Ranji Trophy Finals: Where are the cricket fans?

“I think there is some match going inside”, said a person near the clubhouse of the Chinnaswamy Stadium last Sunday. I somehow controlled myself from letting the gentleman know that it wasn’t some match, but the finals of India’s premier domestic tournament – Ranji Trophy. 

But could I blame him for being ignorant? Probably not. Over the past many years (yes, it is a gradual decline and something which didn’t happen overnight), such has been the condition that Ranji Trophy rarely attracts crowds. Long gone are the days when a dual between Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Sunil Gavaskar or Bishan Singh Bedi and Gundappa Viswanath would have full houses. In fact, Viswanath who was seen at the venue must have surely been reminiscing and missing those gone by days when his home ground would be packed with spectators each time he cut a ball to the boundary in domestic matches. 

And that brings us to the question – Where are the cricket fans? 

Just a week prior to the Ranji Trophy final, a T20I between India and South Africa (which was eventually washed out) had witnessed a full house even though rain had been forecasted. Let’s not even bring the mad rush for IPL tickets into this discussion. So, is it fair to conclude that in this age where everything is needed at a touch of a phone screen, people don’t have patience to watch a game which goes on for five days? Well, even Test match see very less viewership in India, so the hypothesis definitely looks to have some merit. 

But does the problem only rests with the fans or there is more to it?

The other issue has been the lack of international stars in the Ranji Trophy. We have heard stories of how Gavaskar would turn up for his club Dadar Union in the morning, even if he had returned from an international tour the previous night. In the defense of current players, there is so much of cricket happening that there is no time to participate in domestic tournaments unless you are out of the national squad. This year of course, there are two Indian teams on tours in Ireland and England, so the participation of international stars was out of question. 

Amidst this hectic international schedule, IPL, and the pandemic, on one hand, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should be complemented for at least conducting Ranji Trophy even though it was a shortened format, but on the other a true cricket fan can question the importance that was given to it. 

If Ranji Trophy is a product and BCCI is its owner, then it surely not on the top of their priority list. Let’s face it, it hasn’t been marketed or placed in a way that it deserves. Yes, it is true that it doesn’t generate the revenue as an IPL or a T20I does. But it surely does have potential and should in fact be treated as an investment. 

Nothing against IPL, but it was really not very pleasing to hear chants of RCB, even though it was being done to encourage players from that franchise. There is a line of thought that had the match been in Indore (Madhya Pradesh’s home ground) or Mumbai then the crowd story could have been different. One will never know. 

However, what one knows is that Ranji Trophy is the bedrock on which the castles of the game have been built in India and its ignorance could lead to a heavy price in future. True cricket fans can only hope for a change in Ranji Trophy’s fortune which would get back the fans to the stadiums.