Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019 | Hits and Misses from the first week of the tournament

#3 KL Rahul back to scoring runs [131 (122) v Kerala]

KL Rahul

A knock of 29 runs against Jharkhand wasn’t the ideal start KL Rahul was looking for. After a string of poor scores in Test cricket, the selectors have started to look at other youngsters like Prithvi Shaw and Shubhman Gill or even the limited-over specialist Rohit Sharma.

Coming into the second game with a cloud of tentativeness hovering around Rahul’s batting technique, he answered his critics with more than run-a-ball 131 that consisted of 10 fours and four sixes. KL Rahul started his career for Karnataka with a batting technique better suited to the longest version of the game. Leaving balls off the good lengths, he was rated highly by Rahul Dravid, a player who knew where his off-stump was and a great timer of the ball.

Even now, when you see Rahul in full flow, you wonder if more consist performances are the need of the hour. However, Virat Kolhi and Ravi Shastri will be keeping a keen eye on Rahul’s performances before he gets out of selectors’ radar altogether.

#4 Pace bowlers leading the way- Gaurav Yadav, SV Trivedi and Rahul Shukla

Conditions are helpful to fast bowlers

Wondering who these names are and which teams do these players represent?

Gaurav Yadav, a 27-year-old medium-pace bowler from Madhya Pradesh, stands at the top of the most wickets list in this year’s Vijay Hazare trophy. In the four matches played, Gaurav has taken 12 wickets at an average of just 14.66 with a best of 5/45 against Railways.

With a six-for against Uttarakhand, Sagar Trivedi of Puducherry stands second in the wicket-takers list. Sagar’s 10 wickets have come in only two matches at an average of only 6.80.

Two good performances from Rahul Shukla in the opening week has caught everyone’s attention. Rahul might already be in his 30th year, but a six-for against Goa and a four-wicket haul against Karnataka augurs well for the Jharkhand team in this year’s Vijay Hazare trophy.