How to improve standard of domestic cricket in India?

[Chandan]

Chandan, One thing I am not so sure about is whether our domestic standard is THAT bad. I think that was the case about 6 or 7 years ago, but standards are improving with the money being funnelled in. And with international standards not AS good as they once were, and batting in particular so much easier, the gap isnt so large Theres just not really enough evidence that the best domestic players wont hack it an international level- There cant be when a Kohli is picked almost straight from the U19s ahead of a Badrinath who has been so consistent for a few years; or when the Gagandeeps and SS Paul's of the world are ignored despite their FC exploits and the Irfans and RP Singhs are picked based almost solely on what theyve done for the U19s (or FAR worse when Dindas are picked based on what theyve done for IPL teams) Unless the consistent ranji performers are actually given a fair run, we'll never know. That dosent change the fact that your suggestions will improve things MASSIVELY.

Domestic standard is bad Sooda. How many quality players do we have in a Punjab or HP side? What competition can these guys give to few top players, say Zaheer? When the resources will channelised properly (like in the above format), matches will be played on international class pitches, competition will be fierce, each domestic player will have spot light on him, I'm sure the quality will improve and selectors won't be unsure of the domestic performances here, as they are now. What do Amol Mazumdar's runs in Ranji mean? How come an ace player like Jaffer failed miserably in SA and Australia (AFAIK, Jaffer was chosen for his outstanding Ranji show)? Even Tiwari was chosen on the basis of that outstanding year. So you can't say that Ranji performers don't get rewarded. Our selectors job is really tricky here where they have to reward the consistently good performance at Ranji level as well as look as the player's potential to assess how much can he serve India. Sometimes they succeed and most of the times they fail. Having a solid domestic system will ease their jobs.

Absolutely good thoughts here and i completely agree with you Sir' date=' but i don't think BCCI even take Duleep Trophy seriously because they have to find time in between to organize IPL too.[/quote'] I'm a female rkt! I know that BCCI will never embrace this kind of format, because that'll demand more professionalism from them.

[saneindian]

With the BCCI's focus firmly on IPL and CL, its hard to see how the domestic cricket is going to improve or change. I was shocked to find that a ranji trophy match was played at a school ground in Indore recently!! It's ridiculous and highly unprofessional. Half of our Ranji teams dont have decent support staff, regular physios and trainers. How can we see the fitness standard of players at the age group improve. How many of the ranji trophy teams' coaches are professionally qualified? Sometime back they talked about having NCAs in each region, wonder where that project is headed and how much is it helping. On a different note, to improve the cricket skills and mental toughness of our youngsters, why not have India A team tour SA, Aus, Eng, even NZ and SL for first class matches ( unofficial tests as they used to be called) to get exposure to various conditions and also to learn to play longer innings/bowl longer spells . Guys like Raina, Kohli, Rohit, Vijay, Rahane, Mukund, Tiwary will benefit immensely if they were to play regularly in 4 day tests against oppositions abroad. Between April to September, there are 4-5 months which can be utilised for these A tours. And yes, please cut down the duration of IPL from 5 weeks to not more than 2 weeks.

[Chandan]

With the BCCI's focus firmly on IPL and CL, its hard to see how the domestic cricket is going to improve or change. I was shocked to find that a ranji trophy match was played at a school ground in Indore recently!! It's ridiculous and highly unprofessional. Half of our Ranji teams dont have decent support staff, regular physios and trainers. How can we see the fitness standard of players at the age group improve. How many of the ranji trophy teams' coaches are professionally qualified? Sometime back they talked about having NCAs in each region, wonder where that project is headed and how much is it helping.

Agree with every word of it. Hence having just 5 teams and a NCA team will help in enhacing these qualities too, ie, providing quality grounds, pitches, support staffs etc. But it'll never happen.

On a different note, to improve the cricket skills and mental toughness of our youngsters, why not have India A team tour SA, Aus, Eng, even NZ and SL for first class matches ( unofficial tests as they used to be called) to get exposure to various conditions and also to learn to play longer innings/bowl longer spells . Guys like Raina, Kohli, Rohit, Vijay, Rahane, Mukund, Tiwary will benefit immensely if they were to play regularly in 4 day tests against oppositions abroad. Between April to September, there are 4-5 months which can be utilised for these A tours. And yes, please cut down the duration of IPL from 5 weeks to not more than 2 weeks.

