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Domestic cricket damned

That the domestic season of Indian cricket is badly organised by the board stood exposed when some cricketers, on returning from their tour of Australia, opted out of the Ranji Trophy. Later, it came as no surprise when Ganguly, Tendulkar and Srinath also opted out of the Challenger Trophy.

At the outset, when I heard that Tendulkar and Agarkar expressed their inability to play for Bombay in the Ranji Trophy, I was really upset. The first thought that crossed my mind was that they were not showing loyalty towards the association that gave them the opportunity and nurtured them as cricketers in their formative years.

But on second thoughts, if one puts oneself in their shoes and thinks of the amount of international cricket they are made to play, it was obviously on the cards that they would opt out of these fixtures.

It is really sad that the Ranji Trophy, which was played with so much pride by cricketers in the past who gave their all while batting it out for top honours, has now lost its charm as far as the international cricketer of today is concerned.

Gone are the days, for instance, when a fixture between Bombay and Karnataka would have attracted a goodly crowd of almost 30,000 at the venue. Things were so very different then. The top stars were available to parade their talent; the standard of cricket played was of high quality, and youngsters could learn more than a thing or two by the presence of the Test stars in their midst.

Indeed, merely mingling with the Test stars meant a lot to budding cricketers and helped them gain enormously in confidence.

I remember the time I spent in close quarters with the Karnataka stalwarts when I was picked for Bombay in the season of 1974-75. I was confined to the reserves, but the amount of pleasure I derived by merely sitting alongside Test cricketers gave me tremendous satisfaction. I vividly recall when the then Karnataka captain E A S Prasanna gave me a slice of orange; it really made my day.

Well, I suppose times have changed, and not for the better, alas! The standard of domestic cricket has not only gone down terribly, but, to make matters worse, the board is just not bothered to look for ways to improve it. There will be more one-day games after India finishes in Sharjah. It seems that their motto is to make hay while the sun shines. And, possibly, the same bunch must be thinking in terms of yet another tournament in the month of May.

By the manner in which they are going about organising tournaments, it wouldn't be surprising if by the time their term is over, Indian cricket will sink to the bottom of the table. But I'm sure it won't effect the a bit; they will be busy working out strategies to get back into the saddle once again. They very well know that there are a lot of suckers around for them. Just promise them managership or some plum post, and they are ready to bend backwards for them. These shrewd people know all this very well and they play up to them. What a shame!

I think it's high time that even the appointment of the board president should not be done by rotation. Only the worthy ought to occupy the high office. Why on earth was the president's voice not heard even after the pathetic show by the Indian team in Australia, beats me. What has he done so far, I'd like to know. Or is he purely occupying the seat because he hails from the South Zone and it happens to be their turn this time around.

Why hasn't the board chief thought of giving domestic cricket a boost, ensuring it is more competitive by making it a two tier competition? Why not have less teams in both the grades, with the promise of promotion and fear of relegation to haunt them? What's the point in continuing with the Super League of the Ranji Trophy or organising the Challenger Trophy in the middle of the season when you have the Deodhar Trophy? Has he ever bothered to call for a meeting of the technical committee to find out how to go about improving the quality of the game? I bet he hasn't! I suppose he is just another businessman all out to bask in the glory, develop contacts, entertain fellow business associates and enjoy himself till it lasts.

And, so long as such people occupy important positions in the board, I guess we'll have to consider ourselves lucky if we ever see Indian cricket regain its past glory in the near future.

Dilip Vengsarkar