And he wasn't the only one. A lot of people played a significant role to ensure the team's success, but only a few were rewarded individually. It's because they make up the supporting cast, and aren't the lead actors that they aren't given a share of the limelight. They are expected to be contented with the collective success.

When we talk about Saurashtra's resurgence as a team, we only talk about Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja being the main contributors. Yes, they have been doing really well, but there are others too. The team wouldn't have done wonders without Shitanshu Kotak's consistency with the bat and Sandeep Jobanputra's relentless aggression with the ball. There are others too. But since only two are tipped to play for the country we tend to forget the rest and their invaluable contribution. It's just the outside world I'm referring to because the teams value their contribution and hold them in high esteem.

The same thing happens in international cricket too, but not nearly quite as often as in domestic cricket. Perhaps some of these guys are never going to play for the country, but they are the pillars of their team and immensely important to first-class cricket in India. These are the guys who ensure that one doesn't drop the guard even against a lesser known individual.

Some of us are really blessed because whenever we perform we get picked to play at the next level, well most of the times at least. But that isn't the case with everyone. For starters they're competing with the known names of Indian cricket for a spot in the zonal side. And even when they do get picked they rarely get the desired batting position or enough number of overs to bowl, and that is if they make it to the final XI. In theory, they got an opportunity and are rewarded for their performances but in practice it isn't the same all the time.

Bhatia is one such example. He was the country's best allrounder last season, and was picked to play in the Challengers this season. In theory he was rewarded, but let me tell you how it panned out for him in practice. He played only one of the two matches his team played (because they didn't make it to the finals), and his team needed well over 6.5 runs an over when he walked into to bat with four or five top-order batsmen already back in the hut.

It was his big chance and he didn't want to goof up, but his options were really limited. He couldn't bide his time because doing so would mean the asking-rate would keep rising, but getting out while trying to up the ante would ruin his only chance to make an impression. Well, some might argue that it was a tailor-made situation for him to make a mark for himself. That may be true, but just one opportunity after six years of hard toiling in the domestic circuit, and that too, in far from ideal circumstances doesn't sound that appealing to me. It would be good to spare a thought for these guys.

Personally, I can't thank these guys enough for playing their role to perfection to ensure that a few of us eventually play for the country.

Cheers

Well written article. Well, it is a sad thing that alot of good if not great contributions go unnoticed. In a country like India where there are 20+ domestic teams we will always have stories of men who have given everything to the game yet not got a chance to play for the country. When i go back a few years i see names like padmakar shivalkar and rajinder goel, who were great players. Shivalkar did not get a chance as the great spin quartet used to spin a web around the batsmen. Sunil Gavskar has these two names in his book Idols. I always wonder, had there been more glamour to the domestic circuit, people would know these guys like any of the international stars Anyways, a salute to these guys, your contributions would keep domestic cricket alive in India.

I could'nt agree with you more, Aakash. I am glad that you had the sensitivity and willingness to bring this out. Please keep bringing out these thought-provoking insights in your columns.

There are two things I would like to add. One must not forget that different people have varying amount of talent. The roles given to different people are in accordance to what is suited to them. Agreed hitting over the top like sehwag is more glamorous than taking singles like dravid but it is fact that both are best suited for their roles. As far as the attention of the public is concerned, I think that is fair enough as well. In T20 they root for Sehwag but on a seaming track in England they want Dravid to hold fort. In domestic cricket these "support" players, I hate to use that phrase, dont get enough attention because of selectors and media. I havent seen how pujara or kotak bat, but have already been fed my media that pujara is next Dravid. There is no talk of how Kotak bats other than a few stories of his "boring" batting. Even in zonal matches Kotak will be given lesser chances than Pujara. It is natural for me to root for someone I know more than the other.

Excellently written article!! As usual, Aakash's articles are thought-provoking and concise. You have states the facts very clearly. I am not exactly aware with what goes in when players are hand-picked to play at the next level, but I am sure that favoritism plays an important role...perhaps, Aakash can throw some light on this issue as well from his past experiences.... In my view, in order to give proper chances to the "supporting cast", there should be some more matches (one-days) at zonal level....that will give a chance to all these players to show their worth and gain some media attention....belive me...i had never heard of supporting cast names that you had mentioned.....
Aru, Detroit

Great point made Akash. Unfortunately, one of the biggest culprits in this is the media. The sports journalists of today have such abysmal knowledge of the game, it is not even funny. You have to pick up The Times of India to see my point. When Tendulkar was scoring a hundred against Saurashtra on a dead Chepauk wicket, some of the articles seemed to say that Ranji bowling attacks are not good enough against him. This of course, is sheer nonsense. Many of the domestic attacks (Delhi, Baroda, Mumbai, UP, Punjab) are better than Bangladesh, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Ireland etc.

And what about crowd facilities? I am a regular at Mumbai Ranji games, but my 10 year old nephew refuses to come because the seats are dirty with birdshit at the Wankhede. The CCI is even worse. The "exclusive" clubhouse is filled with members who can't tell between a cover drive and a pull, while real cricket lovers have to bake in the sun on concrete steps. Is Mr. Raj Singh Dungarpur reading this?

