Ranji Trophy final lap: Top seven spots, fifteen contenders

Mumbai coach Chandrakant Pandit with Parthiv Patel at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. Mumbai will play Gujarat tomorrow. (Express Photo)

Group A
Assam
Story so far: The cindrella team of the year’s progress captured in the newspaper space they have managed to secure back home. Big spread photographs, in both Assamese and English-language newspapers, have announced their march. Led by the new-ball bowlers, the Barpeta duo of Krishna Das and Arup Das – especially Krishna who has taken 42 wickets at an outstanding 11.88 average – and the former Tamil Nadu batsman KB Arun Karthik who has piled up 676 runs at 61.45, Assam have won three games.

Road ahead: They have 25 points from 7 games and can make it through to knockouts even if they lose outright, if both Vidarbha and Karnataka just take a solitary point. If those two teams win outright, Assam need to win to qualify. If they beat Bengal, they can finish on top of the table

Karnataka
Story so far: The defending champions have an up-and-down campaign but have managed to do just enough to stay in hunt. It was Robin Uthappa, who smashed three hundreds in a row and scored 675 runs, to pull them out their reverie, with supporting roles from Karun Nair and R Samarth, who have tallied over 400 runs this season. Shreyas Gopal has picked the most wickets (20), while R Vinay Kumar has 18.

Road ahead: With 24 points, they need at least a first-innings lead against Maharashtra to progress while a loss will knock them out of reckoning.

Delhi
Story so far: They currently top the table with 25 points but have no more games in hand. They started off with grassy track or two at Feroz Shah Kotla before they hopped over to Karnail Singh stadium when they wanted designer spin tracks. They have just lost one game but have drawn four, and veered off the track in the last few games.

Road ahead: They will hope that Bengal or Assam, who are also on 25 points and are playing each other, can win outright as Delhi can then stay above the team that loses. Else, they can only wait and hope that they can scramble ahead after finishing third.

Bengal
Story so far: A sedate start before they saw a mini turn-around in the last couple of weeks when they registered two outright wins and came into reckoning. Pragyan Ojha, who starred with a 11-wicket haul against Vidarbha in their first win, has been the star performer while Sudip Chatterjee and Manoj Tiwari, who was caught in an ugly fight with Gambhir, have starred with the bat.

Road ahead: With 25 points, they can get through with an outright win or even a first-innings lead but a loss will throw them into chaotic wait as they have just two outright wins.

Group B
Mumbai
Story so far: It’s been a memorable season for Mumbai’s young team and they have romped into the knockouts.

Road Ahead: They can take it easy against Gujarat by blooding a few more youngsters and adding to their burgeoning bench-strength. Considering that the knockouts aren’t scheduled till February, momentum will not be a real factor and they could gamble with the way they approach the match.

Gujarat
Story so far: Only two batsmen in the Gujarat team this season have crossed three-figures—opener Priyank Panchal has done it thrice and veteran Parthiv Patel twice—and their highest wicket-taker is Rujul Bhatt, a 29-year-old off-spinning all-rounder who’s tripled his career wickets’ tally in seven matches this year. Their start to the season was untowards—just two points from two matches—and were struggling after the fourth round with just one win.

Road Ahead: Gujarat face Mumbai, who have already qualified, and need at least the three points that come with a first innings lead but losing outright will be a risk.

Punjab
Story so far: Punjab arguably played the perfect match to start their season with a thorough bashing of Railways. Four of their batsmen got centuries, while Brainder Sran and Varun Khanna snared six and eight wicket hauls to seal an innings defeat. They’ve slipped under the radar ever since with just one more win, and their biggest bugbear has been their bowlers’ inability to take wickets.

Road Ahead: Punjab’s biggest worry in their final clash against Tamil Nadu is the weather in Dindugul. They will not be safe with just a point and will need at least six to have a sureshot chance at going through.

Tamil Nadu
Story so far: They began with a narrow win against Baroda on a square-turner in Chennai, and then lost by one wicket to Mumbai on a flat one at BKC. Their top-order has been a major disappointment with none of their batsmen featuring in the top-50 run-getters this season.

Road Ahead: A bonus point win will definitely take them through, but even an outright win without it can prove to be in vain.

Uttar Pradesh
Story so far: Three of UP’s four centuries all season came in their opening match against Madhya Pradesh, which they got one point from. That they are still in the loop is a result of back-to-back wins over Andhra and Gujarat, with Praveen Kumar starring in both with the ball.

Road Ahead: Only an outright win with a bonus point against Baroda will keep them in the race.

Madhya Pradesh
Story so far: After the fifth round of matches, MP had climbed to second in the table with two back-to-back outright wins. Two consecutive losses from then on have left them reeling. Jalaj Saxena’s amazing all-round heroics—516 runs at 46.90 and 44 at 19.95 apiece—have been the sole highlight of their season.

Road Ahead: Even a bonus-point win will only give them a slight chance.

Baroda
Story so far: Too often for their liking, it’s been a season of so near yet so far from Baroda, starting with their first match. Their performances have been riddled with inconsistency, and only Railways with six defeats have lost more matches than them.

Road Ahead: Only a win with a bonus point can keep their season alive.

Group C
Saurashtra
Story so far: Ever since Ravindra Jadeja left to play for the Indian team, after helping Saurashtra win four games in a row on customised rank turners, they have fallen off a bit but they are still favourites to finish on top. Jadeja had taken 38 wickets at 10.55 and also averaged 35 with the bat. Avi Barot has 335 runs while Kamlesh Makvana has grabbed 23 wickets at 18.52

Road ahead: A first-innings lead against Jammu & Kashmir will help them finish on top and even if they lose lead, or game, they should still get through to the knockouts, courtesy their four outright wins.

Jharkhand
Story so far: Led by the left-arm spinner Shabhaz Nadeem, who took 40 wickets at 16.40, Jharkhand won three games, and are placed third, with 24 points, in the group. The second-highest wicket-dtaking tally stands at 14 -such has been Nadeem’s contribution this season with 3 five-fors and one 10-wicket match haul. Saurabh Tiwary (462 runs in 11 innings) has done his bit with the bat.

Road ahead: They can get through if they win against Hyderabad, if the game between Kerala and Himachal Pradesh does not end in a outright result.

Kerala
Story so far: Though they have won just two games, one less than Jharkhand, they are on second on the table (25 points) as they have lost just one game. Karaparambil Monish, the left-arm spinner playing his second season, has starred with 42 wickets at 19.47 with 5 five-fors and two 10-wicket match hauls. They have also managed to find one star-performer with the bat – Rohan Prem has piled up 682 runs, with three hundreds with the highest of 208.

Road so far: If they beat Himachal Pradesh they can get through they can get through to knockouts and also get promoted next year.

Himachal Pradesh
Story so far: Paras Dogra, the man Shane Warne used to call as Elvis, has had some season. He has averaged 97.28, scoring 681 runs with three notouts in 10 innings, and found great support in Nikhil Gangta (534 runs), Prashant Chopra (498), and Robin Bist (488). There hasn’t been a stand-out performer with the ball but there was enough for HP to clock in two wins and finish with 24 points.

Road ahead: With 24 points, same as Jharkhand, HP need to beat Kerala (25 points) to get through, and get promoted next year. If they lose, they will wait for the result of the game between Services, who have 20 points, and Tripura, and wait for mathematical calculations to see if they can get through.