It's foolish to say that Indian domestic cricket is not of good standards. The scenario is that our selection process is flawed. First of all there must be a rotation policy so that large number of youngsters are given chance . The complete scenario should be professionally managed, for example a progress report should be prepared for each player (which indicate his statistics, contributions, kind of pressure he has sustained and how many times he has delivered, under what situations he had to bat/bowl etc). And once a player is picked in the national side, he must be given a chance to play at least in 15 matches irrespective of his failures. Because nobody is so perfect that he converts every opportunity coming his way. We are playing lots of cricket these days and i don't think it will be a problem to implement.

What about the flat substandard pitches which don't give an opportunity to players to counter all kind of situations, be that bounce or seam or turn? What about the enormous number of teams, 15 in the super league to be precise, which dilutes the competition? What about the still unprofessional selections based on politics even at state level, for example DDCA, which ignores many good players and gives opportunity to average ones? Of course there are many many flaws in the Indian domestic cricket, but BCCI is comfortably turning a blind eye to it. What do you say about those?

And what are the problems of the Duleep Trophy? Could you please highlight them for us?

Very well thought article. Good piece of work coming from a person who has himself been playing domestic cricket for the last 15 years

I remember watching Ranji cricket in Chennai when I was a boy and how interesting and competitive it used to be. And how well attended. The South Zone consisted of three equally matched sides - Hyderabad, TN and Karnataka. As the international schedule was less demanding, our best players used to turn up for their Ranji sides, so one got to see Pataudi, Abid Ali, Jayantilal, Abbas Ali Baig, Nausher Mehta, Mumtaz Hussain, Venkat, Vaman Kumar, Visvanath, Brijesh Patel, Prasanna, Chandrashekhar et al. The contests would enthrall and the quality of the cricket was high. We seem to think that international cricket is all there is in the game these days.

Indian domestic Cricket's problems are well documented. But it was heartening to see Cricinfo coming out with a separate blog for it. It needs all our support.

Even with the absence of international stars I think the Ranji Trophy can be well organised/marketed/attended.

I'd be very interested in seeing how these blogs shape up - hopefully, we'll get greater insight into the day-to-day life of a first-class cricketer, away from the hype of the international cricket season.

Television coverage has done wonders to cricket. Until the economic liberalization, TV coverage was mediocre and confined to government broadcast only. Now there are private channels and TV has cut inroads into the hinterlands of the country. Thus one sees stars emerging from non-metro areas of late - Dhoni, Munaf are examples. In the long run, Indian domestic cricket will improve. I do want a competing and parallel system like the ICL so that BCCI is made to work hard and not sit as a monopoly. Players must be allowed to choose where they want to play. Cricket will benefit in the long run. If different leagues exist, then more players will get chance to play at the highest level.

It is true and I agree with Sanjay about players such as S Sharath, S Sriram, Amarjit Kaypee and for that matter even Sanjay Bangar hasn't got much opportunity at the Test level (in fact Sanjay had a good English tour in 2001-2002.) But on the other hand it also needs to be seen there have been far too many cases who have done exceedingly well in their domestic matches, but have been found wanting when it came to International level.
In my opinion there is one major flaw in the Indian cricket. The top Indian players don't get to play much domestic cricket unlike in Austrlia and England. Unless the top brass of players plays alongside fringe players, the fringe players will never actually know as to where they stand in respect to the International players' standard. Unless the domestic bowlers bowl on a regular basis to the best batsmen in the country, they will never know as to how well they actually bowl. And the same it true for the batsmen.
Hence I feel its high time BCCI found a way to bring back the TOP PLAYERS of the country to play the domestic matches so that the level of the domestic matches improves.

Sanjay, what you say is very true. The list of players that excelled in domestic and could not make it big is very long.. Tamilnadu has its fair share... T.E. Srinivasan, V. Sivaramakrishnan, A. Jabbar just to name a few.

