By IANS
New Delhi : Young Saurasthra batsman Cheteswar Pujara strengthened his claim for an India berth as the leading run-getter till the semi-final stage of the 2007-08 Ranji Trophy season.
Though Saurashtra failed to make it to the finals, the 19-year-old Pujara has scored 807 runs from eight matches at an average of 73.36, which includes three centuries, and as many half centuries. His highest was an unbeaten 151.
However, Uttar Pradesh captain Mohammad Kaif (650 runs from seven matches), Delhi openers Akaash Chopra (648 from eight matches) and Gautam Gambhir (600 from four matches) can topple Pujara, as Uttar Pradesh will play Delhi in the finals of the Ranji Trophy starting Jan 16 in Mumbai.
But to do that, all the three batsmen, who have been fighting to get back to the national side, will need to score heavily in the final.
Tamil Nadu batsman Subramanium Badrinath occupies the second spot with 659 runs from seven matches, while young Hyderabadi Dwaraka Ravi Teja is at the third spot with 653 from six outings.
Among the bowlers, Karnataka seamer R. Vinay Kumar is the leading the wicket-takers list with 40 scalps from seven matches, but following close behind is Uttar Pradesh pacer Sudeep Tyagi with 39 wickets from seven outings.
Leading Run-getters in 2007-08 Ranji Trophy Super League:
Batsman For M I N.O.Runs H.S. Ave. 100 50 S.R.
Cheteshwar Pujara Saur. 8 15 4 807 151* 73.36 3 3 59.16
Subramaniam Badrinath TN 7 11 1 659 143 65.90 3 2 56.42
Dwaraka Ravi Teja Hyd. 6 12 1 653 133* 59.36 2 4 70.44
Mohammad Kaif UP 7 12 2 650 122* 65.00 2 4 59.52
Akaash Chopra Delhi 8 14 1 648 215 49.84 2 3 46.18
Rakesh Solanki Bar. 7 11 1 645 186 64.50 2 5 46.73
Gautam Gambhir Delhi 4 8 1 600 137* 85.71 3 2 61.03
Mithun Minhas Delhi 8 14 3 598 124 54.36 2 3 52.82
Leading wicket-takers:
Bowler For M Overs Runs Wkts.Ave. Best S.R. 5WI 10WM
Vinay Kumar Kar. 7 272.4 741 40 18.52 6/38 40.9 3 1
Sudeep Tyagi UP 7 250.2 774 39 19.84 6/46 38.5 2 1
Sandeep Jobanputra Saur.8 257.0 796 36 22.11 6/70 42.8 3 –
Ashok Thakur HP 7 271.5 764 35 21.82 6/34 46.6 3 1
Sunil Joshi Kar. 7 302.5 676 34 19.88 6/83 53.4 1 1
Debasis Mohanty Oris.6 233.0 501 30 16.70 5/25 46.6 2 1
Praveen Kumar UP 5 179.2 460 28 16.42 6/65 38.4 1 –