MP a well-run unit, Ranji win isn’t surprising

Ranji Trophy has a new winner. One more domestic season is over and players can put their kitbags away for a few months before the new cycle starts in September.

Madhya Pradesh, a relatively unfancied team, winning the national championship is a triumph but those who track domestic cricket are not surprised. It’s not a simple matter of hiring Chandu Pandit to work his magic. Ranji is not won by one coach or the 20 players who wear the state colours. It requires a lot more to get to the top.

MP are a well-run state association which takes its cricket seriously. This intent shows in grassroots work, infrastructure development, inter-division tournaments, coaching camps across age groups, state cricket academy, exposure tours—basically a proper structure. State cricket is a whole of all these parts and MP cricket is sorted because it has progressive leadership backed by professional management. To cite one example: Player clothing is ordered months in advance. In other states, players are lucky to receive kits the evening before the game.

If Ranji is about teams, the best four rose to the top this year. Just as MP’s triumph is no fluke, Bengal and UP made the last four on merit. Bengal cricket is on an upward curve (they were runners-up last season) and not many were surprised when UP stunned Karnataka in the quarter-final. UP have enough talent to put up two Ranji sides and the team is led by young Karan Sharma who was appointed captain on his Ranji debut.

Mumbai, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are domestic powerhouses but missing from this elite list is Delhi, who have abundant talent (Virat, Shikhar, Rishabh in the Indian team, almost 20 players in IPL) yet underperform in national tournaments. But it seems they are on the mend.

Ranji is about players and this season threw up some outstanding talent, especially Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan. Not many knew about Patidar a month ago but after a crucial hundred in IPL and another in the Ranji final he is someone you will look at closely. Same with Sarfaraz, who has dominated Ranji like nobody else. In an era of the quick slog, he stands out as a hungry batsman wanting to score big.

There were other positives too, notably Yashasvi Jaiswal and Yash Dhull. Jaiswal

MADHYA PRADESH TAKES ITS CRICKET SERIOUSLY. THIS INTENT SHOWS IN GRASSROOTS WORK, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, COACHING CAMPS, EXPOSURE TOURS

switched gears from T20 cricket to score two hundreds in the semi-final, his effort remarkable because he took 54 balls to get off the mark. Among young batsmen, patience is in short supply but Jaiswal confirmed he is a quality talent. Yash Dhull was equally impressive in scoring three hundreds, two in his debut game. Mumbai’s Suveed Parkar smashed 250 on debut in a knockout game and MP’s Shubham Sharma reached triple figures four times in six games.

Ranji is changing in many small ways—players are fitter, more aware and professional in approach and attitude. Teams are looking to hire good support staff and top coaches are in demand. Arun Lal, Amol Muzumdar, Vijay Dahiya, Surendra Bhave, Yere Goud and Tinu Yohanan have had good seasons with their respective sides.

Such coaches understand the recent trends, one of which is bowling attacks being built around disciplined medium pace.

Teams routinely pick three quicks because the days of dust bowls are done. Strangely, players are fit but many remain injured for extended periods. Some attribute this to wrong training methods and excessive gym work. BCCI has taken note of this and announced a programme for educating the strength and conditioning coaches.

The domestic calendar (U-16 going up to Ranji/Mushtaq Ali and Hazare) should be announced in advance for teams to plan better. Steps are also required to ensure IPL stars who are not India players do not miss Ranji on frivolous grounds. Women’s cricket should be another focus area.

Currently, the pool of players in states is very small, which results in the same set playing in different teams. More players must be attracted into the sport. There is a need to send out a loud message confirming the supremacy of red-ball cricket. ’Days’ cricket is the strong foundation on which rests Indian cricket.