Dear Readers,

As promised here are the answers to some of the questions you'd asked.

Posted by: Chintan Shah on February 24, 2009 11:00 AM

Hi Aakash,
I’m a big fan of your articles on Cricinfo. I was trying to find your book in local bookstores but could not get it. Maybe I didn’t try enough, but I would surely buy it soon.
My Question to you is about our domestic cricket scheduling. County cricket has four tournaments just like we do, they also have a two-tier approach, plus they have Twenty20 tournaments too which we do not – in our domestic circuit - thanks to the IPL. Why can’t we have a schedule just like them? The counties play four day-games in a week and play a one-day match over the weekend, that way both the Ranji Trophy and Ranji one-dayers can be held together. Similarly, the Duleep Trophy needs more matches, it simply cannot be a knockout tournament.

Dear Chintan,
We used to follow a similarly formatted schedule earlier i.e. playing a one-day match a day before the longer version. But all this changed when the Elite and Plate divisions were introduced in the Ranji Trophy. The old zonal system continued for the one-day tournament, though. Hence, it isn’t possible to hold both formats in the same week. I won’t be surprised to see the Elite and Plate divisions introduced soon in the shorter format as well.
Yes, I completely agree that there could be more matches in the Duleep trophy.

Posted by: Angi on February 24, 2009 11:20 AM

Dharamsala is a beautiful place - wonderful scenery and locations.
I'm a bit curious to know one thing: when did you first debut in the Ranji Trophy? I mean, did you represent your school teams first and then some clubs - basically, how did you get noticed?

Dear Angi,
I made my first class debut in 1997 against Services.

Yes, one needs to play for the school team, then some club and eventually in age-group tournaments for the state. One must do well enough in the age-group tournaments to get noticed and picked to play for the state team at first-class level.

Posted by: Vikram Kewalramani on February 24, 2009 12:31 PM

Hey Aakash,
Love your book. I live in Canada but I made sure that I got one sent to me as I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts.

According to you, what is the difference in pre-match preparation between a Test player v/s an above-average Ranji player for the same game? (Let’s say a Laxman versus a Mithun Minhas.) Or to compare Apples with apples (how do you/ Gambhir differ in preparation versus a Rajat Bhatia/ Minhas? )
Thanks,
Vikram

Dear Vikram,
Many thanks for your feedback and I appreciate the effort you made to get hold of my book; and I’m glad that you liked it.

In the end, it’s all about what works for each individual. There are no fool proof methods of preparing. As they say, if you’re not prepared to succeed you must be ready to fail. Hence, prepare we must.

Posted by: Raghu on February 24, 2009 3:18 PM

Aakash, saw your scores in the tournament, looks like you’re on a purple patch, hope you continue making the big runs.

Here's my question - I am sure its hard to adjust to a higher level of the game when you take a step up but how difficult is it for a player to adjust to a lower level of the game after having played at the highest level? For instance you have played in the best of the grounds and against the best bowlers in the world in Australia, so how difficult is it to adjust to the not-so-great grounds and face lower quality - if I may say so - bowling in domestic cricket.

Dear Raghu,

Well, it doesn’t take me a lot to adjust to domestic cricket because I’ve been around for a while. I played quite a few seasons in this circuit before making it to the top and therefore it doesn’t come as a surprise. Yes, the difference does seem more blatant when you’ve played at the top.

Posted by: Ravi on February 24, 2009 4:19 PM

As usual, a nice article from you Aakash. Nowadays I’ve got so habituated to reading your articles, I am checking for one everyday when I logon to Cricinfo.

You’ve hit the nail on the head regarding scheduling. As you said the elite/plate should be introduced here to bring out the best out of the players. But why is it that players get selected in the ODI team based on their performances in four-day games instead of the shorter format?