Very good article !! Your artiles shed light on many of the subtle things in Sport. A suggestion -Can you put up some more snaps when you tour the country !! Keep writing Aakash !!

Commeth the momment commeth the man.When the going gets tough the tough gets going.There was a tv series about the Bodyline series, shown 10-12 years back where Don Bradman was advised what makes a batsman test class.It was said to him when you go out into the middle &amidst all the crowd the ball you receive you should be able to play it. Sachin Tendulkar is able to conjure up breath taking shots even under circumstances where mere mortals would fold up.
There have been numerous instances where the support cast have stepped up & made it count. Sadly in first class cricket its sometimes not even reported by the sports pages.
Several people specialise in pressure cooker situations Kaif is one who comes to mind.Several others like you Akash are the Salt of the earth, go in match after match &score consistently with which no team can exist.Wish you all the best to come back to the Indian Team & you can still make it. These things inspire us the public &gives us also courage.Go for it.

All I want to say is that this is life. Just because a shivakant shukla played a match to get UP into finals doesnt mean he needs to be picked in the Indian team. Sure, he should be recognized. I think Indians run high on emotional quotient about the unheralded hero. In fact this is part of corporate culture, you cannot make a really good support player a lead player because the former is what the support player does best.

Hi again...!
Everything you've said here is absolutely right...very, very true.
....I can't thank these guys enough for playing their role to perfection to ensure that a few of us eventually play for the country.....

This line just sums it up...!

A very well highlighted fact by Aakash.Right from age group cricket this "Support cast" thing is prevelant in Cricket and here "perception" of coaches,selectors,administrators etc play a major role in keeping this performers in the support cast category forever.Good article...keep bringing such interesting issues to the forefront through this space.

Hats off of Akash, well made article showing dark face of the cricket selection policies. In Indian cricket some one to come in limelight lot of media supports required. Like Manoj Tiwary he was selected and dropped from the team without gave him a proper chances. So many people doesn't know about Sarath Sridharan his class is almost match with any of our indian batsman. He never played for India. If people are selected Ranji based on performance means Badrinath may included 4 or 5 years before. Actually media giving lot of importance to the Under 19 performers than Ranji performers.

Ribas from kuwait

A very thought provoking article. I have played divison criket both in India and UK and hence understand the importance of appreciation. In UK, even a local club had a dedicated team of supporters, who will carry the teams around the county in their vehicles to play the home and away matches and cheer us inspite of performance. However in India, we are only star worshippers. I live in Kolkata and do not even come to know of Ranji match schedule planned for Eden Garden. This is absurd, if we don't take our children to grounds, how will they develop the love to game. This needs to be corrected. But how?

This is a good article but a lot of what is said is self-evident. Think about it, a nation of a billion cricket-mad people and only 11 positions to play for. Obviously, there are going to be many cases of promise that are going to overlooked, ignored, humiliated and discarded. That is the reality given the numbers we are faced with and the probability of making it into the playing 11. However, Akash's empathy for the deserving players is understandable given his own situation - ie. deserving of a place in the national team.

Akash, your articles are mostly extremely pertinent and publicise aspects of the domestic game about which most followers inerested in the game are unaware. Can you get these contributions syndicated to a major daily newsaper (I recommend The HINDU) so that you get a wider audience.

Hi i cannot agree more with the article of Askash. Since he is from Delhi he might remember or know a player called Sukhvinder Singh, though from Delhi but played from different states and captained Assam for a few years. He was the best left arm spinner in the country and a good bat but never got a change at the higher level. Rahul Sanghvi, Nilesh Kulkarni and some others were preferred as they played for a better team.
Even todays final Rohit Sharma scored a century with 2 lives he will praised as he is the star and abhishek nayar who played a solid knock of 99 will be forgotten.

Good Article Aakash. I completely agree with you. There were many palyers like this who played wonderfully consistent but never got an opportunity for representing India. Some of them i can think of at this moment are Sharath from Tamilnadu, Tilak Naidu from Karnataka, Venugopal Rao ( Though he got few chances for representing the country), Amol Mazumadar, Jacob Martin and others. We really feel sorry for these guys, because of these so called fab four, the other guys never got a chance. Definetely we will have to improve our domestic games and make sure that these guys are treated well atlease in terms of recognition if not selected for the team. May be we can start awarding consistent first class crickers on a yearly basis. Media should also step in these intiatives regularly broadcasting first class matches and recognising consistent first class crickters.

Good Article Aakash. I completely agree with you. There were many palyers like this who played wonderfully consistent but never got an opportunity for representing India. Some of them i can think of at this moment are Sharath from Tamilnadu, Tilak Naidu from Karnataka, Venugopal Rao ( Though he got few chances for representing the country), Amol Mazumadar, Jacob Martin and others. We really feel sorry for these guys, because of these so called fab four, the other guys never got a chance. Definetely we will have to improve our domestic games and make sure that these guys are treated well atlease in terms of recognition if not selected for the team. May be we can start awarding consistent first class crickers on a yearly basis. Media should also step in these intiatives regularly broadcasting first class matches and recognising consistent first class crickters.

