The North-East Frontier Railway Stadium is located in picturesque surroundings in the outskirts of Guwahati. But a busy railway track runs right behind the sightscreen at one end © Cricinfo Ltd

Having 27 first-class teams in our domestic set-up not only ensures that the talent from all the regions has the necessary platform to test its skills, but it also throws up challenges to play cricket at lesser-known venues. These venues are not used to staging first-class matches or rarely get a chance to do so.

When a first-class match is played at such venues, it generates a lot of interest among the local people and such games are well-attended by spectators. The local administrators are usually in a state of chaos as they try to shower upon the players their hospitality in a big way. They ensure that proper breakfast and huge lunches are served, which is fine but not healthy for the fitness freaks. At times, chhole-bhature, poori-bhaji, samosas, kachoris are served when all the players want are eggs, cereal or something else healthy.

They also leave a lot of unwanted service boys to serve the food, not knowing the players want privacy in the dressing room. Due to lack of co-ordination between various honorary committee members, local transport from hotel to ground and ground to hotel is rarely on time. It leaves the manager of the team in awkward state, making frantic calls to the local manager and at the same time facing glares from players and the coach.

To players, only the wicket and playing conditions are of utmost importance. They don’t usually mind staying in substandard hotels, and can compromise on the quality of food served, but if the wicket and playing conditions are poor, they are not happy. When they are playing, their careers are at stake and failure cannot always be attributed only to their skills; there are external factors at work too.

Players often get disturbed by people moving across or over the sightscreen. At times those appointed to prohibit people from moving across the sightscreen themselves amble across it. There is a ground in Guwahati where a busy railway track runs right behind the sightscreen. The game has to stop on a number of occasions when a train is passing by as the players don’t want to be disturbed by a moving train when they want to concentrate on the moving ball, nor do the umpires want to miss a faint tickle because of the sound of the train.

I recently played at Margao where the wicket was a featherbed, and the state of the outfield was such that the match referee had to apparently call the BCCI authorities and threaten to take action. Eventually the boundary was shortened in that particular part of the field, which resembled a ploughed field. On such outfields, one has to have a prayer on his lips when chasing a ball or trying to catch it, as an ankle injury or a serious injury is not far away.

Agartala is one ground where the wicket is not great, but I remember the venue because of the wonderful tents that are erected as dressing rooms, which resemble the tents from the Arabian nights. The GSFC Ground in Baroda where we played the Ranji final in 2000-01 is located amid thick forestry. Players were often reluctant to go in search of the ball once it crossed the boundary rope because there we had loads of monkeys for company on the periphery and nobody was keen to invite the monkeys’ wrath in case they suddenly found a liking for the red cherry.

Sometimes, the practice facilities are not what one expects of first-class venues. At some venues such as the Karnail Singh Stadium, the run-up in the practice area is all mud and devoid of all grass. Anil Kumble, who played there two seasons ago, quipped that one could bowl in chappals (slippers) and that spikes were not required while practising at such facilities.

However, there are lesser-known grounds where the wicket on offer is of the highest quality and is truly sporting in nature. I have to include Valsad and Surat in that category. But the applause and appreciation for having one of the best first-class venues has to go to Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. The wicket there is sporting, the outfield like a billiards table - even and lush green - and a clubhouse that makes one believe one is playing in the English countryside. Moncho Ferrer, of Spanish origin but born and brought up in India, is the man behind this. He has developed the ground in the name of a trust called Anantapur Sports Village. One often wonders why can’t a high percentage of the state associations who get anywhere between Rs 2 and 3 crore as an annual grant from the BCCI use the money as efficiently as the above mentioned trust? Proper accountability from the people who run the state associations is required.

	Can't wait to get back in the whites: R Ashwin © Cricinfo Ltd

Everything was not all right. In 21 years of my life, I had never had a single fracture, and now when I was playing probably the best cricket I ever have, it just had to happen on my left wrist. I know injuries are a part and parcel of any sportsman’s life so I don’t want to moan about it. But the timing of it is crucial in my case. Just before that, we had had a pretty strong team meeting – I won’t say it was angry, but it was charged up. The coach [WV Raman] had a few things to say to us about how make things happen instead of waiting for them to happen. Overall, there was disappointment in the team at some of our performances and I found that meeting really inspirational.