Dear Ravi,

Yes, there’s some food for thought in what you say. As I’ve said earlier, I won’t be surprised to see the Elite and Plate division system introduced in the shorter format as well.
Yes, it does seem a little unfair to select players to represent India in the shorter format based on their performances in the longer format, but that’s where the selectors come in. They’re the ones who decide whether someone is suited for the shorter version or not. Since they’ve played at the highest level, they generally tend to get it right.

Posted by: Denzil Correa on February 24, 2009 4:54 PM

Hi Aakash,

I am a near regular follower of your blog and most articles on Cricinfo. I would like to know whether players’ opinions are taken into consideration while deciding the itinerary. In international cricket, the two member boards sit and decide the itinerary. Who decides the same for the domestic matches?

All the best for your one-day campaign. If possible, can you explain how teams qualify for the Ranji one-dayers?

Thanks

Dear Denzil,

The top two teams from each zone qualify for the Knock Out one-day competition.

Posted by: Aditya on February 24, 2009 4:57 PM

Hi Aakash,

Beautiful post again.

I had a question for you: Just like you discussed about cricket balls in your two previous blogs, can you give us insights into a batsman's gear such as bats, pads, helmets, etc? I know there are English and Kashmir willow bats. Which ones are better and why?

Keep writing,
regards,
Aditya

Dear Aditya,

The bats made from English willow are much better in comparison to the bats made from their Kashmiri counterpart. The difference lies in the climate in which the tree is grown. The climate in Kashmir gets hotter in the summer and hence the wood gets dry as compared to the region in which the trees are grown in England. The wood from England is less dense and has more moisture when compared to the willow from Kashmir which is more dense and dry, and hence makes the wood heavier, which isn’t ideal for a top quality cricket bat.

Posted by: Satyanand on February 25, 2009 4:10 AM

Hi Aakash ,
I have always wondered why the domestic matches are not popular ,whereas the IPL seems to be such a success. If we ignore the four foreign players per team , it would basically boil down to a majority of Indian players.

Most Ranji matches nowadays are playing to empty stands . Any thoughts on how to improve the attendance? For one, I think the State/Club youth teams can be encouraged to watch and learn from the matches (at least).

Dear Satyanand,

At the risk of sounding bizarre, I think that we might have to make the Ranji trophy matches day-night affairs. It wouldn’t be a bad option to start the game under lights at 3pm. This would mean that the second half of the day's play would be at prime time and I’m sure that people in this country would like to watch live cricket even if it’s a domestic match.

Posted by: Akash on February 25, 2009 11:41 AM

Hi Aakash,

Very good one mate.

A request for your next blog: is the money earned through domestic cricket sustainable? Can all domestic cricketers earn enough for sustenance of their families or they have to alternative work during off season......after they retire ...etc?

Dear Akash,

The BCCI must be given credit for pumping in the money for domestic cricket. Nowadays if a player plays an entire season of domestic cricket he makes enough money to maintain a decent lifestyle. Besides that, most first class cricketers are working for one organization or another and are therefore drawing a comfortable monthly salary from their employers as well. So they don’t really have to work in the off-season, but they are required to turn up for the matches their respective organizations play during the off-season.

I'm sorry for not being able to answer all the questions as that's a slightly difficult task on the blog. So in the meantime please browse my website which is called www.cricketaakash.com and feel free to ask questions and give feedback.

Cheers.

Dear readers,

Walking out to defend a modest total against Bengal in the quarter-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, I told my players that we needed to give it all we had, to ensure that we get another opportunity to walk on to the cricket field as a team. A loss in that match would’ve meant the end of the road for Delhi. We had an early start to the season because we had to play a couple of extra pre-season games as a reward for winning the Ranji Trophy last season. So our sojourn together was quite a long one, where we saw more lows than highs, especially when compared to the previous season.

When you know that it’s all going to end, albeit only for a few more months when the drama would begin once again, you want to hold onto it for as long as possible. It might sound a little clichéd and inspired from the movie Chak De, but our last 47 overs on the field (the match was reduced to 47 overs a side) reminded me of that ‘Yeh 70 minute’ speech that Shah Rukh Khan gives his players before the finals.

