.9 and played really well with at the lower order continuing his majestic form from a big century which he scored in his last match. Even though SVIS bowlers conceded runs but Neel Patade was the shining spot from the SVIS bowling line up as he took 5/88 in 28.5 overs.
Chasing a big total of 375, SVIS must have felt the pressure of chasing and that too in the all important finals. Al-barkaat restricted SVIS to just 179runs in 69.5 overs with Rishi Shah once again top scoring with a fighting 61 off 105deliveries. Saud Mansoori was the pick of the bowlers with 5/54 in 29.5 overs which did the maximum damage while Naufil also chipped in with 2wkts. Al-barkaat batted for another 16overs in the 2nd innings for the loss of 2wkts which were taken by Pratik Gond. Al-barkaat English high school won the finals on 1st innings and it was a complete all-round show where all the players contributed well.
In the Award Ceremony-
Talented Atharva Nigare was awarded the ‘best batsman’ with some brilliant knocks
Promising Saud Mansoori who was bowled consistently well throughout the tournament was declared the ‘best bowler’
While Himanshu Singh was adjudged the ‘best all-rounder”
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While Vinit Indulkar is a classy batsman who has been playing cricket for long, he is also one of the most experienced and elegant batsmen in the Mumbai cricketing circuit. While on the other hand Paul also needs no introduction, the man who kicked up a storm with his batting in IPL in 2011 with a blistering century for Kings XI Punjab. Also apart from his IPL, Paul is known for his attacking batting and is a dangerous customer to deal with at the top order.
These two talented batsmen recently showed their class in the Purshottam Shield Tournament at Cross Maidan.
Parkophene Cricketers who won the toss elected to field first with an aim of restricting CCI (Cricket Club of India) to a low total. However, in form Paul Valthaty made quite a statement with the bat as he scored a brutal 71 off just 51balls. Right handed Paul started attacking from the word ‘go’ and kept the scoreboard ticking as he smashed 10 fours and 4sixes at a strike rate of almost 140. The way Paul was playing certainly gave us a déjà vu of his 2011 IPL hundred! But that was not all, classy batsman Vinit Indulkar at no.3 also played a perfect innings as he scored 89 off 100balls to solidify the CCI innings. While Paul was attacking & a treat to watch, Vinit was all about temperament and elegance combined as both the bigwigs of Mumbai cricket helped CCI score 283/10 in 66.4 overs. The bowlers did a decent job with fast bowlers Badrey Alam and Nishan Singh taking 3wkts each.
In reply, Parkophene Cricketers scored 222/10 in 46.2 overs where in Amogh Bhatkal and the experienced Pradeep Sahu top scoring with 49 & 43 respectively. Right arm medium pacer Krutik Hangewadi came up with a match winning bowling spell of 6/121 in 18 overs which helped his team defend the total successfully. Even though Krutik went for a few runs but he covered it up by taking wickets at the right time. The powerful CCI team won the match by 61runs and it was definitely Paul and Vinit with the bat while Krutik with the ball who stood out in the match. Also, it would be noteworthy to say that this is Paul’s 4th consecutive score of 70 or 70+ this year.
Paul’s last 4 innings in last 4 weekends-
75 vs Bombay Gym police shield
70 vs parsee Gym police shield
73 vs Bhatnagar cc Purushottam shield
71 vs Parkophene Purushottam shield
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This year’s Giles Shield has been promising and exciting with a right blend of perfomance and some great matches. Giles has certainly gone on to prove as one of the best breeding grounds for aspiring youngsters to polish and refine their cricketing skills. Some of the recent matches played also had some great performances and here are the updates.
In the match at United Cricketers ground between Vidya Mandir School and Matunga Premier School, VPM school won the toss and elected to bat first. Batting first, they were all out for 139runs where in Aditya Lokhande bowled a fantastic spell of 5/46 in 13.5 overs making him stand out amongst all the bowlers. From the batting side, hardly any batsman managed to create much of an impact apart from their solid opener Mrunmay Parulekar who scored a fighting 58 to rescue his team and help VPM post a score of atleast 139. Had he not fired, VPM would have been all out under 100 odd runs. However, VPM School gave a fitting reply with the ball bundling out Matunga Premier school for just 109runs. Omkar Ambavkar bowled a match winning spell with excellent line and length as he took 6/31 in 6.1 overs which helped his team win the match by 31runs.
In the match between SVIS Borivali vs IES at the MB Union Cross Maidan, SVIS won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Raj desmukh who has been in excellent form continued to impress with a yet another blistering ton scoring 113 and anchoring his team’s innings with some elegant cricketing shots. Skipper Ayush Jethwa also scored a gutsy 71 which took the team total to 258. Defending a total of 259, IES were bundled out for just 88runs where in Aditya Baliwant simply stunned the spectators with his amazing bowling. Young Aditya came up with excellent bowling figures of 8/14 in 8.1 overs which did the maximum damage. Left-arm spinner Aditya bamboozled the batsman with his effortless spin as he single-handedly demolished the opposition’s batting line up. He is certainly a revelation in this season of Giles Shield. Eventually, SVIS borivali won the match on the back of Raj’s batting and aditya’s fantastic bowling.
