Mysterious Maharashtra
Mysterious Maharashtra very easily qualify as the most enigmatic team of 2007-2008. They started the season well and were group leaders till quite late in the competition. But it has been tough to understand the team. They played home games at mysterious venues like Nagothane and Ratnagiri. Unknown debutants performed without showing any jitters. Coach Chandrakant Pandit resigned with one match to go for the season. But the most publicised mystery was the one involving their pace spearhead Munaf Patel. Where is Munaf ? To this simple question there was no answer from the Maharashtra cricket officials, national selectors or even the BCCI.

Practical experience
One doesn’t need a degree to be a successful coach. The inference can be drawn from this Ranji season’s semi-finalists. Vijay Dahiya (Delhi), Gyanendra Pandey (UP) and Debu Mitra (Saurashtra) never sat in classrooms to learn about the game. They have been battle-hardened cricketers who learned coaching while playing. Dahiya and Pandey, who retired last year from their respective domestic teams, were asked to take up the job given their young age and familiarity with the team.
Three top teams this season—Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Baroda — had reputed former bowlers in the think tank. Manoj Prabhakar for Delhi, Ashish Winston Zaidi for UP and Baroda coach Paras Mhambrey had a big role to play in their team’s success. Delhi’s Ishant Sharma is making waves in Australia and Pradeep Sangwan is the find of the season at home. For Uttar Pradesh, Praveen Kumar and Sudeep Tyagi vouch that Zaidi’s presence in the dressing room helps. Baroda bowlers Sumit Singh and Salim Veragi—virtually unknown—kept the team in contention till they lost in the semi-finals. Thanks to Mhambrey.
While debutants performed extremely well, India drop-outs looking to stay in the fray—players like Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel and Ranadeb Bose — failed to impress. Powar began well with 15 wickets from two matches but later drifted. Frustration was evident as later in the season the temperamental offie slapped a few hecklers at Wankhede. In the last game against Saurashtra, he was even asked to take off his trademark red framed dark glasses. Shitanshu Kotak complained: “The red ball being released from his hand with those red frames in background is quite confusing.”