Players missing Ranji Trophy is an annual fixture — the drama repeats itself every year and everyone knows the truth, writes Amrit Mathur.
Get the picture: When a batsman repeatedly advances down the pitch, the fast bowler reacts by bowling a bouncer. The short stuff response is both a message and a warning from the angry bowler. It is unusual for BCCI to issue a warning but the tough tone of the ‘behave or else’ message suggests it means business. The public dressing down, and the threat of ‘serious implications’, confirms there is a problem with domestic cricket, and there is a way to sort out the problem.
PREMIUM India’s Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad during a practice session (PTI)
Get the picture: When a batsman repeatedly advances down the pitch, the fast bowler reacts by bowling a bouncer. The short stuff response is both a message and a warning from the angry bowler. It is unusual for BCCI to issue a warning but the tough tone of the ‘behave or else’ message suggests it means business. The public dressing down, and the threat of ‘serious implications’, confirms there is a problem with domestic cricket, and there is a way to sort out the problem.
The issue is this: With little to gain, established players don’t want to play red-ball cricket and skip Ranji Trophy, the national championship. Some seniors turn up for the odd game to gain match practice in the beginning of the season but when IPL approaches, they report unfit. Niggles are invented, muscles are pulled, hamstrings act up and lower backs become stiff. This ‘we are unfit’ playbook fools nobody.
Players missing Ranji is an annual fixture — the drama repeats itself every year and everyone knows the truth. The comedy of sudden injuries usually runs through December to February but by early March all injured are fit, in prime health, ready for IPL’s commercial circus. Ravi Shastri, in his front foot style, summed it up when he described IPL as the best physio in the world. Fact is, IPL matters much more than Ranji. It is financially rewarding (where else would Sameer Rizvi, a red ball non-entity get ₹8 crore for 6 weeks’ work) and is the fast track for national selection. For any player, choosing IPL ahead of Ranji is logical and sensible. While IPL ahead of Ranji makes perfect sense from the player’s perspective, looking at the bigger picture, the situation is
disturbing. Ranji and the traditional 4-day games form the foundation of cricket, and India players, even IPL stars, come out of this system. Also, state associations invest time and energy into developing talent. It’s unacceptable, therefore, that players attracted by the IPL shun the system that in a way ‘created’ them.
That’s why BCCI, while cracking the whip on the absentee stars, reminded them of their responsibility to respect Ranji. From a practical standpoint too, BCCI is right in acting tough. Without senior players, the overall quality of domestic cricket is diminished, especially when regulars in the India team are busy with international cricket. Also, think of the state associations who pick a team hoping players would be available only to find at the last minute that they are preparing for IPL and want to avoid the risk of getting injured in ‘meaningless’ red-ball cricket.
This season the IPL-first attitude of players flared up because Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and others chose to train with their IPL teams while Ranji was on, leaving no doubt where they stood on the matter. Interestingly, players are not legally bound or obliged to play Ranji. Those centrally contracted with BCCI commit their availability to play for India, and for this they receive an annual retainership. Turning up for Ranji, when not busy with India matches, is thus a moral obligation or for reasons such as getting game time/match practice/sorting out technical issues or for regaining form.
For players not on central contracts the situation is more complicated for two reasons. We don’t have domestic contracts, so it is tricky to force a player to play a particular format. And if a youngster chooses to focus only on white-ball cricket, and plays Vijay Hazare and Mushtaq Ali, is it right to ask him to play Ranji?
Some have suggested that players should be allowed to play IPL only if they play a certain number of domestic games. It might not work because this would shut the door on young talent (discovered by team scouts) which is not already in the system. And the flaw in proposing that Ranji be made mandatory for IPL is this: What happens if a good T20 player (for instance, Shahrukh Khan,
Sameer Rizvi, Lalit Yadav, Varun Chakravarty) is not good enough to get selected for Ranji? There is no easy way out. For the handful of centrally contracted players, the position is clear — they will have to play and not disrespect Ranji, and follow the example set by Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav. For others, it is a difficult call, and players would be motivated only if Ranji is made more attractive and lucrative.
PS: The BCCI warning came very late, just before the last round of the Ranji league stage. Despite the stern message, only Shardul Thakur came back to play.