Pretty much true. I think this happens as a result of not so great understanding of the game and the fact that we as a country love heroes, not realising the importance of some contributions for the making of a hero. Case in mind that comes to thought is Aakash himself. I remember that during the 2003-04 series in Australia where India did stunnigly well, a friend of mine and I would discuss the series every hour right through the 4 test series and we came to the conclusion that the 1-1 draw (near victory) was set up by the 30's and the 40's that Aakash Chopra scored. We were also extremely worried that since we have this penchant for 100's he would be dropped and eventually we were disappointed that he was dropped but 5 years later when we continue to count the Tendulkar 100's which we love doing as well, we believe that India's tryst with winning outside began with Chopra's guts and determination, not Ganguly's defiant 144, not Sehwag's astonishing 195, and not Dravids winning 233&72

Two players who readily come to mind in recent times who have done wonders in the national cirucuit but perhaps have not get their due are Runadeep Bose and Amol Mazumdar. IN olden times we had guys like Shivalkar and Goel who missed out

Well written article Aakash. The performance of allrounders like Rajat Bhatia, A Nayar, Joginder Sarmma in domestic circuit are exciting. But do you think their slow medium pace is good enough for international cricket. Except Irfan Pathan, no one is near to Kapil Dev's catagory. We have to compete with Kallis, Flintoff, Watson, Oram so on. What is your opinion Akash?

I am writing from Oman.But the comments by Akash is dead right.Hats off to u,for telling the truth>The media is to be blamed first and then the shabby way the selectors neglect raw talent.Take the recent example of Australia of all the countries.Warner is a name to last for a long time but he has never played a first class game.

Good article Akash. I am from Hyderabad and i regularly follow the ranji trophy and especially the matches which Hyderabad plays. Whenever a south zone team is selected i regularly see some players from hyderabad team who are good for nothing and where as the players who realy deserve does not get a chance. This is bcos some players are really hyped for some reason or the other. One such player is Arjun Yadav..son of mighty and strong.

Since i was playing cricket in my school days and collage days, i know many players from the current and past hyderabad ranji teams. I remeber guys like santosh yadav, ambati rayudu etc, who captained the teams consisting of yuvraj singh, kaif, pathan, raina and all. But these guys are no where now.This is just bcos of so called politics and media.My sincere request to the media is to highlight the players who are good in what ever they do and not on the basis of what their fathers or grand fathers do.Its always a pleasure to read the colomns of Akash

Hi Aakash, a very thoughful article. It's a shame that millions of people can tell you the names of Tendulkar's or Dhoni's relatives, but how many people can name their state's Ranji players? It is sad that people toil for years without due recognition, and just a benefit game when they retire? It is these players who contibute to batting partnerships, take catches and bowl 100's of overs in the heat do deserve all the credit they can get. Sitanshu Kotak, Panjak Dharmani, Rajat Bhatia,Amol Mazumdar, Yere Goud- the list is endless( I can go on) deserve recognition. Some of the players from the small states have contirbuted too, and deserve their due. Players from Goa, HP, Services and Vidarbha play with the same passion and commitment but how many people understand their limitations in terms of funds and facilities. The love for game and hope that they will contribute in some way or form to thier state is what keeps them going.

Hi Aakash, Very well said and it shows that you are willing to ensure that all the lesser known players "DO" get some recogniztion. We usually forget that cricket is team event and 11 players are responsible for a WIN or LOSS.
I encourage that you should write a series "How we Came to Finals?" or "How we won the Ranji?" ..describing each game and critical turning points. The flow of the matter should be based on importance rather than whether it was "A" class player or someone else. I am looking forward to read your posts.

You always seemed to be a sensible batsman, (whenever i saw you)and person. Let's use your skills with PEN as well :)

Thanks and great job, you are my HERO !!!

Hi Aakash...In this topic "Quantum of support" i have posted a comment regarding the selection and and how the sons of mighty and strong and becoming stronger. It has not been a week since i posted a comment and arjun Yadav being selecting in any format of the game with ease and with zero performance. He is again playing the deleep trophy. Its a big shock to see the name of Murali Vijay missing. The person Who represented India againest australia doesnt find a place in the South zone team and this guy Arjun yadav gets into any team and even into the playing11. Sorry if i am getting personal on Arjun, but i cannot do anything other than laughing at the system and the shamelessness with which these guys go about.
I had earlier mentioned that i am from the same school where Arjun Yadav studied and I can bet on that, this guy doesnt fit even in my current school team. Sorry for that... i decided not to write any more abt this guy, bcos its utter waste and this guy keeps getting selected.

very frank and wonderful article.i enjoyed so much. I believe that aakash deserves to be in this Indian team based on his solid performances in australia.however all is not lost.He still has age and committment on his side.GONE ARE THE DAYS When the Indian team used to be a mumbai eleven.If aakash continues to expose the stupidity of politically biased selections then we would have proper teams representing india based solely on merit.This will be good not only for world cricket or committed supporters of the Indian team like me but for all those hard working cricketers who deserve their their rightful place in the team based on performance.keep up the good work aakash.