Problem is that Australia and SA have winter during that period and the grounds that are used for cricket go to footy team or rugby team. In that case, the A squad will have to play on second or third rung grounds where pitch and conditions might not be the same as they have in summer. That exposure won't help much, I suppose! As for England, they will never be able to make the counties sacrifice players for an A tour in the domestic season. And not playing with quality players won't help. You're talking of cutting down the duration for IPL, and there BCCI is thinking of expanding it further!

[bharat297]

Yeah they need to have 2 IPLs per year plus a Champions League' date=' plus they need to support the ICC as they make a yearly T20 world cup.[/quote'] By the way, before anyone starts ranting about this. I was being sarcastic.

[urbestfriend]

Is ranji trophy serving the purpose? Whats the point in this tournament when 1) more than 70% to 80% of the matches end in tame draw? 2) Teams play for first innings lead rather than outright win 3) Run rate hardly crosses 2-3 RPO even when matches are played in flattest of pitches. 4) Players are more interested in individual performaces than team peformance. Precisely this is the reason why there are very few following for this tournament. BCCI must change the format of the tournament to achieve more results.

[The Outsider]

It's not a problem unique to Ranji - even Aussie domestic and English county cricket suffer from same problems - the emphasis on the first innings lead, high percentage of draws, focus on individual performances to break into the national team. I can't really think of too many good solutions except to have a more stringent control on the type of pitches that are panned out.

[Guest Hiten.]

Is first innings lead sufficient for the admins to give their verdict over the points distribution ? To begin with I do not get why are domestic games played for a period of 4 days when they are considered as "mental preparation for tests". I mean do we have domestic tournaments of 20 overs for "mental preparation for 50 overs cricket" (DO NOT bring in IPL or t20 :P). For us to have results inside 4 days we ought to have better pitches and clearly the curators hired by BCCI do not have any ****ing idea on how to prepare pitches. A good example would be A'bad's curator who predicted a "sporting" wicket for Ind-SL test. A sporting wicket which allowed one batsman to score a huge double ton and 6 other batsmen to score tons. First innings lead system ruins the mental approach of most of the teams. Fine example would be Guj vs Hyd, once they had a lead of 150 why not just ****ing declare and at least show some intent of winning rather than allowing the opposition to bat 2 overs for the final hour of the final day :dontknow:

[Sooda]

Chandan- the guru of all things domestic cricket :adore: - has some very good ideas on this Essentially make it Zonal sides playing each other more often- so the Duleep is the premier competition, that way the best players are playing each other more often. And hopefully it will mean just 5/6 good stadia which are international class, so people who play will actually be motivated. The Ranji matches will act as a way to get players recognition to play in Duleep. Right now the likes of Pujara gain nothing from creaming 200 agasint a nothing attack -Maharashtra was it the other day?. Give him Zonal attacks to play against more often and the gap between him playing domestic and intl cricket will lessen, the players will improve. Will never happen On a slightly different note... I do think Ranji performers are ignored sometimes for U19 players. So a Kolhi is preferred to a Badri. A guy like Gagandeep Singh who has a great FC record, cant play for India, whilst RPS and Irfan come in on the back of good U19 WC's Players who have made the rounds in domestics have a much clearer idea about theyre own game, and have ironed out a few flaws haivng played for a few seasons. Nowadays we pick em too young. A season or two at least in Ranji cricket will help. That why Aussies who come in make an impact almost immediately, theyve had experience in big matches in domestic cricket and are normally older Check this thread out : http://indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=189497&highlight=too+young

[kabira]

better solution is good point system, that takes into account quicker run rates, better strike rates

[Chandan]

Kabira, But the quicker run- rates or better srs will make people go in the OD mode, and that can't be good preparation for longer version, surely where more emphasis has to be in building an inning, pacing it properly and having good partnerships. The only solution is to have good sporting pitches and shrink the number of sides.

