In order to grow or make progress in any field, experimentation is a necessity. Trials and errors provide the perspective and knowledge to move forward and have a game plan. But experimentation of any kind in mainstream cricket is always dicey.
The schedule of Ranji Trophy has been announced finally. However, we cannot blame the BCCI for the delay. It was one of the experiments or rather a forced attempt to include the North Eastern region that caused the hold-up. A lot of attempts made by the BCCI to promote cricket in the last decade have failed in this region.
Following the order of the Supreme Court, the BCCI had to organize camps. Yet, they couldn’t penetrate the football culture prevalent there. This is why they were not able to even get 15 players to form the senior team.
Nevertheless, the main issue with the schedule is going to be the introduction of neutral venues. One can assume that doctoring of pitches to take home advantage may be the root cause for this decision. Neutral venues and neutral curators might raise the standard of Indian cricket like how the BCCI claims.
But, are all the practical aspects considered? The associations will have to spend a lot of money in travel, lodging and boarding. The technical committee headed by Sourav Ganguly didn’t seem to discuss how this experiment will affect players technically and physically.
At a time when there are not more than dozen international quality bowlers in India, this schedule will burden the pacers for bowling in matches and nets. This plan does not have any room for their recovery and to get into a conditioning mode. Whereas in the home and away format, while playing at home, the probables would bowl in the nets and the main bowlers would take their much-needed rest. Why would local bowlers bowl in the nets at the neutral venue? Moreover, the venues are going to be in far-flung places.
Another important aspect is the number of curators available. Some of the officials of the BCCI do admit that it’s going to be a challenge to prepare pitches at the neutral venues because there are only 20 odd BCCI curators for more than 50 venues. It will be physically impossible for a curator to be at one venue for more than a week and will have to rely on local curators.
How can the BCCI curator be present at the venue till match begins? How can 20 curators prepare pitches for more than 200 matches? From the end of September, they will have to continuously tour for four months. Won’t this be physically taxing?
There’s nothing wrong with experimenting. But, the BCCI should have ensured that they have a minimum of 75 qualified curators before going ahead with this schedule.
Had they covered the base of supervision adequately, the format wouldn’t have these loopholes. Since all the venues in the small towns have no qualified curators, they won’t even understand the procedure of preparing a new pitch.
The solution, for now, could be to make these curators attend workshops immediately. There is no other way. In soil management, one has to have a theoretical background and practical experience. If that’s lacking, the local curators will make a mess unknowingly and the very purpose of playing matches at neutral venues will be nullified.
I still recall one such experiment that failed miserably as it lacked in practicality. In 1997, the BCCI trialled with the format of 5 day Ranji by changing it to a day-night final held at Gwalior. Though the idea in itself was a novelty, nobody realised the repercussions. Entire body cycle got affected for 5 days. Players had to have early lunch or late dinner. They used to reach their hotels past midnight and all of them missed their morning breakfast. This, in turn, led to a early meal at 11 a.m.
Thus, it is very important to have a fair knowledge about all the aspects before tossing the players and everybody involved into a schedule that hasn’t been tested. If the BCCI had organized the Under-19 tournaments at neutral venues, they would have known the practical problems associated with it. As the schedule is out now, the only way to plug loopholes will be by conducting a joint meeting of the Technical Committee and the Pitches and Grounds Committee.
It’s pointless to go ahead with an experiment without hearing the concerns of all the parties under one roof. A combined meeting of Technical committee with the Pitches & Grounds committee will make the experimentation more effective.
You can’t be playing with the careers of over 500 first class players with a half-baked scheme. Whereas, experimentation is inevitable, the practicality of the experiment is as important as the idea in itself to make it a reality. When there are so many careers involved, it is very important to take all aspects into consideration.
