Similar on the lines of Mumbai's Shivaji Park, State's capital Ranchi and Steel City Jamshedpur have fast acquired the fame of being the cradle for budding cricketers of the Eastern India.
The State has not only given the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the Nation but several players like Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Varun Aaron, Rahul Shukla, Shahbaz Nadeem and Sunny Gupta have left their mark in Indian Premier League ( IPL) too.
However, the icing on the cake is the State's splendid performance in the Vijay Hazare League 2018. The team has achieved the highest tally of 32 across India even above Mumbai at the end of the league. And it's the only unbeaten team alongside Mumbai.
Jharkhand has finished their Elite Group C campaign with an all-win record (6 wins & 2 abandoned), they dominated games. The team, under the shadow of MS Dhoni, also showed some spirit that suggests they are ready to create their own identity. The young skipper Ishan Kishan has made 377 runs in seven innings with a strike rate of 119.30.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem has taken 21 wickets with an economy of 3.95. While Anand Singh and Saurabh Tiwary have delivered in batting while Varun Aaron and Rahul Shukla have played important roles in bowling. Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy has scored two fifties to go with 10 wickets.
Talking to The Pioneer BCCI Secretary and former Jharkhand supercop Amitabh Choudhary expressed happiness over Jharkhand doing well in the game. "We will continue producing international stars," he said.
Talking over the phone cricketer Saurabh Tiwary said that the players of Jharkhand are playing like a team together and this has led to the overwhelming performance in the league. " We are really very happy with our performance in the league. We played together and the pitch has also supported our bowlers especially the spinners to take crucial wickets. We want to keep the tempo and give our best," said Tiwary, the stylish yet fiery middle order batsman.
Sharing his opinion on the State emerging as new cricketing cradle, Tiwary said that from past five years the performance of the State has significantly improved. Not only the technique but a positive environment has been developed for the improvement of the game. Youths are now taking the game seriously.
According to experts, the State provides a platform for budding cricketers to display their talents and also get a chance to join some of the best cricket schools too. The infrastructures like JSCA Stadium at Ranchi and Keenan Stadium at Jamshedpur also serve as a breeding ground for its budding cricketers as far as giving them exposure is concerned.
Ajay Nath Shahdeo, Vice President, Jharkhand State Cricket Association, said that the recent performance of the State is the result of continuous improvement initiatives that were seeded by former JSCA President Amitabh Choudhary. He said that Mr Choudhary's contribution is immense and with the formation of new stadium in Ranchi the spotlight is on Jharkhand today.
He said that MS Dhoni has also inspired the youths to take up the game seriously and bring laurels to the State.
Talking about the elite list of players, Jamshedpur alone boasts of an elite list of cricketers, former India players Ramesh Saxena, Prakash Bhandari, Subroto Banerjee and Syed Saba Karim.
Saxena played against England at Leeds in 1967 while Bhandari played three Tests, the last one in the 1956-57. Banerjee was a part of India team at Sydney in Australia in the 90s while Karim represented the country in the Test versus Bangladesh in 2000-01. Though several of them have shifted from Jamshedpur, all have spent a considerable amount of time in the city.