There was a day when rains ruined practice and Badri [S Badrinath, the Tamil Nadu captain], myself and the coach [Raman] were working indoors and we spent a lot of time talking about what went wrong, what each of us could do, and I was really pumped up at the chance to do something.

I know I’m not exactly one of the seniors in the team, but I felt like it was up to me to take on some more responsibility. There are many people who believe in me and have backed me. I owe it to them - and not just to myself - to succeed when I step onto the field. That’s why, when the injury happened, my first response to Raman was, “Sir, I’m sorry this happened.” He, of course, is an experienced cricketer and explained to me that these things happened and that there was nothing one could do about them. When the time is right and I am fully fit, I’d be a part of the action once again, he told me.

Even though I was in severe pain, I didn’t want to rule myself out. It was only when the X-rays showed that it was a proper fracture that I sort of broke down. I’ve felt really down since the injury, and it even felt to me that I had nothing to look forward to until I got fit. When the doctors said it would be about four weeks before I was fully fit, I felt like I’d lost four weeks of my life.

But then I resolved not to take things too negatively, and instead use my studies as a diversion. Already, the left wrist is healing well and I can do most normal things – batting and fielding are strictly prohibited – and this has lifted my mood.

Now, instead of thinking about the injury and the cricket I am missing, I’m trying to focus on what needs to be done when I come back. I know I have to ease myself back in, and that the most important thing to ensure is that a similar injury does not recur. And when I’m back I want to make a telling contribution. It’s not just about playing and taking wickets, but I have to make an impact on the game in a way that is meaningful for my team.

I guess I am feeling so low, because this was the first time after I began playing cricket that I’ve missed out. When I was playing Under-14s I had a bit of a problem with a pelvic slip disc. That left me bed-ridden for about six weeks. I couldn’t even move around then, but it didn’t feel as bad as this. Right now, all I can think about is when I’ll be playing again.

	A coach has to be a good communicator © Cricinfo Ltd

In modern-day cricket, a team without a coach is like a rudderless ship. Some purists may ridicule the concept, but the game has progressed in such a manner that the captain would be better off with some off-field help. Strategising has always been an important part of cricket, but in this cutting-edge era, its importance can hardly be overstated.

If you see a coach working with a player - laptop for company - and wearing a hassled look, it’s because he is trying to work around a problem. Tackling it head-on is impossible because the players have developed set patterns in their younger days. If not taught the right things at a young age, players get into bad habits. A lot of time and opportunities are lost if the coach at the higher level has to undo all that and teach them anew. That’s what makes the role of a player’s first coach critical.

A coach at the junior level has to play other roles too. It's not just about batting, bowling and fielding - it's about understanding the player. India is a vast country; players come from different regions and backgrounds. Different players have different sensitivities and the coach has to be flexible. A coach needs to understand what really influences the player's motivation. Some players come from a poor background and can't even buy their kit. It's the duty of the coach to make sure they don't feel out of place.

When we started playing cricket, we used to work with Achrekar sir [Ramakant Achrekar]. He used to treat the players as his own children. His principle was simple: the more cricket we played, the more we would learn. And he would go out of his way to help players achieve that motive. I remember that for [junior level] matches, he would take me with him on his scooter and drive me all the way from Shivaji Park to Cross Maidan [more than 10 km] and back.

The common bond was the enjoyment. We enjoyed playing cricket under him and he enjoyed coaching us. That factor is sometimes missing nowadays - because coaching has become more about high elbow, proper technique and biomechanics, etc. We need to retain the enjoyment factor at the young age because the real pressures are yet to follow at that time.

The role of a coach at the Ranji Trophy level is different although a thorough knowledge of the game is essential here too. The player who has made it to a Ranji side does not need that much work on the technical side. Here the coach has to be a good man-manager and a tactician. The Ranji sides are a mix of players with different interests. There are youngsters making first-class debuts, there are veterans and there are players on the verge of national selection. So apart from managing the technical side, a coach has to get the diverse players to play as one unit.

A Ranji coach has to be a good communicator. I have worked with Frank Tyson for a long time, and having worked with him has helped me realise the importance of communicating well with the players.

