The Indian Premier League auction always raises one question: is the league is a boon or a bane to Indian cricket?
In the world of commercialisation and branding, cricket has revamped itself to be in the market with the Twenty20 format. However, the real challenge lies in Test cricket. The benefits of the IPL, as the modern generation vehemently argues is that it gives the players an opportunity to showcase their talent to a huge audience and if they are lucky like Karn Sharma, they get chosen to play Test cricket as well. In addition to this, the huge sum they get provides them financial security.
But the downside of this is that it affects the approach and technique with which one is required to play in the Tests.
The money in Test cricket is substantially less. Given the concentrated life cycle of sportspersons’ careers, the importance of financial security cannot be underestimated. This factor plays a vital role for the player and he favours the T20 format when compared to a full season of Ranji Trophy; where the players get a remuneration package between Rs. 15 to 20 lakh.
Players, very smartly, weigh their options and favour the T20s as there is more money for doing less amount of work. This is the reason why a large number of unauthorised T20 tournaments held all over India are offering good prize money. Even the prestigious inter-university tournament has fallen prey to the T20!
When the quality of Ranji Trophy was quite low, Duleep Trophy was introduced to get top zonal players to play against each other. Now that there is no zonal system, it’s pointless to waste crucial periods in the season playing Duleep Trophy which only adds to the workload of players who have to play Ranji league matches of four days followed by knockout rounds of five days.
The first-class matches are played based on the point system for four days and the stronger team bat for a long duration due to which the bowlers don’t get enough time to learn the art of wicket-taking. This is one of the reasons why the overall standard of Indian bowling has dropped.
In order to improve the quality of bowling, the BCCI asked curators to provide green tops. This experiment failed because teams continued to exploit the home advantage. Some of the teams in order to get qualified for the knockout rounds either opted for green top pitches or rank bad turners.
A better way would be to go back to the three-day Ranji Trophy of the past with an added feature of 90 overs first and 40 overs second innings format. The format just doesn’t allow any team to draw the match. It will change the entire thinking of the team as it has to go for an outright win. The format nullifies the home advantage.
Whatever may be the state of the pitch, players have to use the conditions intelligently because scoring runs and taking wickets are the only two factors which can determine their victory.
The Mumbai Cricket Association did introduce the 90/40 format in all senior club and offices tournament this season and the scenario changed drastically. Yes, there are a few rules which need to be fine-tuned, but by and large teams had to play attacking cricket to win games. Quite a few teams lost the match despite taking a first innings lead!
The 90/40 format will be an entertaining game of cricket for the viewers where the matches don’t result in dull draws.
As some of the old timers say, before Elite and Plate systems were introduced, weren’t Ranji Trophy matches played for three days? Didn’t that system produce legends? Why tinker the system needlessly? The 90/40-over format for three days will certainly be attractive and interesting for the players and spectators.
The simple point is that, currently, we don’t seem to have a good enough answer to the ‘Why tinker…’ question; especially in lieu of the T20 format and IPL in particular. Playing a more taxing format in a rigorous schedule, for lesser pay, doesn’t help anyone.
Of course, the object is not to make the two formats comparable but to re-establish the centrality of the longer format in the game. Organising 900 matches is a herculean task but if it’s proving counterproductive, then why have it?
The 90/40 format over three days can certainly reduce the workload and we will get to see quality players too. Match fees can be increased too. Less matches, more pay could be the ideal solution.