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There is much more to hitting a cricket ball than just swinging the bat, in fact- far from it! Batting is a
whole body activity- from moving to hit the ball using the legs to- swinging of the bat and arms.
As you lift the bat behind first to generate force and then bring it forward to hit the ball, a lot of muscles
are at play. Posterior deltoids, pectorals, anterior deltoid, biceps and triceps are some of the muscles
that work at optimum to provide a smooth forceful swing. Also to be noted is that different types of
strokes recruit different muscles. The transfer of body weight to every shot is important. Transfer of
body weight occurs either onto the forefoot or onto the back foot to allow rotation of the body for
horizontal straight shots. The spine and core muscles have to be able to control this rotation to avoid
knee, foot and shoulder injuries.
Some key pointers for batters to improve your game and reduce the number of injuries are as follows:
- Use compound movements: Train your body with compound movements instead of single
muscle isolated strength training. Training with compound movements will help you to maintain
stability while you bat and yet give you the mobility that you need. - To progress with training or not: This is a dilemma that has no clear cut answer. Your body will give you the inputs but you will have to pay attention and heed. Gradual progression with enough recovery is ideal.
- Frequency of training: This depends on the intensity of your training but ideally 3 days a week with enough recovery days built in are recommended.
- Know your body: To know your strengths and weaknesses in terms of muscle strength, mobility and stability are essential to coach and train the right way.
Follow these guidelines to train well by understanding your body and bat away! Prevent injuries by
paying attention to the muscles at play but if injured, don’t despair. See a sports physiotherapist who
understands the biomechanics of cricket to get you back to playing as soon as possible.
Some all-rounders have an inborn ability to change the game on their day. They can be brutally dangerous once they get going. We all know how Maxwell, Afridi, Symonds were like at International level! Well, we got to see almost a similar sort of perfomance at the local level where in Akhtar Shaikh simply dominated with the bat while also contributed with the ball to help his team win the match.
Played at the MIG Cricket Ground in Bandra, Namrata Motors won the toss and elected to field first. Batting first, Route Mobile did an excellent job with the bat as they notched up 192runs with the loss of 6wkts in 20 overs. Even though their top order failed to give a flying start, it was their middle order bats Ajinkya Belose and Tanush Kotian who resurrected the innings back. Carrying the positive momemtum left behind by ajunkya and tanush, akhtar shaikh who came in at no.7 changed the script of the game in a span of 20-30 minutes as he scored one of the fastest fifties in Mumbai this year. Akhtar remained 59* off mere 17 deliveries which included 5 fours and 5handsome sixes at a staggering strike rate of 347!
Defending a total of 192, Route Mobile restricted Namrata Motors to just 125/8 in 20 overs. Tight bowling along with discipline showed by the bowlers helped them win the match by 67runs. Chinmay Patil with 2/12 in 3 overs was the pick of the bowlers while Akhtar Shaikh also chipped in with good bowling figures of 2/18 in 3overs. Dinar Gaonkar also took 2wkts. It was a match where Route Mobile dominated from start to end while all-rounder Akhtar Shaikh was declared ‘man of the match’
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Cricket has seen free flow of cricketers from the cricket playing countries to India.
The recent example of 16-year old Josh Lam flying from Brisbane to Mumbai to hone his batting skills against spin bowling is an unequivocal evidence that India is the land of spinners and the preferred choice for any non-subcontinental cricketer to master the art of batting against the spin. Lam, who is also an off-spinner himself, chose the Achievers Cricket Academy in Mumbai that is headed by Subramanian Doraiswamy and Ashok Kadam. After undertaking sufficient research about the Achievers Cricket Academy, he chose the academy to improve his batting skills against the spin bowling.
As per Subramanian aka Subbu, “Initially Josh was not that comfortable batting against the spinners, but after a couple of sessions, he broke the shackles and started playing aggressively against the spinners. His aggression came in the form of sweeping the ball and dancing down the track without any fear. Naturally a backfoot player, Lam took some time to adjust to the spinners but he looked at ease against the medium pace bowlers”.
Since he was in the land where the production of world’s best spinners takes place, he decided to learn more about the off-spin. Josh is a strong boy which allows him to bowl his off-spinners at a good pace. The coaches in the Achievers Cricket Academy worked on his wrist positions and showed him variations which were effectively added by the Brisbane-lad to his repertoire.
Both Subbu & Ashok Kadam worked closely with Josh over 3 weeks to help him improve his batting and bowling.
After the India trip, Josh Lam seems to be well-equipped with both, bat and ball, to face his counterparts back at home in the club matches.