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Forget the international stars; there's enough ratings and more
for them. Here's a system instead to track the stars before they
are stars. Ray-Ban and CricInfo bring you ratings for the Indian
domestic circuit, letting you see who is knocking on the door of
the national team and who isn't. Updated once a month, these
ratings rank players on the basis of their batting and bowling
performances.
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Hrishikesh Hemant Kanitkar is one of those players who could
never hold on to his place in the Indian team. The 28-year-old
from Maharashtra has been in good form over the last two seasons
- trying to rebuild his career. Last season he scored heavily,
missing out on a couple of double-hundreds narrowly. The only
consolation for Kanitkar has been the odd appearance for the
Board President's XI against the visiting international teams.
Kanitkar seems to be playing with a new resolve and vigour this
season, scoring 50 and above six times in his nine outings so far
in Ranji Trophy. For someone who averages a healthy 58 runs in
first class cricket, this domestic season has been remarkable.
Scoring 114 and 64 against Madhya Pradesh in the second round of
Plate group matches has been the beginning of the purple patch.
The superb form with the bat helped Kanitkar smash his highest
individual score of 290 against the lowly Bihar at Tata Digwadi
Stadium in Jamadoba. And that big double hundred has helped
Kanitkar to the top of Ray-Ban batting rating.
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There seems to be no stopping the evergreen spin bowler in the
Indian domestic circuit - Narendra Deepchand Hirwani. The leg-
spinner has been in tremendous form this season, picking up 45
wickets in six games. Hirwani has so far picked 628 First Class
wickets at an average of 27.46, and the 34-year-old from Madhya
Pradesh has not played a Test match for more than six years!
Hirwani is indeed making it loud and clear that he is the spin
king in India - bowling on dust bowls, which helps the ball to
jump and turn a great deal.
Hirwani's last two first-class games has been simply prolific -
against Jammu & Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy Plate game, he picked
up 11 wickets in the match. Hirwani struck early blows and went
on to pick 5/51 in the J&K first innings, and in the second,
Hirwani opened the bowling for Madhya Pradesh. Making full use of
the helpful conditions, the leg-spinner went on to bowl Madhya
Pradesh to victory with the figures of 44-17-89-6. Hirwani's
Ranji Trophy season ended with Madhya Pradesh being knocked out
by Kerala in the Plate Semi Final played at Nehra Stadium in
Kochi. A seven-wicket match haul was only a consolation for the
veteran spin bowler.
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