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| Sports |
Chemplast cricketers to the fore:
Mongia to lead, three more in India ‘A’ team |
| The Chemplast Sanmar cricket team’s policy of grooming
talented and dedicated youngsters has been paying steady dividends
over the past few years. A happy byproduct has been the recognition
some of our young players have received from state and national selectors. |
| A recent affirmation of Chemplast cricket
talent has been the selection of four of our players as members
of the India ‘A’ team now touring South Africa, capped by the
appointment of left hander Dinesh Mongia as captain of the India
‘A’ team now touring South Africa. The other three are 20-year-old,
6’2” tall fast medium bowler L Balaji, and right hand batsmen
Jacob Martin and Y Venugopala Rao. |
| An attractive left hander, Dinesh Mongia has
264 runs in the 10 one-day internationals (ODIs) he has played
for India so far, with the respectable average of 29.33 runs
and a highest score of 71 versus England. |
| He made his Ranji Trophy debut in 1995-96,
and soon acquired a reputation for tall scores. By 1998, he
was a member of the North Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy.
He scored 758 runs in ten Ranji Trophy matches next season. |
| Mongia’s stature as a free stroking batsman
grew rapidly during the 2000-2001 season. He made an impressive
308 against Jammu & Kashmir after his team had been reduced
to 30 for 3. In the Duleep Trophy that followed, he made 201
against a strong South Zone attack which included five bowlers
who had played for the country. A couple of matches later, he
made a thrilling 208 against Central Zone. Before long, Mongia
was selected to tour South Africa where he made his ODI debut. |
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| Dinesh Mongia |
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| Jacob Martin |
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| In great form |
| Jacob Martin has not quite achieved the same
level of success, though he has played some good innings for
India. In domestic cricket, however, he has been an outstanding
performer, one of only six batsmen to score more than a thousand
runs in a single Ranji Trophy season. Last season, he spearheaded
Baroda’s spectacular campaign in the Ranji Trophy, playing a
stellar role in the final, scoring vital runs to turn the match
around in favour of his team and leading it to a title victory.
This year, too, he has been in great form, highlighted by a
massive 271 against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy. |
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| Pacy, intelligent |
| Balaji’s ascent has been nothing short of meteoric.
Spotted by Chemplast cricket manager Bharat Reddy, Balaji, who used
to turn out for AG’s Office Recreation Club in the third division
of the TNCA league until last season, toured England last summer with
a group of youngsters led by Reddy. Followed an invitation to become
a member of the Jolly Rovers team in the league, and Balaji has never
looked back since. He took 22 wickets in the senior division league
last season, but more important, managed to impress onlookers with
his speed, accuracy, movement and subtle change of pace. The state
selectors were among those who saw merit in the lad, and they picked
him to represent Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy last season; but it
was only this season that Balaji made it to the playing eleven, making
a strong debut against Kerala, taking seven wickets in the match.
Balaji has also performed quite brilliantly at the Under-19 level,
where he captured 5 wickets for South Zone against England U-19. |
| Within the short span of one season, Balaji
has made rapid strides, taking 32 wickets for Tamil Nadu in
the national tournament, and getting selected for the BCCI President’s
XI against the touring England team, though he did not figure
in the final eleven. |
| Balaji idolises Australian paceman Glenn McGrath,
whose accuracy and never-say-die spirit he tries to emulate.
He pays considerable attention to his physical fitness, and
is considered a good fielder. As a tailend batsman, he has shown
admirable resolve, if not sparkling talent. |
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| L Balaji |
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| Y Venugopala Rao |
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| Free stroking |
| Y Venugopala Rao, a free stroking batsman
from Andhra, is the other Chemplast lad to be picked for the
tour. One of the most promising young batsmen in the country
with a string of all-round performances for India Under-19,
and a member of the World Cup winning team, Venugopala Rao is
a very useful off spinner in limited overs cricket. With two
of their senior colleagues to guide them, Balaji and Rao can
be expected to improve vastly on the tour. |
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| News flash |
| Mongia forces his way into
Indian team to tour West Indies |
| Following a brilliant 159 not out in
147 deliveries that brought India a 3-2 victory in the
ODI series against Zimbabwe, Dinesh Mongia was expectedly
chosen as a member of the Indian team to tour West Indies
starting on 5th April. This has been a happy culmination
of the Punjab batsman's recent string of outstanding performances
in domestic and international cricket. His place as India
'A' captain is now filled by Jacob Martin, his Jolly Rovers
team mate. |
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| Photographs courtesy: www.cricinfo.com |
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