Many good suggestions here. I thought that Bangar's most incisive comment was about how selection for India seems to be based upon a having a single good season rather than an extended period of achievement. Given how short the Ranji season is, this makes no sense. Really, he is being charitable - sometimes it seems that a few good matches can catapult a player into the India side, while those who have produced results year after year are ignored. This fickleness, as much as zonal selection, accounts for much of the fragility of the India lineup despite the depth of talent. It is obvious that selectors are only paying intermittent attention to domestic cricket, which can explain why they are so swayed by one or two spectacular innings. Requiring at least one selector to be present, when possible, at every Ranji Trophy match would be a good start to a more rational selection process.

Good article. In my opinion, domestic cricket needs to be given more importance to make sure people come up through the rungs instead of following shortcuts like what happened with Parthiv Patel. Fast and bouncy tracks should be introduced in some places along with the omnipresent spinning pitches. Getting the likes of Dav Whatmore to the NCA is a good first step to make sure discards and prospects get the attention from a qualified individual.

Not to veer off the topic, but BCCI could spare some time from filling their coffers and improve the facilities at all the grounds. If you are worth $10 billion, I am sure you could get some super soppers instead of expecting poor souls to do it the old fashioned way when the rain shows up.

Wonderful blog to kick off the fresh Ranji Season. Look forward to how the youngsters perform, especially cricketers like Cheteshwar pujara, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Manoj Tiwary etc. Also, it would be interesting to watch how well VVS Laxman plays and rallies his young Hyderabad team as a skipper, especially when he is being considered as our national team's Test Captain. I have an instinctive feeling that he will fair well as both a batsman and a skipper. I agree with the pitches situation but am not sure how far the scenario has changed in the last few years. We need fast bouncy pitches to be able to separate the men from the boys as far as batting is concerned, and also to know where our spinners stand at an international level while bowling on pitches that are not spinner-friendly. Great blog. Look forward to more of it.

I think the Ranji teams are very competitive, as most of the players come from there and then they play international matches. Like Dravid , Tendulkar, Ganguly, Kumble and Kurruvilla.

At the outset let me compliment you for the new blog. I agree with you that many talented cricketers do not get oppurtunity to represent at country level. It happens in australia also where it is problem of plenty. Here we appoint selectors on recommendations rather than merit. We have always biased selectors like Vengs. & how can you expect fairness? See now Dravid is dropped & they have picked Sehwag & not Raina or Badrinath who are middle-order batsmen. Does it not defy logic despite dropping rahul is highly questionabble? You yourself have suffered at the hands of selector. No doubt that our domestic circuit needs improvement & all the so-called big players have to necessarily play at domestic level like in Australia. When India tours Bagladesh, Kenya or Zimbabwe play more youngsters so that they get intl. exposure & good among them can be tried against other countries. But again you need honest selectors which we do not have now.

I wonder whether arranging more Ranji matches in smaller towns will make a difference. I went to a Ranji game (Karnataka vs Orissa) in Rourkela, which had almost a full stadium (although the stadium capacity would probably be 5-6000. Of course, it helped that Karnataka team had Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh and David Johnson - all international players that time. Even Srinath was there although he didn't play.

Decreasing international cricket a little bit (so that the stars can play Ranji), improving pitches and ground conditions, and even allocating games in smaller towns where people are starved of live cricketing action might go a long way in making the domestic scene more attractive.

Sanjay, your article is very bold and excellently written. Keep it going. The Indian selection system is flawed. When a player is 28 or 30 and is performing extremely well in the domestic circuit, he should be picked on form and not age. See the Australian system. Mike Hussey and Stuart Clark got their interanational call only when they were 30. Amol Mazumdar is the one you have missed. He is still very fit and can play for the country. There is no point in trying younsters just for the sake of it when there are other seniors players who are better. Will the selection commitee have a change of heart? It is not enough to look at the Australian coaching system, Academy and domestic structure. Look at the other aspects like selection also.

i agree with most points that Mr. Sanjay Bangar has raised. He has gone through the grind and understands the domestic cricket structure very well. I only wish the teams play more positive cricket and attract spectators to the venues. The domestic cricket structure gives you an insight into the future and we, cricket fans, also have a duty to support the teams by watching them play. I look forward to such write ups which highlight the contributions of many unsung players.

Solution is straight forward.

Firstly, money needs to be pumped into the system. Anyone who wishes to have the broadcasting rights should be committed to broadcasting domestic cricket. This will help increase revenue and awareness of the domestic game in the way Sky do in England and Fox/Channel 9 do so in Australia.

