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.

	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.