[Sooda]

going back to the 'whether the standard is good enough' point There are guys who came through the system and have done well. Balaji and Nehra for instance. Nehra was a good ODI bowler pre injury and he has kept that going, Bala had a good tour of Pak on his debut Even on the batting side -Gambhir couldnt quite make the cut, he was sent back and after piling on the runs proving it in Ranji he's now a world class opener. MSD too for that matter, wasnt an U19 player. Are these guys who came through despite rather than because of Indias domestic system? So there are people who come in and do ok. Murali Vijay did not disgrace himself on his debut as did Badri vs SL. Of course we cant tell anything from one appearence. And there are peoeple who arent so succesful too- Jaffer as you say, to name one. But every team finds that. There havent been enough, recently, of these people in their mid to late 20's being picked on the back of domestic success. I just think it will avoid young players being selected, having a good few matches and then having to be dropped again because weaknesses are found out Those weaknesses should be found out playing for their states.

[Chandan]

going back to the 'whether the standard is good enough' point There are guys who came through the system and have done well. Balaji and Nehra for instance. Nehra was a good ODI bowler pre injury and he has kept that going, Bala had a good tour of Pak on his debut Even on the batting side -Gambhir couldnt quite make the cut, he was sent back and after piling on the runs proving it in Ranji he's now a world class opener. MSD too for that matter, wasnt an U19 player. Are these guys who came through despite rather than because of Indias domestic system? So there are people who come in and do ok. Murali Vijay did not disgrace himself on his debut as did Badri vs SL. Of course we cant tell anything from one appearence. And there are peoeple who arent so succesful too- Jaffer as you say, to name one. But every team finds that. There havent been enough, recently, of these people in their mid to late 20's being picked on the back of domestic success. I just think it will avoid young players being selected, having a good few matches and then having to be dropped again because weaknesses are found out Those weaknesses should be found out playing for their states.

If you go on that point sooda, then Irfan did exceptionally well despite being picked up from an U-19 squad. Bhajji has done terrifically, even if he came as a 17 years old spinner from the age groups. And if you think Badri has done well, then Kohli hasn't done that badly too, neither has Raina who came as 18 years old in the ODI squad. Kaif and Yuvraj did reasonably well too earlier when they were picked from the world conquering team in the youth WC. So exceptions are there. We should have a system which keeps on churning out quality cricketers, like that in Australia. A tournament like county cricket where there are too many teams, are useless.

[Chandan]

