Always the inspiration, Rahul Dravid gets going in a Ranji match © Cricinfo Ltd

I wasn’t too far off from the reality when I wrote that the presence of players like VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid has a mesmerising effect on the players, especially the youngsters. In our recently concluded match against Karnataka, Dravid scored 78 on a difficult pitch. He, as usual, made batting look easy, which left most of us awestruck.

The ball was darting around, and everyone was getting beaten at least a couple of times every over. But here was Dravid, always taking a long stride forward to the balls that were pitched up, and then either playing with the sweetest spot of the bat or allowing it go to the keeper. One of us would ask the keeper if the ball had stopped moving, but the answer would always be that Dravid is just making it look like that.

Our bowlers rarely bowled a bad ball to any of the Karnataka batsmen - except Dravid. Somehow bowlers kept dishing out half-volleys regularly. Obviously it wasn’t going down well with our team because he kept dispatching them to the fence. But I knew that it was very difficult to keep all your faculties under control when someone you have always admired is standing only a few meters away.

Dear readers,

Let me make it clear at the outset that I’m neither authorised nor qualified to figure whether Services were justified in refusing to play their Ranji Trophy game against Jammu & Kashmir, in Srinagar. Or whether the BCCI was right in disqualifying the team. I’m writing this just to share the plight of my fellow cricketers.

A player spends a lot of time preparing for the first-class season. It is, therefore, both demoralising and frustrating to be told that his toil during the off- and pre-season has been in vain. And that he must wait a year to make a mark at the national level.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what this ban has done. Not only does it mean that players like Yashpal Singh won’t get a chance to score runs in the Ranji Trophy this year, it has also put an end to the team’s hopes of making it to the knockouts (which means promotion to the Super League), and any player's chance of being picked for North Zone. In these times, a year’s gap pushes you back at least a few seasons because of the intense competition. You are expected to start afresh next season, by which time a lot of players would have cemented their place in different sides.

The Ranji Trophy is also a platform to impress IPL teams, and this ban would now take even that opportunity away from the players. What makes it worse is that not only will players from the Services be deprived of an opportunity to play, but also that every other team in their group in the Plate League will play one match less in the league stage. One match, for teams who don’t qualify for the knockouts, makes up 20% of their first-class season, so players from these teams must perform exceptionally well over four games to be picked for zonal sides.

A cricketing colleague remarked that it was a mess of Services’ own making, that they had no business not turning up for a first-class game. Absolutely right, but what could the players have done once their association informed them that they were not going? The sad part about all this is that players seldom have a say in the decision making process. We are just told what to do and we comply.

If there has been a mistake, which is likely the case here, it demands punitive action. But while punishing the offender is justified, maybe it’s unfair to make the players pay the price. The Ranji Trophy has just turned 75, and it’s a pity if cricket and cricketers are the losers in this.

Ciao

Comments (14) | Ranji Trophy, 2009-10 | TrackBack (0)

November 3, 2009

Real stars, reality check

Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago in Ranji Trophy, 2009-10

	Professionalism is what professionals do © Getty Images

Hi guys

The first round of the Ranji Trophy features a lot of big names. Rahul Dravid will turn up for Karnataka against the Mohammad Kaif-led Uttar Pradesh, Zaheer Khan for Mumbai and VVS Laxman for Hyderabad among others. The mere presence of these names makes these matches very important.

Players in their respective teams get a first-hand account of what it takes to be an international cricketer. Dravid, for instance, is invariably the first man to get into the team bus, Laxman is ever so calm before going in to bat, Zaheer and Ashish Nehra spend countless hours working on their core muscles even while their team bats, and so on and so forth.

Continue reading "Real stars, reality check"

Comments (40) | Ranji Trophy, 2009-10 | TrackBack (0)

October 27, 2009

A crowded, and sometimes chaotic, carnival

Posted 3 weeks, 4 days ago in Indian domestic cricket

Continue reading "A crowded, and sometimes chaotic, carnival"

Comments (16) | Indian domestic cricket | TrackBack (0)

October 19, 2009

Looking T20, thinking Ranji

Posted on 10/19/2009 in

	Coloured clothes can wait © Cricinfo Ltd

Hello friends

The season for Delhi, like most other states, kicks off with the domestic T20 tournament starting Tuesday. I, along with my peers, am expecting the IPL teams to keep a close eye on the tournament. Good performances here might translate into a contract with a franchise and a chance to play in the coveted IPL. Ideally one would expect the batsmen to be hitting big shots and innovating in the nets, and the bowlers to bowl a lot of yorkers and slower ones. But a visit to our practice session would prove you wrong. We’re practising in white clothes and with the red ball. Most batsmen are playing proper cricket, leaving balls outside off stump and trying to hit along the ground as much as possible. The bowlers are also doing what it takes to succeed in the longer version of the game, bowling longer spells, practising to maintain a teasing line just outside off stump.

“Are we missing something?” you might wonder.

Continue reading "Looking T20, thinking Ranji"

Comments (12) | | TrackBack (0)