A Ranji team's coach is also a master tactician. The Ranji season is a long one, during which a team goes through many ups and downs; some teams completely transform during a season. So there is a major role that a coach plays. There has to be an overall pre-season plan, and plans for every match, which have to be very flexible. The coach in that capacity plays a bigger role than at the international level, because it is easy in domestic matches to send a message across if the things are not going well on the field. During international matches, you can see the coach intervene maximum once or twice because once on the field, it's a captain's game.

With the advent of the video analysis and other technological advancements, coaching has changed a lot. The laptop is not just one fashionable accessory, but something that can be of great help if used properly. The idea is to find out the shortcoming with a player, sit with him and show him what is going wrong, and then find a solution. That is where technology can help because, for example, if you have the backing data, it is easy to convince a bowler he has been bowling too much on the short side.

There was a time when the coach at the Ranji Trophy level would just oversee a training session and give a pep talk before the start of the match. But the role of the coach has undergone a massive change over the years. A good coach, nowadays, especially at the Ranji level, can be the difference between a winning and a losing side.

	Of trains and team bonding © Cricinfo Ltd

Being a Railwayman people often ask me several questions about train travel. How much time have you spent travelling in trains? Which is the longest journey? And so on.

I've travelled an estimated 200,000 km by train in 15 years of first-class cricket. Nowadays, because of the BCCI's tie-up with airlines companies, most teams travel by air. It takes away the charm of the journey because in a flight everyone is only keen to get to the destination. The whole pleasure of a journey is lost. Railways is probably the only team to still use trains throughout the season.

The Indian Railways is the largest mass transport system operating in the world in terms of travellers per day and every Indian has memories of train journeys. For us cricketers, it's no different.

During journeys there's a lot of interaction between players, a fact crucial in a sport like cricket. Long-term friendships are formed when one interacts with colleagues, understanding each other's background, education, siblings and family. These journeys made team bonding much easier. One understands there is more to life than just cricket.

Our experience of trains usually corresponds with the progress made in our careers. Earlier when a player used to get picked for Under-15, Under-17 or his University team, he used to travel in second class compartments. When he progressed to the Ranji Trophy almost all players travelled second AC.

If one made it to the zonal team (for the Duleep or Deodhar Trophy) the tickets are given by organisers but with no guarantee of berth confirmations. I remember vividly a journey in 2000 when ten players of a Central Zone team were booked in an AC compartment from Kanpur to Delhi after a Duleep Trophy match. But only one ticket was confirmed. It was on that one ticket, with some help from co-passengers that we managed to spend the night in the most awkward conditions. It caused a lot of discomfort to all concerned.

You also need to endure some really long journeys. My longest journey has been for 52 hours from Guwahati to Mumbai in 1999. It was after a Duleep Trophy game and I was all by myself, going back home. I spent close to three nights in the train and it passed through so many unknown stations. It was a very lonely experience.

Another problem relates to the massive kit-bag and luggage we need to carry to games. The trains usually tend to be jam-packed and there isn't much place to store our belongings. In hindsight one acknowledges the tolerance, humility and acceptance of co-passengers, which made it possible for us to travel. People usually used to grant us special status by making adjustments once they realised we were cricketers.

Teamwork also came to our rescue on many occasions. If we had to alight at a station where a train stops for a very short period, we used to form a queue from the seats to the exit and pass on the luggage from one guy to the other. It not only saved us paying exorbitant amounts of money to the porters but also had another big advantage. You could very easily separate a selfish character from a selfless character during these journeys. A selfish character was one who would turn a blind eye once his luggage alighted on the platform.

A related aspect is the allotment of room partners when teams are put up in hotels. Most coaches and managers try and work it out on the following basis – either it's a senior with a junior to enhance the learning process, or it's openers sharing a room, fast bowlers being put together, or (in Railways' case) players being grouped according to their zones. It produces some interesting situations when one member of the room has had a great day and the other a bad one. It's tough to party when you've score a big hundred but seen your room-mate failing on the day. It's those times when you understand what a great leveller cricket can be and how failure isn't too far away if you lose focus.

	"It would be ideal if the Sachins and Rahuls played domestic cricket for a season at least even after they quit international cricket" © AFP

I had a mathematics exam to write today. It's tough to juggle studies and cricket - if there is a practice session in the morning I go to the nets and completely forget my studies. Towards the end of the session it pricks me a little - the time spent - and I start getting the feeling that I need to get back to my books. Once I'm home, I'm tired and I have to write down things so that I don't get sleepy or bored.

