Much has been spoken about India's terrible trounce in England - right from the lack of preparedness, poor planning to crammed schedule, everything has been meticulously discussed. But few have looked beyond the obvious and deliberated upon the fundamentals.
MAK Pataudi, with his astute eye for cricket, hit the nail on its head by pointing out the importance of a robust first-class structure to strengthen Indian cricket. That India's poor show could be the result of a deteriorating domestic structure is an idea worth a thought. So, what is it that is marring the foundation of Indian cricket? Here's a look at the snags that need some urgent attention:
Irani Trophy (October 1-5) - The most prestigious match of the season between the defending Ranji Champions and a team made up of the cream of Indian cricket marks the beginning of the new first-class season. It's a five-day match to showcase India's best talent. A brilliant way to start the season, it can serve its purpose only if the best cricketers in the country are available to play.
I remember playing for Delhi in an Irani trophy match against the Anil Kumble-led Rest of India. It was a spectacle. But this year, the coveted Irani trophy clashes with the Champions League, which means cricketers from four franchisees won't be available for selection. Haven't we devalued the most important match of the season?
Challenger Trophy (October 10-13) - Another brilliant tournament with a noble concept, giving fringe players a unique chance to rub shoulders with the best in the country in a 50 overs format. But over the last few years, even this tournament has faced the wrath of congested international and domestic calendars. Now, Challenger Trophy finishes in four days straight - there isn't even a gap of a day between the league matches and the final - and the senior team is seldom available to lift the standard. This year, even the availability of good domestic cricketers is in doubt because the tournament starts a day after the Champions League final. Is it not possible to find four days in the international calendar when the seniors are available?
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (October 20-26): The league phase of our national T20 tournament, held only a week before the Ranji Trophy, throws the preparation for the longer format completely off-track. If you prepare well for this T20 tournament, you sacrifice the preparation for Ranji Trophy. And if you prepare thoroughly for the all-important Ranji contests, you launch the T20 tournament on a low. Also, back-to-back T20 games leave little time to recuperate.
And after all this, the national T20 champions don't even qualify for the Champions League. In any case, conducting another T20 tournament defies logic when IPL is showcased as the premier T20 competition. Also, the knockouts of this T20 competition are held in March, five months after the league phase.
Ranji Trophy (November 3-January 15) - Firstly, we need to ask ourselves if we want Ranji Trophy to be the most important tournament. If so, we need to revamp this format which rewards mediocrity.
Scheduling: In the present Ranji structure, there's a four-day match played every week with only three days break between consecutive matches. Now, if you finish a match in Jammu and if your next match is in Kochi, you spend a full day travelling. The next day is spent recuperating, leaving only a day to prepare for the next match. You can deal with this schedule for a couple of matches, and to endure this for seven or eight weeks is backbreaking.
Because of the schedule, fast-bowlers learn to operate at 60-70 per cent of their capacity, else it is impossible to last the season without injury. No wonder one sees a major drop in pace from one season to the next. It's imperative to increase the gap by at least one more day, if not two days.
Structure: The current division of teams - in Elite and Plate groups - leaves little cricket to be played by the Plate teams and the Elite ones who fail to qualify for the knockouts. It is observed that as many as 10 teams play only five matches a season, and another five teams play only six.
Let's not forget the season lasts only five or six weeks. Is that what you play for an entire year? A niggle or mild illness could cost a player a full year. The solution is to split 27 teams into 3 groups of nine teams each. This will ensure that every team plays at least 8 matches in a season, increase the gap by a day and, perhaps, make all games a five-day affair.
Points System: In the current scenario, the emphasis is on taking the first-innings lead, which I feel is an incentive to play mediocre cricket. Gaining a few runs as lead isn't the true reflection of a team's strength. We must change the points system to ensure there's little to gain in the first innings but substantial rewards for an outright result. How about awarding batting and bowling points throughout the game and 10 bonus points for a win?
Better Wickets, Better Rewards: It's important to have pitches that help bowlers too. BCCI's pitch committee has done precious little to improve pitch standards. It is rather ambitious to expect players, brought up on surfaces with low bounce and no lateral movement, to suddenly find ways to succeed in hostile conditions.
pay Disparity: Another important issue is to bring parity between the payments for an IPL season and a domestic season. If there isn't a huge difference in pay packets, players won't sacrifice technique for acquiring T20 skills.
Penalize: The onus of improving the quality of cricket in Ranji Trophy is on the state associations and they're given huge sums by the BCCI to do the same. Every association's contribution should be assessed by two yardsticks. No. 1 - the number of quality players produced at various levels, and 2 - the team's performance in national tournaments. If an association continues to underperform on both counts, they should be financially penalized. How about deducting 20 per cent from their annual package?
Duleep Trophy (January 19-February 2) - what used to be one of the best tournaments is perhaps now redundant. It starts only three days after the Ranji finals and is a knockout tournament, which in effect means that teams can play a maximum of two matches. Are a couple of innings enough to assess a player? Is it possible for an assorted group of players to play as a team on such a short notice? If the answer is a no, please scrap this tournament and give Ranji its deserved space.
Vijay Hazare Trophy (February 10-March 1) - Even while Ranji Trophy has moved on to being played between Elite and Plate teams, the Vijay Hazare Trophy (the one-day competition) is still played among zonal teams. The league phase lasts a week. It means having to play on consecutive days many times and at non-descript venues. Once again, quantity compromises quality.
The knockout matches are of good quality but the shoddy league phase devalues the tournament. I recommend the same three-tier Ranji structure to be followed in here, to ensure enough games for all teams and adequate rest in between.
Deodhar Trophy (March 6-9): Another good format, unfortunately serving little or no purpose, wrapping up in four days. If we don't have the time to do justice to tournaments of this quality, then let's not conduct them at all. Half-hearted efforts are no good.
India's hammering in England is a shocker. But it is imperative to not get absorbed by defeat and instead look for a disaster management plan. The way ahead, in my opinion is to fortify first-class cricket, the breeding ground of present and future cricketers.
Article Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/columns/aakashchopra/28/28aakashchopra
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