Rani Jhansi Trophy: A Showcase of talent

The recently concluded CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy in Chennai threw up some good induvidual performances, not only from the international stars but also players who are knocking at the doors of national selection. Players like Seema Pujari, Smitha Harikrishna, Neetu Singh and Rumeli Dhar came out from the shadows and really showcased their talent.

Champions Air India, with internationals like Anju Jain, Anjum Chopra, and captain Purnima Rau in their ranks time and again made short work of the opposition. But off-spinner Seema Pujari was chiefly instrumental in laying the platform for an Air India win on more than one occasion. She showed a much wiser head on her shoulders when she gave the ball flight and extracted turn and bounce from the pitch to trouble the batswomen.

The best bet of the tournament would however have to be Hemalatha Kala of the Railways. She was the backbone of the batting. Though sedate in pacing her innings, she played the sheet anchor role to perfection and bolstered the Railways batting time and again.

Much in the same vein as Seema Pujari, Railways' Neetu David proved to be a handful every time she took the field. She was the lynchpin of the Railways attack. One spell that comes to mind is the match against East Zone where she exploited the rough spots on the track and tormented the opposition so much that she notched up the best bowling figures of the tournament - 10-6-9-0.

Apart from the two institutional teams of Air India and Indian Railways, the zonal teams managed to put up only marginal performances. But considering their limited potential, one saw some good ``lonesome tigresses'' on the prowl. South Zone's Vanitha Viola was one such who, time and again gave her team the impetus to carry on. She was the lone star in an otherwise dismal all round show by South Zone, who finished in the cellar position along with the East.

The other girl who caught the fancy of the selectors was East Zone's Kavitha Roy. She performed consistently all through the tournament. Kavitha repeatedly came to her team's rescue and in opening the bowling in tandem with Jhulan Goswami, she proved to be niggardly, even though she was not penetrative enough.

North Zone gave a disciplined performance. They only lacked a touch of professionalism. The two consistent performers with the bat were Rakhi Mehra and Gurdeep Kaur. A good stroke player, Rakhi was the mainstay in the batting line up with no one else really coming up with any good scores. The North bowling was bolstered by Anjuman Bassi. She was intent on restricting the scoring with her spinners and this saw the opposition gift her many wickets. She can consider herself to be unlucky not to find a place in the list of probables.

West Zone were the best side among the zonal teams. They were placed third, just behind Air India and Railways. The team was bolstered by some good performances by Kalyani Umbrani and Amrita Shinde. Kalyani especially was very consistent with the bat whereas Sangeeta shone with some tidy bowling performances.

Central Zone were slightly better placed than the two minnows, South and East. K Arundathi was the most impressive with the bat and G Bindeswari shone with the ball picking up some useful wickets along with R Varsha.

The focus now shifts to the thirty five probables selected at the end of the week long tournament. They will attend a few camps prior to the selection of the final squad that will take part in the World Cup in New Zealand in November.