	The damage in the attack on the Sri Lankan team was limited because the bus was able to move, once the driver got going © Getty Images

Dear readers,

This post is not about domestic cricket or perhaps, not even about cricket, but about the prevailing circumstances in the game and our society in general. Today, this piece appeared in the Hindustan Times and I felt the need to share it with the people who follow my blog here. So here goes....

The terror attack in Lahore brought back memories of the time I spent in Pakistan during the 2004 tour. The security blanket thrown around us was unprecedented. Our team bus was part of a convoy that had a fire brigade, an ambulance, and helicopter surveillance along with quite a few police vehicles.

Dear readers,

We’re in Agartala for the knock-out rounds of the Vijay Hazare trophy. For those who are not aware Agartala - the capital of Tripura - is located in the far east of India. One needs to take a flight from Kolkata and fly over Bangladesh to reach here. We realised its proximity to our neighboring country as soon as we landed. The network for mobile phones, if not selected manually, tends to log onto Grameen, the telecom service provider in Bangladesh. So if you’re not careful you might end up paying a lot of money for making and receiving calls under the international roaming rates.

The snow-covered peaks in the backdrop add to the charm of playing cricket in this mountain city. The hotel we chose to stay in was about half an hour's drive away from the ground and driving in that kind of terrain can be a bit of a bother for some, but once you set foot on the ground, everything else fades into oblivion. I must mention here that a lot of thinking and hard work has gone into building this facility and other associations can take a cue on just how much can be achieved if one has vision and the passion. The track is also almost ideal to play cricket on as it offers enough for everyone in the business. It won't be long before an international match or a national camp is held here.

The tournament finishes in nine days as the matches are held on every alternate day and if the rest day in-between includes travelling, it can get gruelling for the players. Contrary to popular belief, a one-day match takes a lot out of a player and the lack of adequate rest and time to recover can lead to injuries and fatigue. One might suggest a player-rotation system but with selection for the Deodhar Trophy, the one-day zonal tournament, at stake one can't afford to take a break because in the end it's all about the numbers: how many runs and how many wickets a player took.

	Unforgettable friendships are formed, while sharing the best times of one's life with team-mates © Cricinfo Ltd

Dear friends

Talking about cities and suchlike certainly isn't my cup of tea, but having returned to this splendidly beautiful place, Dharamsala, I felt obliged to write something about this place, to share my feelings with pen and paper, or monitor and keyboard as it is for me now.

We are in Dharamsala for our one-day matches. I have been here a few times before, but every time I return I feel a renewed love for this state. It is so beautiful and serene, one couldn't ask for a better getaway from the chaos and rush that big cities are partial to. We have matches on alternate days and that allowed us a free day in between to simply laze around, a luxury in our hometowns where we are constantly on the run - even on rest days.

	That red thing in his hand is a Kookaburra, but chances are Siddharth Trivedi didn't get to practise with it © Getty Images

Dear readers

In the previous post I wrote about the decision, taken a couple of years ago, to use the Kookaburra ball in the Duleep Trophy. We were excited about this change, but we faced a strange situation right at the beginning. These Kookaburra balls are really expensive - over Rs 3000 - and hence were not made available for use in our practice sessions, even on the days before the matches. It was a little bizarre to practise with an SG Test ball when the game was to be played with the Kookaburra. But who were we to complain, and more importantly to whom?

The second bit of surprise came when the match referee explained the playing conditions to the captains. It was decided that the ball would not be changed even if it went out of shape. Reason? There weren't enough spare balls available! The hosting association was provided with only six to eight new balls to conduct the match, out of which one was to be used at the start of every innings in the match. They were given a cushion of four additional balls in case the teams took new balls after 80 overs. It goes without saying that the number of balls provided to the fielding team to choose the match ball from kept reducing by one with every innings. Normally, the fielding team is provided with 10-12 balls to choose from, but these were not normal balls.

