BOMBAY, 13 March — The news that the Irani Trophy match between the Ranji Trophy winners and the Rest of India is being postponed indefinitely has come as a bit of a surprise. This annual fixture has invariably been the lung opener of the Indian cricket season. So how come this year it is at the fag end of what has been an incredibly long season for Indian cricket, what with tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa followed by home series against England and Zimbabwe? They also have a busy season ahead with tours to West Indies and England followed by the ICC Champions Trophy (formerly known as the Mini World Cup) and the West Indies returning the Indian team’s visit, a tour to New Zealand and then the World Cup in South Africa. So, for the last two years there has been no break for the Indian players and the tiredness and jadedness can be seen in some who have played virtually nonstop.
Nowadays, there is no such thing as our Indian season. The Indian cricket season used to start from October with the Irani Trophy game and finish with the Ranji Trophy finals in March or sometimes early April. The players would thus be free to go to England to play in the leagues which being only a weekend tournament wasn’t too demanding or taxing for the body. The weather in England also ensured that but for the month of July and August when it would get hot there was no exhaustion felt and with the standard of cricket being pedestrian there was no pressure either. In short it was a nice paid holiday for our cricketers. Of course the odd Indian who played county cricket has a much more different tale to narrate. For there he played cricket virtually seven days a week and prayed for rain if he wanted a break. If you were a bowler you had to bowl long spells for after all as an overseas player you were supposed to pick all the wickets and win games for your side. A batsman could always play below his potential, get out and sit back and rest in the pavilion. Today with the Indian team playing even between May and September for a lot of the fringe players the opportunity to go to England is gone, as the clubs that hire them insist that they should be there for the full season and not leave halfway through the season.
The ICC has already announced a ten-year international schedule last year so every country now knows when they are playing which other country. With that being the case there should not be too much of a problem for the committees of the respective boards to finalize their domestic fixtures. Sure the odd tour has got canceled because of an unforeseen event like the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York and its aftermath which meant many teams were reluctant to tour Pakistan which borders Afghanistan. Some of these tours have been rescheduled and there has even been a series played recently between Pakistan and West Indies at a neutral venue, Sharjah!
But coming back to the postponement of the Irani Trophy the BCCI would do well to ask its program and fixtures committee to meet only in June after the ICC meeting is over for it is then that India’s program will be finalized in spite of the fact that the ICC has announced its international schedule. There are enough breaks between matches and India will try to utilize these breaks by having some tournament or the other. There is so much ad hocism in India’s cricketing program that the program and fixtures committee is never sure what to do for when they are planning a date for domestic tournaments hoping that all the major Indian players will be available suddenly they find an international tournament which was nowhere in sight has been brought on clashing with the domestic tournament.
Also with the two tier Ranji Trophy tournament yet to be OK’d by the BCCI it would make better sense for the P&F Committee to wait before finalizing the dates for next season (2002-03). It is crucial for the P&F Committee to meet with the Technical Committee representative so as to get an idea of what transpired at the Technical Committee meeting regarding the prioritizing of the various tournaments. For example the Duleep Trophy being played now at the end of the season makes little sense since it is the stepping stone to international cricket. Ideally the Duleep Trophy under the present first class system should have been played immediately after the conclusion of the zonal Ranji ties for then players would have had an opportunity to stake their claims after a good Ranji beginning to the national team with a good show in the Duleep Trophy.
The Duleep and Irani Trophy coming at the very end of the Indian domestic season does not show good planning by the BCCI. The importance of these two tournaments has been diluted by having them when players are tired and do not have the incentive to stake a claim for national honors. Fortunately the selection committee has decided to wait till the current one-day series against Zimbabwe is over to pick the team to West Indies which means that at least the first round of Duleep Trophy matches will be taken into consideration but then what about the fifth team which was without a game. What about the fact that the cream of Indian cricket being busy with the one-dayers against Zimbabwe and the India A team players being at a training camp and thus devaluing the competitive edge to this very important tournament.
Dalmiya is a man who plans meticulously but perhaps in the hurly-burly of BCCI elections and then the controversy over the match referee’s decision about Indian players in South Africa his mind has been focused away from domestic cricket. But you see that’s exactly the problem. He can’t do everything and therefore he needs to ensure that the committees of the BCCI comprise people who know the game and also share his vision for the development of Indian cricket, not just members who voted for him.
That also holds good for those he chooses as managers of the teams, whether it is the A team or under-19 and the senior team for the managers are the face of Indian cricket overseas before the captain, the coach and the players and the impression they make is the impression that the country will have of India. (Professional Management Group)