It is time to change the domestic structure cricket: ranji trophy Home Disadvantage It cramps players, wastes talent. India’s domestic cricket needs a refit. Rohit Mahajan It is a fact that has been well-acknowledged that a glut of international engagements keep Indian cricket’s biggest, busiest stars from the national championship, the Ranji Trophy. The Mumbai vs Karnataka thriller in the final would have been that much spicier if garnished with generous helpings of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. Tendulkar and Dravid missed the Ranji final because the first Test against Bangladesh was to start just two days after the end of that match; Khan was playing in yet another soon-to-be-forgotten, largely irrelevant one-day tournament in Dhaka. The absence of the best players, thus, reduces the opportunity to test upcoming talent against the touchstone of experience, leaving their performances open to scrutiny. The scheduling of international matches seems to suggest that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) doesn’t think the Ranji Trophy—Test cricket’s nursery—and its final are relevant. But even if the international calendar hadn’t been so crowded, domestic cricket wouldn’t be too alluring for Test stars, jaded or injured on national duty. And domestic cricketers themselves undergo a dizzying spell of play, travel and more play and more travel in a matter of weeks. It saps the players, and reduces the gap between mediocrity and excellence. There are six different national tournaments in three different formats for the senior players—two longer-version (Ranji and Duleep), three one-day and one Twenty20. Ironically, this presents problems of both plenty and paucity of matches. Some players get as few as seven Ranji innings in the whole year, a desperately low number to prove their worth. Some are luckier, but they’re blighted by an avalanche of matches in little time, often playing games separated by just three days, including a day of travel. Lack of time, a scarce commodity that even the BCCI can’t buy, puts the most pressure on the bowlers, rendering them almost incidental. As Rahul Dravid told Outlook, “With so little time between the games, teams often don’t want to risk injury to their bowlers by trying for an outright win.” They’re happy to gather points on the basis of the first innings lead, not risk injuries to the bowlers and let the game end in a draw. Perhaps striving for an outright victory is futile, difficult as it is to take 20 wickets in a four-day match on most Indian wickets. This enables the batsmen to inflate their averages—not a true reflection of their abilities. But there’s a flip side as well—matches without two complete innings deprive the batsmen the opportunities to catch selectors’ attention. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra says, “Six innings in a year is not enough! A couple of bad shots, a bad decision or a fantastic ball, and your season is over. You then get a chance after a year.” To tackle this anomaly, Chopra suggests more Ranji matches at the expense of meaningless tournaments. “There should be more matches, but spread out. If that means scrapping the Duleep Trophy, so be it!” India has two first-class competitions—the inter-state Ranji Trophy and the inter-zone Duleep Trophy. There’s also one match for the Irani Trophy. Then there are the three one-day events—the 50-over Ranji (state one-dayers), the Deodhar Trophy (inter-zonal one-dayers), the Challenger Trophy (teams randomly made of best players), as well as the Twenty20 championship. Since the domestic season can’t be stretched, at least two of the 50-over events can be dispensed with. The Challenger Trophy does serve a purpose, Chopra says, because it pits a rated youngster against someone like, say, Zaheer Khan. “The Deodhar Trophy isn’t relevant because people hardly get selected on the basis of performances in it,” Chopra says. "In county cricket, there are bonus points for taking wickets as well, and this makes the contest exciting.”V.V.S. Laxman, Test Batsman, India Travel isn’t a joy ever since the Ranji Trophy was converted into a two-tier event. Earlier, neighbouring teams from a zone would compete with each other to qualify for the national level, logging in fewer travel miles. Now, the Elite and Plate divisions separate the top teams from the whipping boys, but it involves tiring journeys across the country—for instance, Punjab could be playing Tamil Nadu in Chennai and then sprinting back home for the next match. Nor has this system raised the standard of cricket among Plate teams. They languish in obscurity, playing five games a year, which even selectors don’t have the inclination or the time to grace. Many people have mooted abolishing this system and dividing the 27 first-class teams in three or four groups, region-wise. This, and the abolition of Duleep Trophy, would provide Indian cricketers with an equitable system—more games better spaced out. Mohammed Kaif, ex-Indian batsman, agrees, “With this, we’ll have a better set-up for Ranji Trophy. We should care about quality, not quantity.” To ensure exciting games and results, Kaif suggests extending the existing four-day format of the games to five, and re-laying the pitches to make them harder and bouncier. This would give the bowlers time to bowl out their opponents twice. “There are few outright wins, for once a team takes the lead, there is lesser hunger to go for a win,” he says. “One, it’s very difficult to get 20 wickets on these tracks in four days; two, the bowlers are tired. Finally, the reward for an outright win isn’t much higher than taking the lead.” V.V.S. Laxman, who has played for Lancashire, feels we could incorporate the finer aspects of county cricket—specifically, the points system. “In England,” Laxman told Outlook, “There are bonus points for getting up to 400 runs, and for getting three, six and nine wickets. So all teams try to score quickly, get to 400 and then take wickets. This makes the contest exciting and more competitive.” Chopra too feels innings shouldn’t be allowed to meander much beyond 400. Instead of batting on, teams should try to get the bowling points by “going for a win, because the difference in points is great”. Chopra says he was thrilled when he was chosen to play for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, for “it’s a step closer to getting to play for your country”. But he feels that now some of the sheen has gone out of the event—easy money elsewhere, specifically the IPL, is a big reason. Kaif believes that your best, most testing formats—Tests and first-class—should be more lucrative to players. If first-class formats lack hype and money, the quality of players would go down. Kaif wonders whether the prime ambition of young players would be to play for the country. “I’m not sure if we’d see players like Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman ever again,” he says. “I’m really worried about this, because to play for 15-20 years needs lots of sacrifices. To remain fit isn’t easy. You have to makes sacrifices, follow a tough routine, sleep early and rise early.” But the IPL has changed the work culture, Kaif says. “Now it’s a bit different, some people may have a nice dinner and sacrifice a bit on their sleep. If a player does well for one season or in the IPL, he’s dealing in lakhs and crores. That does affect motivation.” Money helps, though. Chopra says Ranji Trophy remains relevant as it provides gainful employment to 400-odd cricketers who’ll never ever play for India or in the IPL, and who make Rs 1.60 lakh a match. For them, motivation isn’t far to seek, for they’re playing for a living. To them and to those who’re yet to come, the BCCI owes a reorganisation of domestic cricket and Ranji Trophy, for they do provide the rough matter from which dreams shall be realised. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Band For The Future Best performers in 2009-10 Ranji Trophy season Batsmen* Ajinkya Rahane, 21 Mumbai right-hander, bats at No. 3. In his third season, Rahane scored heavily. Matches 8, Runs 791 Highest 265*, Average 87.88 Manish Pandey, 20 Karnataka right-hander, middle-order bat. Attractive strokeplayer, helped Karnataka reach the final. Matches 8, Runs 738 Highest 194*, Average 61.50 Cheteshwar Pujara, 22 Right-hander; has been scoring heavily for Saurashtra for three seasons Matches 5, Runs 554 Highest 204*, Average 79.14 Bowlers* Abhimanyu Mithun, 20 The Karnataka medium-pacer was often unplayable, key to his team’s fortunes in his debut season Matches 8, Wickets 38 Best 6/86, Average 25.39 R. Vinay Kumar, 25 Karnataka's bowling mainstay for three seasons, can bat a bit too Matches 7, Wickets 39 Best 8/32, Average 19.66 Iqbal Abdulla, 20 Mumbai's left-arm spinner took 30 wickets and is a useful batsman Matches 8, Wickets 30 Best 4/48, Average 27.46 * Doesn’t include figures from the Ranji Final LINK ***************************************************************** So what are your views? The clamour of a change in domestic structure is getting louder as BCCI has mindlessly reduced it to just 5 months to start IPL early. It is quite clear to all of us that these FC tournaments are held by BCCI just because they must have a FC structure to have a test status. The way they've reduced Duleep trophy to a sham is just shameful. So what are your suggestions. Do you agree with Mahajan's idea od scrapping the Duleep trophy to have a well spaced Ranji?