	'The SG Test ball doesn't swing much when it's new' ©AFP

A couple of years ago the BCCI decided to use Kookaburra balls in the Duleep Trophy to give our domestic players a feel of this type of ball, as at the international level, except for the Test cricket played in India and England, this ball is commonly used.

We, in India, use the SG Test ball and England plays with either a Duke or a Readers ball (these two are quite similar to the SG Test balls used in India). But even that is restricted only to the red balls because the shorter formats all over the world are played with the white Kookaburra ball.

It was exactly the same in the Indian domestic circuit till the introduction of the Kookaburra ball for the Duleep Trophy. The longer format, before this move, was played with the SG Test ball and the one-day matches with the white Kookaburra ball.

	"Duleep Trophy might have lost a bit of its sheen and importance in the recent past, but it is still very dear to me" © Cricinfo Ltd

Dear readers

When I started playing first-class cricket about a decade ago, the whole purpose of playing Ranji Trophy was to do enough to get picked for North Zone in Duleep Trophy. The Ranji format was different back then. Teams were divided into zones, and would play each other before the top two qualified for the knock-outs. Hence the media coverage was also restricted to the matches in the particular zone. For example we would rarely get to know about the matches happening in the south or east. I'm sure it must have been the same for other zones too.

Doing well was important and one got noticed all right, but only in his respective zone - unless someone did something out of the ordinary, something like a triple-century or 15 wickets in a match. The knock-out matches were always pretty important, but there were only a handful of teams involved.

Though this post has probably got nothing to do with domestic cricket, my book most certainly does have. I'll take the liberty of taking you through the journey of how Beyond the Blues happened. At the insistence of Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, a friend and former Cricinfo journalist, I started keeping a diary for the 2007-08 first-class season.

Even though I had read quite a few rather popular diaries in England, I was sceptical about the interest such a book would generate with the Indian reading audience. People in India don't follow domestic cricket as closely as they do in England and perhaps that's why there has never been a book written about India's domestic cricket. The second issue preventing me from writing the book was the discipline and effort it would require. I knew that once started, I had to commit myself to write almost everyday, and that included days when I would come back home knackered after the day’s play, days when I would fail on the field and writing would be the last thing on my mind and on days when nothing of note would happen and hence would find it equally difficult to write.

But when I did start writing eventually, little did I know that it would become a book some day. I started writing notes at the end of the day and started enjoying it. Within two months into the season I had written over 20,000 words and that's when I realised I needed to see it through till the end. Writing at the end of a day's play was keeping me on my toes during the day as well. Though I wrote on days when I didn't do well, it wasn't a happy feeling. I would constantly tell myself that it would read quite badly in the end if I have a poor season; that I'm commenting and recording everyone's performances while I scored only a handful of runs. A very scary thought indeed. Not that it prevented me from nicking the ball outside off-stump to the keeper, but it did add that extra focus to do well.

	We do have to make peace with the fact that the man standing 22 yards away is also human and can commit mistakes © Cricinfo Ltd

Dear readers,

We, Indians, are always looking for divinity in everything. We make Gods out of normal human beings and treat the game as a religion of sorts. Following the same trend even deeper I can clearly see divinity at work in first-class cricket. They say 'To err is human, to forgive divine’ and that's concretely manifested in almost every first-class game played in India.

Take the ongoing Ranji Trophy final for example, whether it was Wasim Jaffer on the first morning or Zaheer Khan on the second. Both of them erred in judgment and nicked the ball to the wicketkeeper but the umpire standing 22 yards away forgave their human follies and divinely granted them some more time to improve on their game in the middle. On the other hand both Ajinkya Rahane and Mohammad Kaif had to turn to their divinity when the man 22 yards away erred disastrously and gave them out when they clearly weren't.