Secondly, players need to know that performance and consistency will be rewarded. One thing that annoys me is talented players being thrown in at such an early age. Domestic cricket is where you learn your skill, not at the highest level. The only reason not to pick is if your national team is doing so well that you don't need to make any changes. But we're no Australia of a few years back where the likes of Hussey, Hodge and Jacques couldn't get into the side as all of the middle batsmen were in form. Likes of Parthiv, Pathan etc are talented but disappeared of the radar as they hadn't really mastered their own game as yet. Parthiv's success now is totally down to the volume of cricket is playing and that is why he is flouishing.

Thirdly, following on from that point, mroe first class cricket needs to be played. Each team should be playing a minimum of 15 first class games a season.

Here we are discussing about pursuing old guards when we have enough fresh talent retiring without making into the National team. I am fed up how much of our country men eulogize. They had their piece of share, money and fame. If the selection committee doesn't get it, the senior guards should personally have morality in stepping down. Now Sanjay Manjrekar takes a position of getting back the old man Anil Kumble at the helm. S Manjrekar didn't play good cricket during his period cannot make a comment about what is best to the team. These old players doesn't deserve respect, They are with self motive and hidden agenda. Sport is meant to be for people who are young, energetic and excel in all areas of the game. Just be merciless and dont answer the public or the critics. They dont deserve an explaination. Remove, Ganguly, Dravid,Kumble, Lakshman etc. Pathetic show on the field.

I don't know why people are not thinking about handing over the captaincy to Saurav Ganguly since he has been the most successful captain with the more WINS than other previous captains.
But that surprised me because everybody knows about Sachin..He can not play under pressure..Let's remember when he was Test Captain..He fell to do well...Then why bother him again asking for captaincy since he gave up last time..Why the selectors have closed their eyes even looking at Ganguly's Performances...Providing the Test Captaincy to the Dhoni won't be a good decision
since he is still new to the TEST Cricket...
PLease do not take it personal if it hurts anybody's feelings But this is my personal thought..

Sanjay,

I agree with most of what you've said. Things are a lot better than they used to be and it is good to see a divisional system in place as well as a sensible points system that awards points to better playing teams. But to make a genuine impact on the selection process, one has to start at the grass roots level. How many of us know what goes on in first class cricket's selection procedures? Isn't there enough politics in those to scruff the neck out of a performing player? You probably know these aspects of state boards a lot better and will appreciate my concerns about this. An improvement can be brought about if the public is aware of what is going on. If we can make the first class games(Ranji, Duleep & other tournaments) as popular as even the Challenger trophy, the selectors will feel the pressure of doing their jobs effeciently. What happens now is based on 50% performance and 50% recommendation(which is actually the case in most selection procedures in India...be it sports, jobs or even colleges). What I'm trying to say here is that the common public needs to be brought into play. Television channels can play a big role here in uplifting the importance of these tournaments. Sponsors can bring in more crowds. If not for the 4-day games then for Twenty20's and one dayers. In today's world of advertising and mass communication, it is the easiest job in the country to sell a cricket tournament. The ICL's cashing in on exactly this and I'm glad they're doing it. This will bring the domestic stars into the picture and people who deserve a place in the national side(or at least a looking) will find justice. I'm probably thinking a little too far ahead, but I'm positive that a Kerry Packer-like intervention can be extremely fruitful here.

I am sure first class cricket in India can be more competitive with better participation from the national players. In their absence it lacks the edge and often performances in domestic cricket becomes highly exaggerated.
As such we cannot criticise the selectors for ignoring certain players or not considering them for higher honours. After all selectors like Dilip Vengsarkar have been through it all in the international arena and they can easily gauge who is a fit and who is not.
So it should not be a generic feeling to sympathize with those who have missed the bus.

Well its true like Sanjay has written that even 1 fine season isn't enough for someone unfortunate to cement his place in national side. We have myraid of examples of such players who have toiled very hard in domestic games but weren't suitably rewarded. I would especially figure out Hrishikesh Kanitkar,Amol Muzumdar,Pankaj Dharmani,S Sriram. Lets hope the younger players get their due.