IND: Domestic Cricket Sans Colour (30 Mar 1996)

Domestic cricket sans colour

30 March 1996

WITH the staging of the Wills World Cup in the subcontinent, domestic cricket was forced to occupy the back seat. Indeed, the prime one-day event took the charm out of domestic cricket to such an extent that nobody even seemed to be bothered about what was happening in the Ranji Trophy, a premier tournament in the country.

So much was the euphoria surrounding the World Cup that Bombay's defeat in the national tournament to a rejuvenated Tamil Nadu team went almost unnoticed.

That was rather unfortunate, but couldn't be helped. Domestic cricket couldn't be brought to a standstill and kept waiting till the World Cup got over and the star players could turn out for their respective states. Even if it had, it wouldn't have been possible to have uninterrupted play, what with the Singer Cup and the Sharjah tourney coming up.

While I can understand and accept the performances of the players on the domestic front being lost on the general public, what I find difficult to digest is the fact that even the Board members did not seem to bother about these games.

The Board, for instance, appoints observers for first class fixtures in the country. But the observer for the Bombay- Tamil Nadu match was surprisingly absent.

Then, the Board observer for the Tamil Nadu-Delhi match was not available when the rival captains went out for the toss. As a result, both the captains claimed they had won the toss, and they had to go out for the flip of the coin again, thereby losing precious time and delaying the start of the match in the process.

The wicket for the Bombay-Tamil Nadu game, I believe, was a batsman's nightmare. Well, Tamil Nadu had prepared a similar sort of track way back in the early Seventies when it had set up a final showdown against Bombay in the Ranji Trophy. The reason being that it felt it was the only way it could get the strong Bombay batting line-up out twice.

What it did not reckon with then was that Bombay boasted of Padmakar Shivalkar in its line-up. The bowler proved deadly and the ploy boomeranged on Tamil Nadu, with the match finishing in just two days.

This time round, however, Bombay did not have a Shivalkar who could turn the tables on Tamil Nadu, and lost for the first time to this southern state. p73 What was noticeable was that Bombay's batting, which is famous for its solidity, failed to live up to tradition. So what if four players were doing duty for the country, Bombay's bench strength has always risen to the occasion whenever the chips have been down.

This time, however, the reserves flopped miserably and succumbed meekly to the Tamil Nadu spinners on the treacherous track.

Tamil Nadu deserves full marks for playing to a well conceived plan. It bowled extremely well, did not gift away easy runs, and its batsmen, especially Sharath and Vasu, stuck to their task with a lot of determination.

Tamil Nadu played with similar grit against Delhi too, preparing a turning track to suit its strength. While nobody would grudge Tamil Nadu for that, the question to be answered is, does this produce top class cricket or help in building up good cricketers? It is diabolical to see the ball doing all kinds of tricks, and the batsmen struggling desperately for runs with close-in fielders virtually breathing down their necks.

It is also, therefore, not quite surprising to find first class cricket in the country being played to empty stands. It becomes all the more difficult to improve the standard of cricket if games are to be played on such awful wickets.

Speaking of wickets, India is scheduled to tour England, South Africa and the West Indies in the coming months, and I'm sure our lads will be playing on different surfaces altogether. In fact, the Indian batsmen may find it surprising if the ball is pitched in their half. It will take a lot of grit and guts to score runs in those countries.

It was rather pleasant to find Rahul Dravid included in the Indian team, and Vikram Rathore too for that matter. The latter has not really been in great form this season, but he had accumulated plenty of runs to his credit last season. Besides, he gave ample proof while on tours with the India `A' team that he does have it in him to succeed at the highest level of the game.

I was a bit surprised to learn of Prashant Vaidya's inclusion in the side. Though as a person he is one of the nicest of blokes you could come across, he has not really done anything of note to merit a place in the Indian team.

At the same time, I personally feel that the dropping of Salil Ankola was an unwarranted move. He played in only one match the World Cup tie against Sri Lanka and he bowled reasonably well. He was sidelined for the rest of the matches, and that is what makes one wonder why he has not been persisted with despite virtually not playing at all.

It would not have been difficult to swallow had a younger, promising bowler, like say David Johnson or Paras Mhambrey, been included in Ankola's place. But unfortunately the selectors, it appears, have indulged in horse trading while picking the team for the tournaments in Singapore and Sharjah.

It is rather sad too, for Vinod Kambli has also been made a victim of this. Purely as a batsman, he has certainly done better than Azhar and Manjrekar in the World Cup, yet he has been showed the door.

I guess the selector representing the West Zone did not count among the majority when the gentlemen of the selection committee got down to the task of choosing the team.

Well, like it or not, that, then, is Indian selection for you!

Dilip Data Syndicate