Ranji structural reboot and Tendulkar Trophy
Cricket rules don’t provide for a bowler to take two wickets from one ball but domestic players have suffered a double blow with the rescheduled calendar. The Ranji Trophy has been pushed to next year, starting January. With more groups (six versus four) and less matches (five in the league stage) the likely income of players is reduced.
Which is cruel, because after the pandemic erased last year’s season, many players are in acute financial distress. Instead of finding help, they now stare at an even more grim future. The generous handshake they expected turned out to be a concussion inducing blow.
The core problem is financial insecurity. Cricketers don’t have jobs because corporates and the government stopped hiring. They depend almost entirely on BCCI match fees now. Players are paid only if selected. The obvious way out is annual retainer contracts for the 1000 odd Ranji players, rescued from the financial ICU at a rough cost of ₹150 crore. Is that huge money? Yes, but BCCI earns a lot—the sponsorship/media rights from just two IPL games itself is worth ₹150 crore and IPL is a 60 match tournament. Also, the Ranji match fee should be raised to ₹2 lakh a game instead of the clumsy ₹35,000 per day.
India’s domestic cricket is at a crossroads, sending out contradictory signals. It has the bench to field two international teams at the same time. But other problems are simmering under the surface and Ranji has to reboot to become more robust, player friendly and socially connected.
One issue is about the new, mostly North Eastern teams who were allowed to field first class sides. The retired CAG led COA executed this, leaving behind a massive mess, proving conclusively that the self proclaimed “night watchman” was genuinely a number 11 batsman.
Principles of “one state one team” and guaranteed first class status are noble democratic values but disastrous for cricket.
The reality is that these new members are no better than club teams. Two seasons back, Milind Kumar made 1331 runs from eight matches with six hundreds for Sikkim, averaging 121 to give the impression that he is the new Bradman. He never played domestic cricket after that. To even compare Milind’s runs to VVS Laxman’s (who has the Ranji record of 1415 runs from nine matches, averaging 108) is deeply disrespectful.
It’s nobody’s brief not to support new teams, spread cricket and embrace new areas and fans. But the way forward is for BCCI to supervise a development plan that includes infrastructure, coaching, tournament exposure and a local NE academy on the lines of NCA. Then pick the top 50 talented cricketers and put them through a High Performance pathway by finding another Rahul Dravid.
Having worked with six state cricket associations, two urgent reforms ought to be on the priority list for BCCI. One: The control over the pitch must be taken out of local associations to ensure a level playing field. A more radical step is to scrap the toss and give first use to the visitors.
The other big menace is the growing “cash for selection” industry, especially at the junior level. This sunrise sector is actually a bomb about to explode.
Each year the BCCI gives each state a no-questions-asked gift cheque of approximately ₹30 crores to run its affairs. This direct money transfer can become an irresistible temptation, a volatile cocktail of greed, corruption and mismanagement. It would be better if BCCI links the money to a “Common Minimum Cricket Program” that gives priority to game development, player welfare, infrastructure and facilities for fans.
One suggestion is to adopt the corporate trend of giving a fixed component of the grant, and linking the remainder to a performance review. States could be punished or rewarded according to whether they achieve the yardsticks laid down by BCCI.
Finally, what Ranji needs most is respect, and solid financial incentives. The best players should be available to play and while it’s a challenge to get top players because of international commitments, workload management, injuries, Covid bubbles and mental health issues, there should be rethink on A tours during Ranji. Removing 50 players (Team India plus A team players) from the circuit saps quality and its impact is similar to the damage inflicted if all the Khans decided to go on leave from Bollywood together.
Incidentally, Virat Kohli last played for Delhi in 2012, Rohit Sharma for Mumbai in 2015.
The prize money for Ranji winners (squad of 20) should at least match ₹7 crore, same as what is paid to a centrally contracted A-plus category player. In addition, the top five Ranji batsmen/bowlers handed ₹50 lakh bonuses, which is equal to a modest IPL contract.
Lastly, pick an end of the season “All Star” Ranji team which plays the Rest of India team for the Tendulkar trophy to celebrate the outstanding career of India’s greatest red ball player.
All of this may sound ambitious, but the BCCI president and secretary can get it done over one video call.