[Chandan]

Recently Copra wrote a column on this underlining the difficulties a cricketer has to go through because of such a cramped schedule. It is time to change the domestic structure Aakash Chopra, Hindustan Times January 11, 2010 Six different trophies, three different formats, all crammed up into a five-month window-India’s domestic season runs at a breakneck speed. To make matters tougher for the players, only a 3-day breather is granted between first-class matches (in the league phase) and even lesser between the shorter formats. Perhaps, one wouldn’t have whined over this ‘cricket congestion’ if it had served the purpose it had unintentionally set. One would assume that a choc-a-block schedule like this might lead to players getting a lot more games to showcase their talent. Unfortunately, this isn’t how it transpires on the ground. Would you believe if I were to tell you that quite a few teams play only five first-class matches in these five months — a match a month? And those five matches get over in five straight weeks. All hell would break loose if one were to get injured or go out-of-form during these five weeks. There’s hardly any scope of recuperating from an injury in such a short time. Odds often stack up when time runs out. Add another five matches each of 50 overs, yet another set of pressure laden T20s and the team’s fortunes of an unyielding season get sealed. This is the story of those teams playing in the Plate division which unfortunately do not qualify for the knockouts in all the three formats. But things are quite different for the teams that make up the Elite division. More number of teams (15) mean more matches, and more matches in turn mean more chances of displaying and polishing one’s skills. Six teams out of 15 in the Elite division qualify for the knockouts as opposed to two from 12 in the Plate division. Also, players playing in the Elite division get noticed a lot more which in turn brightens up their chances of getting a place in the Duleep Trophy. All of this puts Elite division players on a higher pedestal, something which perhaps has not been taken into account. In my opinion, talent without opportunities is as bad as having no talent at all. In order to give everyone equal outings, we must change the existing system of distinction between Elite and Plate divisions. My suggestion would be —divide the 27 teams into three groups/divisions of nine teams each. This set-up would ensure each team plays minimum eight first-class games. Winners could be decided through knockouts. This order is sure to consume more time and hence might even take a toll on the ‘Duleep Trophy’. Yet, it would be an idea worth a thought. After all, Duleep Trophy is also a knockout tournament and only one team can play three games i.e. the team playing quarterfinals also ends up playing the finals. Counterparts in Australia and South Africa host 10 first-class games for each team, while the number is 16 in England. The idea is simply to provide the players with a) equal and ample opportunities to showcase their talent, and b) a less complicated roster which leaves the players the time to recover and get back. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I think alarm bells must start ringing if a player is saying that IPL has taken the sheen off the Ranji tournament. If substandard cricketers start coming, how long will even IPL survive? Can't the idiots in BCCI even think this much?

