On-field action aside, we could have just witnessed the most eventful day in cricket's history, one when players were bought like stocks at a share market

Mithun Manhas made a brave decision in putting West Zone in on the Wankhede track which is reputed to be a good bat-first pitch

VRV took his second five-wicket haul in two Duleep Trophy matches since his return from Australia, while Ajinkya Rahane followed his 172 in the previous game with an aggressive 91

Both teams are battle-ready, after having fought their way into the final from a difficult corner in their respective final league matches

Top-level international cricket now has two bowler-captains, Anil Kumble and Daniel Vettori, which is a whole lot more than there have been in recent times. We take a look at a little-understood breed

A mixed bag of the quirky and the routine

Sidharth Monga traces Uttar Pradesh's rise over the last three years, and finds that they're still an underdog story

Sidharth Monga looks into the reasons why domestic batsmen come up short on sporting pitches

Uttar Pradesh picked off the remaining three Saurashtra wickets to win by 48 runs and book their place in the Ranji Trophy final

Shitanshu Kotak and the Saurashtra tail stood between Uttar Pradesh and a place in the Ranji Trophy final

Uttar Pradesh were bundled for 188, but by stumps, they had Saurashtra tottering at 116 for 8

On paper, given the presence of big stars and the momentum, UP will have an upper hand against Saurashtra

As ever, in 2007 too, you never could tell which Bangladesh team would show up on any given day

Sidharth Monga looks back at the highlights of the seventh round of the Ranji Trophy

Sidharth Monga looks back at the highlights of the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy

Maharashtra started the season as unknowns. Mid-way into the Ranji Trophy and they're the talk of town, writes Sidharth Monga

Parvinder Awana, the right-arm seamer, took a hat-trick as Maharashtra, resuming on their overnight 129 for 4, were bowled out for 240, giving Delhi a target of 51, which they chased with seven wickets to spare

Maharashtra, after conceding a 190-run first-innings lead, were 129 for 4, with Kanitkar, the batsman who looked like he could salvage a draw, out for 50

The Delhi batsmen applied themselves, strung together partnerships, and put their side 59 ahead of Maharashtra's total of 219 with five wickets to spare

Sidharth Monga on the small-town venues where Maharashtra have been playing their home games