Roy Gilchrist played in National championships in 1962. - FILE PHOTO

The latest move of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) to explore the possibility of inviting foreign cricketers to play in the Ranji Trophy has kept the cricketing fraternity busy debating the issue.

Though it is not on the agenda of the Working Committee of the BCCI, which is meeting in Chennai, the issue is too important to be ignored.

There is always resistance to change. How could foreigners play in the National championship?

What will happen to local players? Gradually, there is a change in the viewpoints.

The President of MCA, Ajay Shirke, says that to improve the standard of Ranji Trophy, you need to invite top performers from other countries.

But the critics feel this move will deprive local quality players of opportunity.

Taking advantage

In fact, the MCA already has three outstation players registered (Bahutule, Munaf Patel and S. Sriram) and it cannot hire an additional outstation player.

Taking advantage of the BCCI registration rule that not more than three outstation players are permitted to play in a season, most of the associations did hire professionals from the other States because there is no local talent to make an impact. But that has not improved the standards of the Ranji Trophy.

Let's not object to foreigners playing in the National championship. As a special case, four West Indies fast bowlers Roy Gilchrist, Lester King, Chester Watson and Sven Conrad `Charlie' Stayers were invited to play in different zones in 1962 and it had a tremendous impact on youngsters watching those bowlers.

In fact, in his last first class game, Stayers took six for 36 in the Ranji Trophy final against Rajasthan playing for Bombay.

During the pre-independence period quite a few English cricketers including Dennis Compton played in the Ranji Trophy. Their presence did attract crowds. If the teams hire top performers from other countries, we could see huge crowds for Ranji matches. There is criticism that local talent will be deprived of opportunity. But these critics should consider the situation in English football. Despite the fact that some top English clubs prefer high quality performers irrespective of their nationality, the quality of English football has not deteriorated. In fact, it has improved to a considerable extent.

Have a look at the line-up of Chelsea football club. In the squad there are only four footballers from England, and Chelsea has been the winner of the English Premier League (EPL) for the past two years. Similarly to some degree, the standard of Indian football too has improved with the inclusion of foreign footballers in the club teams.

It was only when the English football clubs went in for top foreign performers that the game received a tremendous boost and shook the English cricket system, which had to invent Twenty20.

For decades, most of the English counties have been hiring foreign professionals. But when the numbers of such players reduced, the quality suffered.

Lack of fast bowlers

If the BCCI permits only one foreign fast bowler per team, not only will the local fast bowlers learn the tricks of the trade but the batting too will improve. Due to lack of good fast bowlers, the system is encouraging "first class batsman of second class bowling".

On an experimental basis, the move of one foreign fast bowler per team may change the present scene. With top fast bowlers playing for the Indian team and others struggling with fitness, the fast bowling scene is pathetic on the domestic circuit.

While appreciating the move, Javagal Srinath and Sanjay Manjrekar said in a symposium that sharing of experience with professionals is invaluable to one's growth. Imagine even ten associations hiring the services of a top class fast bowler each.

Things will not be easy for mediocre batsmen who have been getting consistent scores and getting into the zonal team. Last season, 34-year-old Jacob Martin replaced Tendulkar in the West Zone team. And he is not even in the 30 Indian probables!

If the BCCI is not averse to the move of inviting foreign coaches and support staff for the National or state teams, why should it not encourage an experimental move of getting a fast bowler to play in the Ranji trophy?

Pouring money in crores does not necessarily mean Indian cricket will produce half a dozen Tendulkars or Dravids. One needs to have progressive measures and the BCCI should encourage such measures.

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