INTERVIEW
Follow UsThe last two years have been unprecedented for the entire world due to the Coronavirus, and it has impacted every walk of life. The game of cricket is no exception. While the big-ticket tournaments were back after a brief stoppage, the less glamorous domestic tournaments like Ranji Trophy are yet to recover from the pandemic.
Organizing a tournament like Ranji Trophy in a large country has its own share of challenges, but prima facie one can’t be blamed for thinking that it has been given a step-motherly treatment by the BCCI. One always hears about the importance of a strong foundation and the Ranji Trophy along with other domestic tournaments are the bedrock on which the tower of Indian cricket stands tall today.
And who could have been a better person to explain its importance than former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar. Old-timers would recall that it was a century against the Rest of India in the Irani Cup in 1975 which had brought him into the limelight. This knock against an attack comprising of Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna not only caught the eye of everyone in the cricketing fraternity but also did wonders for Vengsarkar’s confidence. Those were the days when even top Indian players participated in Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, and the Irani Cup.
Of course, with the amount of international cricket taking place these days, we rarely see Indian stars playing in these tournaments, but they are important, nonetheless.
“It offers you a big platform and if you do well in those matches, you are in the spotlight as well as get the right exposure”
“Domestic cricket is extremely crucial. In Ranji Trophy, young cricketers can learn from others and play in Indian conditions. It offers you a big platform and if you do well in those matches, you are in the spotlight as well as get the right exposure”, said Vengsarkar.
As per him one of the reasons why we have seen Indian batsmen struggle against spinners is the lack of playing domestic cricket. “They don’t get many opportunities to play on Indian wickets against spinners. So, if you see our batsmen are also getting out against spinners which were our strong point earlier”, he further elaborated. In my view, he is spot on. The land of the famous spin quartet, a country against whom even the great Shane Warne had struggled, seems to be losing its skill of dominating spinners.
Vengsarkar feels that the Indian cricketing season should start with the Irani Cup and the Duleep Trophy. This gives an opportunity to the selectors to see the talent which becomes very difficult in a vast country like India. He also rued the discontinuation of the Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW) which had been established to solve this problem. This system had come up in 2002 when Jagmohan Dalmiya was the BCCI President and had Vengsarkar as its first chairman.
“You have to invest in domestic cricket all the time”
Along with the Ranji Trophy, he also laid a lot of emphasis on the zonal tournaments. Unhappy with the current format of the Duleep Trophy, he said that it should be on a zonal basis, not this green, blue and red. That sense of belongingness to the team is very important and a zonal format ensures that.
He reiterated, “You have to invest in domestic cricket all the time”. The fact that the National Cricket Academy (NCA) of a cash-rich cricket board still functions under the premises of a state association is something that he finds to be unfortunate.
“But the fact is that BCCI must give a lot of importance to domestic cricket. That’s the investment that they are doing in making our team a strong side at the international level. Otherwise, weak spots will be exposed like it happened recently”, he concluded.
He also had a suggestion to at least have domestic matches in zonal formats if a full-fledged Ranji Trophy was not possible. The absence of domestic matches for a second consecutive year has brought out similar sentiments from many players as well who may not be IPL stars.
One can just hope that powers of corridors in the BCCI hear their plea, and we are back with the tournaments that formed the base of Indian cricket for decades.
