Hello friends,

Imagine this - There are two nets and about 15 batsmen queuing up for a few throw downs. Quite chaotic, you might think. Before you start racking your brains let me tell you that it wasn’t some kind of competition or a coaching session. It was the scene at the nets every morning of our T20 tournament. There were four state teams playing in the two morning matches at two adjacent grounds but at the same venue. All teams shared the facilities right from the dining area to the lavatories. Only the dressing rooms were not shared as makeshift dressing rooms (a covered seating area) were erected for two teams at the adjacent ground. The scenes at the nets were quite interesting both on the eve of the match and every morning.

Firstly, batsmen were not allowed to use spikes while batting for the fear of ruining the surface. Well, would they tell the same batsmen not to wear spikes during the match? Then, since there were only two nets to accommodate players from four teams, none of the batsmen would get more than a few balls for throw downs. Is it the ideal preparation for a match?

Yet, a set up like this definitely helped in building up the camaraderie between players from different states. Sharing the same net for throw downs meant that a bowler from Punjab was bowling to a player from Delhi and Haryana along with bowling to a batsman from his own side.

You might wonder why the batsmen didn’t have a hit in an open area? Why were they crammed up in just two nets? The early morning dew makes the outfield quite wet. And of course, bats tend to spoil if played with a wet ball. Please don’t get me wrong I’m not blaming the hosts because there’s only so much they can do. The infrastructure is not meant to accommodate so many cricketers at the same time.

Then every state team had five matches in six days. At times the team which played the game in the afternoon, finishing at 5pm, was back at the ground at 8.30am the following morning to play their next game, staring at 10am. The teams which had back to back morning matches had it easy but only just. The morning match would finish at 1pm, with the next match scheduled for 10am the following day, sparing less than 24 hours for the player to rest and recover.

Also, we all realise that a T20 game doesn’t require as much effort as a fifty over game. But then why don’t we see other T20 leagues and tournaments around the world getting over in a week? Another problem along with high fatigue levels, perhaps leading to injuries, is that there’s hardly any time to recover. The loss which should hurt is not that bitter and the win is not that sweet either! After all there’s another game to be played in less than 24 hours. How long can you mull over a loss or celebrate a win?

Nevertheless, I’m tempted to call this T20 tournament a ‘carnival’ not because it lacked the seriousness of a tournament but for the environment it created. Ninety players from six states assembled every day, ate together, shared stories and renewed friendships. One rarely gets an opportunity like this.

Ciao

	Coloured clothes can wait © Cricinfo Ltd

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.

Well, the fact is that the Ranji Trophy starts within a week of this T20 bash. While everyone understands the importance of bagging an IPL contract, the importance of performing in the longer format isn’t wasted on the players. They know that to cement a place in the state side they must do well in the Ranji Trophy. Admittedly the performances in T20 would be taken into consideration, but they will take a cricketer only so far. His season is going to be judged by what he did in the longer format. The performances in the longer format are rewarded by selection in the zonal side to play in the Duleep and Deodhar Trophies. Doing well there brings a player another major step closer to realising his ultimate dream of playing for the country.

Moreover it would be a little tough to change gears so drastically after the T20 tournament gets over. One can’t be expected to slog everything for two-three weeks while preparing for the T20 matches, and overnight develop patience and temperament to succeed in the Ranji Trophy.

Ideally the T20 tournament should happen after the domestic one-day tournament, which is just prior to the IPL. That would not only be a natural progression from one format to another, but would also provide the much required practice for the IPL.

But in case the BCCI just has to plan the T20 tournament before the start of the season, a good idea would have been to hold this tournament at least two weeks prior to the start of the Ranji Trophy. This arrangement would have given ample time to the players to prepare for both formats equally and independently.

Cheers