The standard of umpiring in first-class cricket has been below-par for as long as I've been playing the game but rarely do we see people talking about it, apart from the affected players that is. The reason being that the matches were never shown live and hence there was never enough evidence to attract criticism. Now that the matches are shown live and they happen to be really high-profile games, the mistakes are glaringly visible and the consequent criticism very vocal.

	Where would Saurashtra be without Shitanshu Kotak? © Cricinfo Ltd.

With the Ranji finals starting tomorrow I can't help but think of two relatively unknown names who lead Uttar Pradesh into the finals. Both Shivakant Shukla and Parvinder Singh played the innings of their lives when their team needed it the most. This is what intrigues me about team sport - different people standing up and bailing the team out at different difficult times. But the sad part is that everyone's contribution is not acknowledged in a similar manner. This is the story of people who are always the best men.

Last year, Parvinder Awana from Delhi took a hat-trick against Maharashtra when we were desperate for a wicket. He got a lot of crucial wickets at times when we needed them the most. But his overall season tally didn't match up with the best in the country, nor was it good enough to get him into the North Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy. His hat-trick wasn't the only time he made a crucial contribution, the wickets against Tamil Nadu in a must win game for Delhi, crucial second-innings wickets against Baroda in semi-finals were as important to Delhi's success as Gautam Gambhir's, Rajat Bhatia's or my centuries were.

Dear readers,

Generally one must beat the opposition to qualify for the next round; a draw is never good enough. But in all probability a draw will do the job in this year's Ranji Trophy semi-finals. Both matches, though at neutral and Test venues, are being played on flat batting surfaces where the toss almost decided the outcome of the game. These are perfect win-the-toss-and-bat-first conditions. And to make matters worse for the team losing the toss, the match is only a four-day game and a first-innings lead is adequate to decide the match.

When you know that you don't have to bowl the opposition out twice to ensure a place in the final, the approach while batting changes, especially when batting first. One wouldn't want to force the issue as time is never going to be a concern. One must bat on and on for as long as they possibly can and try to bat the opposition out of the game.

There are two aspects of posting a big first-innings total. Scoring anything in excess of 400 would consume a lot of time and then, whether the opposition manages to chase it or falls short, the reply would also take a lot of time. So, by the time each team has batted once, regardless of who gets the lead, it would be near the end of the third day's play. Now, with only a day to play none of the teams would be able to set up the match for a desired result. A five-day match for the knockout stages would therefore be preferable. It's unbelievable what those three extra sessions on a wearing fifth day wicket could do to the outcome of the game.

If you've been following my blog you might remember that I'd written about the horrid time we had en route to Vijaywada. Incidentally we were in the same city for New Year's Eve as well. There was a small party organised in one of the posh hotels which was obviously not the hotel we were staying in. We paid our way to the party and found that it was a family affair with comedians, poets, singers taking the stage. There was some kind of a live band playing too but it was more of a sit-down function. It wasn't the ideal way to celebrate New Year's Eve but we made do with what we had.

I also remember a night in Mumbai. We were playing a Ranji Trophy game and I was not out on 46 at the close of play on the December 31. Hoping to score big the next morning, the options were very limited for me. I decided to stay indoors in the city of dreams while a few of my team-mates (the one's who had been dismissed, the bowlers and the ones not playing) had a blast. Well, I had a job to do, I told myself. As luck would have it, I got to my half-century off the first ball of the new year and got out soon after. I couldn't stop thinking that I too should have gone out last night. Hindsight is a wonderful thing indeed. My team-mates were quick to rub salt into my wounds by asking me sheepishly about what I did the previous night. I probably also became one of the only batsmen who had to wait a year to complete his half-century.