[Chandan]

oh well, no response? Anyway, this is what Dravid had to day: ‘We Can Cancel One Or Two Domestic Tournaments’ Ranji Trophy veteran Rahul Dravid talks about how things could improve in the premier competition. Interviews Rahul Dravid How would you make Ranji Trophy interesting so that there not so many draws? You need to have quality wickets which provide an equal chance to both batsmen and bowlers. That automatically would provide a good contest. Also, since the domestic season is very cramped, the teams don’t want to tire their bowlers by trying to go for an outright win. The amount of cricket we play at the domestic level needs to be looked into. It might mean cancelling one or two tournaments, so that there’s a proper gap between the Ranji Trophy games. Top stars play so much cricket for India, so perhaps it is unfair to expect them to play all the domestic games? It is. Some are playing all the year for India, it’s not easy. You need a break. Maybe the spacing of the Ranji Trophy games could be a bit better to give the players a bit more rest between the games. Does the presence of a senior India player make a difference to the playing standards? When international players are able to play, it definitely is a good learning experience for the younger guys coming through. But is this interaction getting reduced because of the seniors’ prior commitments? Yes, and that’s to be expected. But let’s not discount the role of the other seniors who are not regulars in the Indian team, but have been around for a long time. Sometimes they could have more knowledge to impart about Ranji Trophy pitches, venues etc. Most Ranji Trophy captains are batsmen, so they often opt for batsmen-friendly wickets. Some people may play safe because they don’t want to lose outright. But local associations must understand that if they want to develop good cricketers, they need their state players to play on good wickets. They might lose some matches, but in the long run they’ll benefit. I like the concept of neutral curators, and the board is giving them a direction. And, to be fair, the quality of the wickets is improving. How was it like to play as a junior and aspire to play for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy? My father would take me to the Ranji games in Bangalore. It was not uncommon to find crowds of 15,000 to 20,000 in the games then. It always was a big ambition to play for Karnataka and then, hopefully, for India. The big thrill was when I was picked up straight out of the U-19 cricket to play for Karnataka. Could the crowds be back in the grounds? I do not think that much could be done. It’s not that people are not interested. They still follow the scores religiously; it’s just that they don’t have the time, which is understandable. It’d be a good idea to have air do live radio coverage of the games. They’d be surprised to see how many follow the games, especially their own state teams.

[youngindia]

duleep trophy cancellation is a poor idea. its a great opportunity to select the best from the zones and give a clear indicaition to the players they are a step closer to national colours. however the most serious concern is the opportunity for plate division players and even teams knocked out early. for example hyderabad did poorly and rayudu who scored a hundred in his last match vs TN was unable to proceed further.

[fineleg]

duleep trophy cancellation is a poor idea. its a great opportunity to select the best from the zones and give a clear indicaition to the players they are a step closer to national colours. however the most serious concern is the opportunity for plate division players and even teams knocked out early. for example hyderabad did poorly and rayudu who scored a hundred in his last match vs TN was unable to proceed further.

True that.

[cowboysfan]

1)scrap the challenger trophy. 2)wth is the t20 championship and why are they even playing them? 3)prepare better wickets.this in opninion is crucial.It will actually test most of the FTBs in the ranji trophy. 4)i like vvs's idea of points for getting wickets. 5)make even the semis of ranjis 5 day matches.

