CONSISTENT FIELDING HIGH ON RAJIV'S AGENDA AS PREPARATIONS INTENSIFY.

"The only (area of improvement) I can think of is having a consistent effort on the field with energy and intensity, especially in high-scoring game. If we can be consistent as a fielding side, it can give us more consistency overall in our skills department as well. In the field, we can still improve a lot. "

With the likes of Rajiv Gokani, Manan Shah, Gautam Parolia, Vishal Kalantri, Anish Bhansali, Dhanesh Chheda and Mahavir Shah, HSI Lions have set themselves standards higher since 2013. 

"We have spoken to the people in the practice sessions who need to do the extra effort to sharpen their fielding, and they are putting in that extra effort", Rajiv adds. "That is the only area we feel we can get better at. Obviously, batting and bowling are big variables. Fielding is something that is controllable and you need to get that from all the 11 players in the field. I certainly feel we can improve quite a bit in that department."

QMS KINGS OUTMUSCLE AB DEVILS IN THE TOURNAMENT OPENER

AB Devils endured more heartbreak against QMS Kings in the season opener. While the teams were expecting a close contest, this Group G encounter barely even qualified as one. Sachin Brahma bowled excellently claiming 5 wickets for a mere 7 runs, as AB devils were bowled out for 103. QMS Kings then romped to the target with 63 balls and Ten wickets to spare.

The contrast in the batting approach and abilities of the two teams was showcased from the very beginning, carried on through the powerplay overs - QMS Kings's 75/0 to AB Devil's 48/2 - and achieved the target with more than 10 overs to spare, QMS Kings won by 10 wickets. A victory that confirmed whats in store for the season.

QMS Kings captain Chirag Shah's simple summary of "We did come to the party today", doesn't begin to explain the absolute devastation that the openers -  Jainam Rathod and himself - caused at the top of order. They whacked 15, 9, 17, 14, 13, 7 runs in the first six overs to put AB Devils under early pressure.The relaxation of the fielding restrictions brought slight respite, as QMS Kings scored just 29 off the next 21 deliveries. In this period, Chirag Shah brought up his T20I fifty.  

Brief scores: AB Devils 103 in 18.1 overs (Mihir Varma 33; Sachin Brahma 5-7, Harnish Kamdar 2-17) lost to QMS Kings 104/0 in 9.3 overs (Chirag Shah 61*, Jainam Rathod 32*) by ten wickets.

Man of the Match: Sachin Brahma

LETS PLAY & PLAY HARD.

BD SMASHERS OPEN WITH A WIN

Ashwin Shete took 2 for 14 & Niraj Parikh took 2 for 33 to leave a gaping hole in the JBCN United middle order, one they couldn't recover from. Among their takeaways from the contest was the performance of bowler Ashwin Shete, who ran in hard and troubled the openers during the course of an intense spell with the new ball. He finished with figures of 4-0-14-2, bowling his entire quota for the BD Smashers.

The only semblance of resistance from there on came courtesy JBCN captain Akshay Chadha, who brought out the big shots and relied on his industry strokes to pinch runs in the face of some disciplined bowling. He made an attractive 38-ball 52. With no support from the other batsmen JBCN United innings folded for 128/10.

 BD Smashers Suchit Shah started of with a flyer where he took on Vinay Chhadva in the third over and smashed 20 runs in it. Suchit made a quickfire 18 ball 36 hitting 5 boundaries and 2 sixes. With 4 wickets falling in 2 overs the scoreboard went from 78/1 to 85/5 on the completion of 10 overs. Tej Contractor made sure that BD Smashers crossed the line victorious with a 28-ball 35.

 Brief scores: JBCN United 128 in 20 overs (Akshay Chadha 52; Ashwin Chete 2-14) lost to BD Smashers 129/6 in 16.4 overs (Suchit Shah 36, Tej Contractor 35*) by four wickets.

Man of the Match: Suchit Shah

Team Player of the Match: Akshay Chadha

CLINICAL GB STRIKERS DISMANTLES MRV RISERS WITH DISDAIN.

GB Strikers completed a comfortable victory against MRV Risers at Central Railway, Parel.

 The architect of the victory was the duo of Ruchik Shah & Nishant Ranka, who finished with a match tally of 9 wickets between them to give the current champions their second consecutive victory & that too a Big one. They had run through the MRV Risers batting order with eight wickets in the powerplay including a HATTRICK in the second over. Ruchik Shah ended up with 5 wickets for 20 runs from his four overs in the match. Ruchik was well supported by Nishant Ranka, who picked up 4 for 17 from his four overs, to fashion the champions' win by 181 runs.

Ruchik's performance was one for the top drawer. He put on show a full array of skills, bamboozling the batsmen on the way to his record haul. He consistently proved that he was on the top of his game.