I keep writing till I fall asleep. I don't believe in staying up late. By 10.30 or 11 pm I'm out like a light. But I'm up at 4am again to do my work.

It doesn't affect me going into a match. The mental preparation for a game is very important. Once I'm done with an exam it's out of my mind. When I have time to think entirely about cricket I feel really happy and relieved. Already, I feel I'm into tomorrow's game. It's only when I'm out of cricket for a period, like a month, when it's a terrible time in a cricketer's life. In a year I miss out on two or two-and-a-half months of cricket. That's the off season for a cricketer, a time to work on skills, prepare yourself, and I don't get that because I need to study too.

To a large extent studies do matter. Not for personal life, but life in cricket. I'm experiencing it now. I'm able to make out the difference in my cricket since I started studying engineering. I can't explain how or why, but once I've started to do engineering my cricket has gone up by leaps and bounds. Initially it was tough to adjust. But once I got used to the on-off way of things, my thinking and my stability in mindset has gone up.

I wasn't a very good student till school but that's probably because we were spoon-fed subjects. Once cricket and engineering came together I was not attending all the lectures but had to keep up with the syllabus and do all the learning myself. When you're in form you're happy and want to go out there and play everyday. It's like that with studying. Once you learn something and develop your thinking, you want to study more. That sharp thinking is very essential in cricket. I
tell kids that, those who are 10 or 12 years old and come to the nets at Chemplast.

You have to take cricket as education. Then you'll enjoy it. If you see it as a game full of pressure, where you have to deliver runs or wickets every day, then cricket and education become separate.

After writing an exam today I relish going to the ground because I get the feeling I can be a master at my game. Even if I've studied all there is to study, I get a nervous and twitchy feeling before the exam. Till I get the question paper I'm nervous. This somehow gives me a little bit extra when I'm on the field. I'm able to make decisions on the field just a bit quicker.

Bombay getting the better of Karnataka was a huge surprise. They're a relatively young side with players like [Ajinkya] Rahane, [Iqbal] Abdullah and Prashant Naik. I've played with all these players at the Under-17 levels. It's great to see players like this progress along. We're at a stage when India is looking at the next generation and this makes it a very interesting phase in domestic cricket. There are batsmen in the Indian team who may play only for three years or so. Someone performing well in domestic cricket might not get a break immediately, but in two or
three years there are going to be spots.

Towards the end of the careers, senior cricketers may play only Tests. This means they'll be available for Ranji matches. It would be ideal if the Sachins and Rahuls played domestic cricket for a season at least even after they quit international cricket. It will make people like me understand where I stand against people who have made it to the next level.

	The presence of role models like Zaheer Khan is inspiring youngsters to take up fast bowling © Getty Images

One of the biggest changes in domestic cricket from the time I played has been the attitude towards fast bowling. The wickets we played on were tailor-made for spinners, so the quality in fast bowling wasn't good. Most teams, barring perhaps Mumbai or Karnataka, struggled for a good pace attack. It could also have been the reason that they dominated too. Nowadays, though, almost every team has a three-seamer-one-spinner combination.

Every state has a couple of young fast bowlers, who somewhere down the line represent the state side and the India Under-19 side. There are talented fast bowlers in states like Assam, not traditionally cricket nurseries, and there are people coming from lesser known places and are representing their states. I see a lot of fast bowling talent overall.

There are youngsters willing to become fast bowlers, willing to put in the hard work, knowing that they won't come across many seamer-friendly tracks in India. Baroda, the team I am coaching now, have seen Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and Rakesh Patel in recent times. And there are more youngsters into fast bowling. It is good to see that because it was missing a few years back.

The fast bowler's workload has increased by about 50 per cent from about 10 years ago. It can be attributed to two factors, one of which is the change in the nature of wickets. You have got to make pitches that encourage the fast bowlers. Not only at the top but at the grassroots level. As a youngster, you should get an opportunity to bowl on at least some seamer-friendly wickets, so that you are attracted towards fast bowling.