Dear all,

Umpires with a ball gauge in one hand inspecting the state, or to be precise the shape, of the ball was a fairly common sight during the quarter final game between Tamil Nadu and Bengal. Well, I was not at all surprised to see that happen as that's routine in first-class cricket. Once the ball goes out of shape it ceases to travel with the seam, which means without the seam getting wobbled in the air, and hence puts the bowlers at a disadvantage. And let me assure you that it happens at least twice or thrice during an innings. Hence the requests are valid and the change of ball mandatory. But that brings another question to the fore. Why do balls go out of shape so often? These are the same balls also used for the Test matches and it doesn't go out of shape so regularly in Test cricket. The make of the ball (SG) and the grade (TEST) is the same but obviously there's some difference which is not visible to the naked eye that makes the ball lose its shape. I doubt the mystery behind this phenomenon would ever be known to us and so I won't even try to solve that riddle. But I will tell you about all that transpires on the field of play.

As an opener you want to bide your time till the ball gets a little old both in terms of shine and hardness. If you survive that long, batting becomes relatively easier. But in domestic cricket the ball often goes out of shape in 15 to 20 overs and then the ball is promptly changed. Umpires select a ball from the spares, which are supposed to be in a similar condition to the one they want to change, and this is determined by the number of overs bowled. These spares balls are marked indicating the number of overs bowled with them.

	© Getty Images

I'm back home, and having my first home-cooked meal in the last fortnight made me realise what I had been missing out on. We have been on the road for two back-to-back matches, the first one in Rajkot, followed by another in Jaipur. Cricket has made all of us adventurous when it comes to experimenting with food, and also very accommodating about it - half of the time we don't have any choice anyway. And it goes without saying that nothing can beat home-cooked food.

If you haven't already guessed it, the topic of today's blog is the food we get while travelling to play cricket within the country. Travelling gives us an opportunity to get acquainted with the local flavours and develop a liking for their food in due course. So we look forward to visiting these places again. For example idli, dosa and rassam from the south, poha in central India, and batata vada and khakra in the west.

	Despite scoring heavily, I find myself without a contract © Cricinfo Ltd

A few years ago the BCCI started giving out contracts to the top players in the country. It was a great way of providing players with some security for a year, and also rewarding them for their performances in the season gone by. The contract system works on the principle of reviewing the performances of the contracted players during the period of the contract, which is from the 1st of October to the 30th of September. On the basis of the performances in that period, either a player's contract is renewed or dropped from the list altogether. There is also the grade system that ensures the more deserving players get just rewards, and the renewal of contract could also come with promotions or demotions to other grades.

Initially, the list of contracted players was limited to the top players in the country, and it had no more than 25 players spread over three grades. But last year the BCCI went a step further, and included the players who were doing really well in the domestic circuit. It was a great gesture from the BCCI, and it rewarded a lot of players for their performances. Well, everyone can't be playing for the country at the same time, and hence getting a contract was a huge encouragement. Once you have the contract, contrary to popular belief, not only does it bring the money and security, but it also adds to the motivation to do well, knowing that you're in the loop and would be rewarded again if you do well.

	Not even the best of them can escape the wait © AFP

Day before yesterday we left our houses at 11am to catch the 1pm flight to Mumbai en route to Rajkot for the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy. As it often happens these days, both our flights got delayed somewhat and it was nearly 8pm by the time we reached our hotel rooms in Rajkot. It amazes me that it can take so much time to reach anywhere within the country by air. But we're seasoned travellers and nothing surprises us any more.

There's always a different set of memories attached with every destination, especially when we frequent these places regularly. We have come to Rajkot often in the recent past and they have brought with them a few pleasant and a few not-so-pleasant memories. I vividly remember our journey to Rajkot to play in the Irani Trophy game against Mumbai at the start of last season.

Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and I were flying together from Delhi. We decided to take the afternoon flight to Mumbai and a connecting flight from Mumbai in the evening. To our utter disbelief, the flight from Delhi refused to take off and just kept getting delayed. The other flights to Mumbai were also running a little late and no matter which flight we decided to take, we were cutting it too fine to make it for our connecting flight to Rajkot.