[Chandan]

Instead I like Chopra's ideas of playing Duleep as the premiere trophy. In addition, I'll say that make Ranji the second tier of domestic cricket and Duleep the 1st tier. These two should not not be clashing as their players would be different.

[Chandan]

More... It is time to change the domestic structure Aakash Chopra, Hindustan Times January 11, 2010 Six different trophies, three different formats, all crammed up into a five-month window-IndiaÃÔ domestic season runs at a breakneck speed. To make matters tougher for the players, only a 3-day breather is granted between first-class matches (in the league phase) and even lesser between the shorter formats. Perhaps, one wouldn't have whined over this ÁÄricket congestion if it had served the purpose it had unintentionally set. One would assume that a choc-a-block schedule like this might lead to players getting a lot more games to showcase their talent. Unfortunately, this isn't how it transpires on the ground. Would you believe if I were to tell you that quite a few teams play only five first-class matches in these five months a match a month? And those five matches get over in five straight weeks. All hell would break loose if one were to get injured or go out-of-form during these five weeks. ThereÃÔ hardly any scope of recuperating from an injury in such a short time. Odds often stack up when time runs out. Add another five matches each of 50 overs, yet another set of pressure laden T20s and the teamÃÔ fortunes of an unyielding season get sealed. This is the story of those teams playing in the Plate division which unfortunately do not qualify for the knockouts in all the three formats. But things are quite different for the teams that make up the Elite division. More number of teams (15) mean more matches, and more matches in turn mean more chances of displaying and polishing oneÃÔ skills. Six teams out of 15 in the Elite division qualify for the knockouts as opposed to two from 12 in the Plate division. Also, players playing in the Elite division get noticed a lot more which in turn brightens up their chances of getting a place in the Duleep Trophy. All of this puts Elite division players on a higher pedestal, something which perhaps has not been taken into account. In my opinion, talent without opportunities is as bad as having no talent at all. In order to give everyone equal outings, we must change the existing system of distinction between Elite and Plate divisions. My suggestion would be ÍÅivide the 27 teams into three groups/divisions of nine teams each. This set-up would ensure each team plays minimum eight first-class games. Winners could be decided through knockouts. This order is sure to consume more time and hence might even take a toll on the Á¥uleep Trophy? Yet, it would be an idea worth a thought. After all, Duleep Trophy is also a knockout tournament and only one team can play three games i.e. the team playing quarterfinals also ends up playing the finals. Counterparts in Australia and South Africa host 10 first-class games for each team, while the number is 16 in England. The idea is simply to provide the players with a) equal and ample opportunities to showcase their talent, and b) a less complicated roster which leaves the players the time to recover and get back.

Actually, no problem with Akash's suggestion but why not make Duleep trophy the premier FC tournament with six teams, five zonal and one India A or NCA team, each playing 10 FC matches in a round robin way and then two teams at the top of the table competing for the finals? I'm not saying that Ranjis should be done away with because India is a huge country and it just can't have 6 FC teams or 60 FC players. I'll say let play Ranji matches simultaneously at the zonal level and let it act as a feeder for Duleep trophy team. In other words. Both Duleep and Ranji will have FC status but Ranji will be one tier below Duleep. Duleep trophy matches will be played on exclusive test grounds each of which will have its own characters, one being fast and bouncy like we had in Nagpur 2004, one being turning and crumbling, one being seaming, one being assisting batting but later assisting spin like Chennai, and one being slow and low and difficult to bat. This way, batsmen will have to get used to many kinds of pitches and since there will be less dilution in competition due to less number of teams, talents can be assessed a bit more realistically at FC level. Each zonal team will need to have its full team of support staff specially those connected with fitness and fitness with have to the topmost criteria at this level. Players ignoring fitness will not be allowed to play at FC level, no matter how talented they are. Likewise Ranji teams will play Vijay Hazare trophy for List A trophy and Duleep Trophy teams (Zonal +NCA) will play Deodhar trophy for List A trophy simultaneously. We have IPL for T20 domestics. Hence no need to another T20 trophy or any other List A trophies. These are my views.