The other reason is the exposure nowadays. Fast bowlers are everywhere now, and they are an appealing sight. We have bowlers like Zaheer and Sreesanth, characters that inspire. I wouldn't say fast-bowling is glamorous but it appeals to those who are willing to do a lot of hard work.

Added to that is the extent of technical awareness, which has completely transformed the art. The biomechanics have become very sound, there are more people who are aware of the techniques. Earlier, there used to be very few people who knew what fast bowling was, what biomechanical structure you needed to be a good fast bowler.

Things have developed a lot: the youngsters now know what in-season training is and what off-season training is, what is the exact muscle that they need to work on. The result: we see a lot of fast bowlers in domestic cricket and even at the grassroots level.

There is one matter of concern, though: we have very few tearaway bowlers outside the Indian team. To get the really fast bowlers, we need to work with the talent at a very young age. I have often seen coaches emphasising line and length more than the quality. Somewhere down the road we lose out on bowlers with sheer pace because of that.

If a kid has the talent but is wayward, that can be worked on. At a young age, the emphasis should be on the talent and the pace and not technique, which can be groomed. I have seen at university selections, in Under-17 trials, even in my playing days, that a genuinely quick bowler who is erratic at the nets would lose out to the other guy who bowls six balls on a good line and length.

That apart, fast bowling is in much better health since the time I retired. The three-one combination that most of the teams go in with is here to stay. The major difference is the awareness and, unlike the earlier days, we are not losing out on many prospective bowlers.

	It's great to have S Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik back in the team © Cricinfo Ltd

The first game of the Ranji Trophy is always big for any team, but for us at Tamil Nadu, the season has already been under way for a while. We've played in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup and the KSCA Diamond Jubilee Tournament. I'm not sure how it is for teams playing in Central Zone or North Zone, but for us here in the South, especially Tamil Nadu, we've already been playing together for a while.

In the last season this wasn't the case, as we had some seniors in the side and they didn't always play the warm-up tournaments. But this year we have a completely young side. The addition of Badri [S Badrinath] and Dinesh [Karthik] has been a boost for us: it's always good to get cricketers of that quality back in your side.

There's been some talk about the change in the points system, but it doesn't make that much of a difference. Simply because I believe only outright wins should fetch points. You cannot judge a team accurately on the basis of the first-innings leads they have secured. Giving a point to a team that has not conceded an outright win is not that great an idea. When an outright result cannot be reached, the points should be shared between the two teams.

Having said that, Tamil Nadu only won one game outright last season, and it was not the greatest position to be in, having to worry about being relegated to the Plate League. But it wasn't just us. Even champions Mumbai had failed to score a point in their first three games. It's all about the mindset. One victory can change the course of the entire season. For us it was that game against Baroda in which we pulled off an extraordinary win. Almost all the guys who are playing now were part of that team, and I think we would look back at that game at the start of this season.

In a four-day game you have to be extremely focussed on all four days to pull of a win. That's why I again come back to the points system and say it's not the greatest.

Playing with two divisions has its advantages and disadvantages. In one way it's good that all the best players are playing against each other. But it's not that great because good players playing the Plate League don't get the recognition they deserve. Putting all the weaker teams in one group does not help them much. Players in those teams will benefit only when they play against better cricketers. If it's mixed, zone-wise like before, that might benefit the good cricketers who play for the weaker teams.

For me, personally, the last season, my first, was a very important one. Tamil Nadu were experimenting with a few spinners and I'm quite happy that I was part of a side that made some positive strides. Bringing in youngsters was a major priority for Tamil Nadu.

Having done that we got some results. I won't say we did very well, but doing well enough to stay in the Super League, given that we were building a young side, was very important for most of our cricketers.

This season is even more important for me because it gives me a chance to look at things from a new perspective. Firstly, it gives me a chance to build on what I have done in the last season. Also the second season is often tougher in some ways than the first, as there is pressure to deliver if you've succeeded in the first season.

Another dimension that plays a part is the Indian Cricket League (ICL). This has put many state teams on hold. Maharashtra are playing ten new cricketers, Hyderabad have a lot of fresh faces. Many experienced domestic cricketers have gone to the ICL, which gives a chance for talented young cricketers to come to the fore. It's bound to happen that some of these youngsters will perform and establish themselves. From the BCCI's point of view it's not a great move, but inadvertently it's given the youngsters a good platform.