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Vengsarkar: Spin is our biggest concern

Mr. Wicket

By Mr. Wicket
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Mr. Wicket

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Seeing as the Feed didn't pick this up from CI, posting this here. The first-class season has just finished following North Zone's win in the Duleep Trophy. Ajay S Shankar asks BCCI's chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar, about upcoming talent in domestic cricket, the new points system, the lack of promise among spinners and more. The latest Indian domestic season is almost over, are you satisfied with the cricketing talent on display at the domestic level? Who are the batsmen, bowlers, allrounders, wicketkeepers who caught your eye? What are the general trends you spotted? Unfortunately with so much international cricket is being played, it's difficult to get the international players play in our domestic cricket and hence it's not that easy to assess the performances of the players. I was glad to see good wickets prepared in Baroda and in Mumbai for the semis and for the final of the Duleep Trophy. Besides, the BCCI did a good thing by inviting England A to participate as the sixth team in the Duleep Trophy thereby enhancing the standard of cricket. Apart from the regulars who have been playing first-class cricket for some time now, Ajinkya Rahane and Sahil Kukreja from Mumbai caught the eye. They have skill as well as good temperament. Rajat Bhatia is a good allrounder. And though Virat Kohli, Tanmay Srivastava and Pradeep Sangwan did not play in the Duleep Trophy because they went for the Under-19 World Cup, they are the ones to watch out for. How important is the role of pitches in domestic cricket? For instance, after years of flat tracks, we now see 'greentops' being laid out for various matches. But that only ended up letting mediocre medium-pacers get easy wickets. What is the right way forward? We have a wrong notion that greentops will help us improve the quality of cricket. Mind you, it is not the grass but the hardness of the wicket that makes the difference. What is required is bounce in the wicket and not so much movement off the wicket. The bounce helps not only the batsmen to play their shots but also the fast bowlers as well as the spinners. It's the most important aspect to improve the quality of the game in general. What do you make of Duleep Trophy and Ranji games ending well in advance, this time? The Ranji final ended on the fourth day as did many games in the Duleep Trophy. How do you view this trend vis a vis the future of the longer versions of the game? The present day players have been brought up on a staple diet of one-day cricket and now Twenty20. Not many have shown the temperament to play long innings. They try and play too many shots. That's the reason teams finish with a total around 300 runs in the stipulated 90 overs per day or get out early. Is the lack of promise among spinners at the domestic level among the biggest concerns for Indian cricket at the moment? Yes. It is our biggest concern. And, now with Twenty20 in vogue, the spinners will have very little chance to parade their talent. The new points system hasn't really forced teams to go for outright results. Wouldn't it be best to adopt the Australian format, which forces teams to declare after getting to 400 and go for an outright win? The new points system is the best and is formulated on Australian cricket module. It's competitive and one has to be consistent to reach to the top of the table. Are you happy with the regular school and age-level competitions that are currently on in India? What can be done to improve them? Yes. The Indian cricket structure is the best in the world, for it continues to throw open talented youngsters year after year. The quality of wickets, umpiring and bigger, better grounds is the need of the hour. This season, 14 Ranji bowlers were suspected of having dodgy bowling actions. Where lies the problem and what is the remedy? The problem lies at the grassroot level where they tend to throw the ball to reach the wicket especially when they are not physically fully developed. That's where proper coaching plays a very important role. Should India switch to using Kookaburra balls in domestic, as most of international cricket is played with it? I guess it's advisable to play the first innings with SG ball and the second innings with Kookaburra ball in order to get used to it, for India play all its' home series with SG balls. No harm in trying on experimentation basis for a year. There seems to be a clear lack of adequate coaching at the domestic level, though many coaches have done various courses at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). What are your views on the current coaching standards in domestic cricket? For the last couple of years, the NCA has distributed level certificates to more than 600 coaches and level two certificates for 300 coaches. Now, how authentic and useful they are, only time will tell. India have moved from No. 7 on ICC Test ranking to No. 2 ever since your selection panel took over. But moving to No. 1 will require a drastic overhaul of domestic cricket from the grassroots. What is your view and what is your blueprint for the future, starting from domestic cricket? Before my term gets over, I would like to see India as No. 1 in the world. However, it all depends on how we perform in the coming series versus South Africa and later in Sri Lanka. The team looks good at present and we have more options at our disposal than we ever had before. If some players suffer injuries or loss of form, we have plans for the same in place as well. As they say it's easier to reach the top, but it's very difficult to retain that position for long like the way the West Indians did when I played and at present what Australia are doing. It requires a lot of passion, commitment and a will to implement what has been decided, not only on the part of the players but more so on the part of officials, for they are the ones who would have to create an infrastructure to not only unearth the talent but also groom the very same. Quite rightly the NCA has decided to start with the U-19 age-group players and not the U-15s. For, the most important age-group is from 17 onwards till 22. The NCA can play a very important role and so do the curators of wickets all over the country. India A matches at home and away have to be in place to get top-quality players. Ajay S Shankar is deputy editor Cricinfo © Cricinfo

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