 MRV Risers took the aggressive approach chasing the target of 234 runs. This brought about their downfall. Bhavin Shah & Ravinder Soni were the only two batsman to reach to double figures for MRV Risers.

 But the star of the day was Nimish Vora, who lit up the Central Railways Stadium in Mumbai with a scintillating 61-ball 98, powering GBS to a thumping 181-run victory versus MRV Risers.

Nimish said that the landmark of scoring a hundred didn't cross his mind as he was focussed on getting as many runs as possible to help his side post a competitive total. "I was not looking at how many runs I was getting, I was looking at how many we needed to set a big target & win the game."

Nimish was well supported with brilliant quickfire batting cameos by Vishal Patel, Jigar Shah and Keyur Acharya.

Brief Scores: GB Strikers 233/3  beat MRV Risers 52/10 by massive 181 runs margin.

Man of the Match: Ruchik Shah

HSI LIONS vs JBCN UNITED

Despite losing the round robin matches, HSI LIONS will walk into the bronze quarter final contest believing they can turn things around. All games have followed a similar pattern where HSI  have lost the games in the death overs but individual performances got them close.

At the Central Railways ground, the task is pretty straightforward for the team. They need their batting unit to fire in unison and need to find a way to control the leaking runs at the death. Rajiv Gokani and the think-tank need to find better alternatives in the final few overs and the HSI captain could well be the answer. Despite losing his prowess with the ball, Rajiv still has the variations to keep the batsmen in check.

With the track expected to be another batting beauty, HSI Lions will be desperate for a performance from their bowlers. Individual brilliance have threatened opponents but its now entirely going to be a team effort if they need want to win.

What to expect: No weather hindrances expected in the day as the fans can expect a lot of fireworks from the batsmen at a venue with pretty short boundaries.

JBCN United pull off a 25 run win after HSI Lions Anant Roongta's 48 ball 84

A spectacular Anant Roongta power-hitting showcase was not enough to lift HSI Lions out of a pit of the middle-order's making, though it did fill the chase of 200 with much more explosive fun than it promised when HSI Lions were 40 for 4. Anant wallopped 7 sixes and 5 fours on his way to 84 off 48 balls. But with 40 still needed for victory, Roongta mis-hit a length ball from Kamlesh Shah, from where Parag Shah sprinted to complete an excellent catch.

In the end though, their dramatic middle-overs collapse, in which HSI Lions had lost four wickets for 10 runs, proved to be the definitive period of the game. Anant's heroics, at least, were further evidence that he is a vastly improved batsman compared to the last season. A 5^th wicket partnership of 120 runs between Rajiv Gokani and Anant Roongta kept the chase alive.

Akshay Chadha struck a 49-ball 72, putting on a 132-run stand for the first wicket with Avanish Shah 68 from 44 balls, that formed the base for JBCN United's commanding total.

 The opening partnership provided fireworks, before proving effective in the middle overs once more. And Anshuman Agarwalla was terrific on what was now a surface offering moderate turn, taking 2 for 20 from his 4 overs, having precipitated that  middle-order meltdown.

HSI Lions effected one run outs in the innings, but even that didn't quite make up for their lack of menace in the middle overs again dropping catches, misfielding and giving extras. JBCN first team to qualify for Bronze Semifinals.

Summary: JBCN United 199 for 5 (Akshay Chadha 72, Avanish Shah 68, Neesham 64) beat HSI Lions 174 for 8 (Anant Roongta 84, Rajiv Gokani 36, Kamlesh Shah 3-38) by 25 runs

MHCCL 2019

This year's MHCCL will be as grand as the previous season given that teams have been allowed to retain 2 of their players but it doesn't mean, it wouldn't throw up some interesting combinations and selections.

The team to watch out the most during the tournament is RROCKETS. A new owner & a complete new team this year.

Last year's defending champions VMFighters play RRockets in the opening game on 22 Jan 2019 at the Central Railway Cricket Ground, Lower Parel.

The most expensive players in this years MHCCL are the ones to be watched out for: Krish Jogani, Rishil Shah, Rupen Jhaveri & Aadit Parikh.

Some of the top players who are featuring in the MHCCL  this year include Sohil Shah, Amit Photographer, Vishal Shah, Saurabh Jhaveri, Rishabh Shah, Manan Shah, Karan Doshi, Vineet Dujodwala, Kyan  Bharucha, Ronak Seth, The Gokani brothers - Rajiv and Vishal, Bhairav Seth and many more.

Some of the biggest names in MHCCL world cricket have changed hands for huge amounts of money during the auction as teams try and put together a winning combination of players.

MHCCL auction results: (http://auction.baysidesports.com/League/LeaguePlayers/63) .