AMRIT MATHUR HUR

Another Ranji season has ended and daylight cricket is over and out. Time to switch gears, replace red ball with white and put on coloured clothing instead of sober whites. Coming up next in the business end of the year— blockbuster IPL, with right of admission reserved for the big boys.

Ranji is a tough grind but life is good for players. The extended season, now that North-east teams are playing, forces players to lead a nomadic life, living out of suitcases and eating room service meals. But it is an opportunity nobody wants to pass. Every kid who swings a bat dreams of making it, and first class cricket holds out hope of a game-changing career option. For players, Ranji trophy is financially a sweet deal. ~35,000 rupees for each match day is not bad - it’s more than what most Indians earn in a month. Not to forget other perks of office: air travel and five-star hotel stay. Plus the big prize: possibility of landing an IPL contract.

Still, the life of a domestic player isn’t that good, and not as glamorous as it looks. With too many chasing too few slots, survival is tough. Failure rate is high and those committing their future to cricket do so knowing there is no fall back option. It is a tight rope walk with no safety net underneath to arrest a fall.

DAILY WAGE EARNERS

Even match fees comes with many ‘conditions apply’ clauses, the fine print making cricket a high risk game. Domestic cricketers have NO financial security because they are paid only if selected. The BCCI awards annual contracts to top Indian players (highest slab: 7 crore), the IPL offers a season deal (highest contract: 17 crore) but 1,000 Ranji players are daily wage earners of BCCI. They exist on the edge of a slippery financial slope, living match to match, day to day.

It is this harsh reality of Ranji that makes IPL so attractive. For players, Ranji is reduced to an IPL trial, a long four-month audition for a short six-week role. The