I had gone over to the MAC stadium here on Sunday, to pop in at the Tamil Nadu - Karnataka Ranji Trophy game for a couple of hours. There were about 50-60 people there, who seemed to be spending a lazy Sunday morning rather than watching with interest. There was polite applause for every boundary (there was a six and a few fours) and some good pieces of fielding. The TN twelfth man came over and signed a few autographs for some excitable schoolkids. It seemed like the idyllic setting Ted Corbett keeps describing in his columns - chilled-out cricketers in whites, green grass, sun, quiet, animals (yes, the mandatory dog visited the stadium), it hardly seemed like the cricket-crazy nation we proudly describe ourselves as.
The Ranji Trophy is no longer the basis of selection, or the dream of youngsters. It is a tournament played for the sake of playing. Players like Robin Bist have been excelling in it for seasons and they are not in the India squad, while it just took an IPL century for Manish Pandey to make the cut. Most don't know last season's winner and can't name six players from their state's squad, but can recite World Cup winners, runners-up and hosts from 1975 and know the India team backwards. Englishmen rooting for Somerset and Yorkshire and Australians proudly supporting Queensland and New South Wales are poles apart from us.
The villain is the usual, the IPL. Youngsters now dream of winning the IPL with CSK or RCB or KKR after bowling four decent overs, not lifting the Ranji Trophy after sending down twenty hard-fought overs. The thought of Indians bowling to each other does not incite passions like it used to. In T20, a battle between bat and ball, a batsman and a bowler, won't last more than a few balls. (Ever heard anyone say, 'I'm going to watch MI vs KKR because I want to see Narine bowl to Sachin') I find the idea of Zaheer battling it out with Sehwag, for 10 overs more inviting.
A group of young individuals to popularize the Ranji Trophy and draw fans to the stadium will be a great help to players, fans, India and the game.
Happy Deepavali.
The Ranji Trophy is no longer the basis of selection, or the dream of youngsters. It is a tournament played for the sake of playing. Players like Robin Bist have been excelling in it for seasons and they are not in the India squad, while it just took an IPL century for Manish Pandey to make the cut. Most don't know last season's winner and can't name six players from their state's squad, but can recite World Cup winners, runners-up and hosts from 1975 and know the India team backwards. Englishmen rooting for Somerset and Yorkshire and Australians proudly supporting Queensland and New South Wales are poles apart from us.
The villain is the usual, the IPL. Youngsters now dream of winning the IPL with CSK or RCB or KKR after bowling four decent overs, not lifting the Ranji Trophy after sending down twenty hard-fought overs. The thought of Indians bowling to each other does not incite passions like it used to. In T20, a battle between bat and ball, a batsman and a bowler, won't last more than a few balls. (Ever heard anyone say, 'I'm going to watch MI vs KKR because I want to see Narine bowl to Sachin') I find the idea of Zaheer battling it out with Sehwag, for 10 overs more inviting.
A group of young individuals to popularize the Ranji Trophy and draw fans to the stadium will be a great help to players, fans, India and the game.
Happy Deepavali.
Happy Deepavali!
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