Practice makes a man perfect. But, the only practice that the Indian players can get from the current schedule of the BCCI will mostly be during the match itself! There are 918 matches in 1882 days this season! Is there a scope for skill improvement in this exhaustive schedule at all?
The only players who might benefit from this programme are the ones who are not in form. Still, there are two ways to look at it. One, it will give fringe players more opportunities to impress the selectors with consistent performances. This will also push the non-performing players in the Indian team to perform well. Consequently, the selection will be more competitive. Two, it will not churn out quality players.
When some of the batsmen who had performed consistently in domestic cricket were unable to do the same at the international, Vijay Manjrekar said, “They were first class players of second class bowling”. In domestic tournaments, such batsmen rarely failed but they had the reputation of avoiding matches when on tours with the Indian team.
In order to enhance the quality of the game at neutral venues, BCCI will be having courses for the curators. To ascertain impartiality, this will be likely to be conducted by foreign curators and only those who clear the examination will be designated with the job. This is very important as there have been cases where certain associations have appointed curators who hadn’t even cleared oral examination!
An effective alternative could be to have home and away matches because if a BCCI-certified curator doctors the pitch, he could be sacked. The match referees should also be given the power to dock points at the end of the match if the pitch is sub-standard. This will allow the games to be fair.
Inclusion of foreignersTalking about the quality of skill level, a solution for skill improvement in Ranji cricket can be done by including three foreign internationals in the team. The players, who are not above 35 years of age and with a minimum international experience of five years, can be invited to help weaker teams. This will not only help the local players to improve their game but will also get sponsors to back the State teams.
At the moment, only three Indian professionals are allowed. This may have helped Vidarbha and Assam to an extent, but seeking professional help from various internationals during their off-season will benefit the teams immensely. Let’s accept the fact that we don’t have good fast bowlers. We have good medium pacers. If the weaker teams get two out of three good foreign fast bowlers, their insight and guidance will make a huge impact on the quality.
Wouldn’t crowd throng the grounds to watch Chris Gayle or A.B. de Villiers play in the Ranji Trophy? They might not spend an entire season with the team, but won’t the interaction benefit the local players? Wouldn’t sharing the new ball with any experienced England or New Zealand bowler help? Of course yes! IPL is a proven example.
The present secretary of the BCCI, Ajay Shirke, did take advantage of the rule of including one foreign professional in the Maharashtra team but the experiment failed. He is a progressive-minded person who constantly looks for quality. According to him, professional guidance has to be provided to the players to achieve the desired quality. In this attempt, he even brought in coaches and trainers from Australia for the Maharashtra team.
This approach isn’t new. Even in 1961, the BCCI had invited West Indian fast bowlers to train Indian bowlers: Roy Gilchrist (South Zone), Charlie Stayers (West Zone), Chester Watson (North Zone) and Lester King (East Zone). The idea was to help pacers from their regions and play for the weakest team in that zone. But this did not happen. They all played for the stronger teams as the batsmen from these teams weren’t even keen to face them in a match! Stayers played for Bombay, Gilchrist for Hyderabad, King for Bengal and Watson for Delhi. Hence, it didn’t serve any purpose.
Therefore, this can be the means to take Indian cricket to next level as well. Instead of wasting time on discussing the merits and demerits of pink balls and giving importance to only batsmen, the focus has to be on improving players’ skills. We need radical ways to transform the system for the better.
