Modern-day cricket is changing
“The priority for a cricketer is to play in the Indian Premier League rather than playing for the country. Also school cricket has changed a lot now. The schools used to play three-day and four-day games. Now it has become 20-over and 30-over games,” says former Tamil Nadu cricketer Mylvahanan Senthinathan, the Chief Coach at the MRF Pace Foundation.
The Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season saw a new champion when Madhya Pradesh beat 41-time champion Mumbai in the final at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The premier domestic red-ball title has eluded Tamil Nadu, which last won it in 1987-88.
“Modern-day cricket is changing. The priority for a cricketer is to play in the Indian Premier League rather than to play for the country. The concept of patience and playing for a long time and purchasing a wicket are forgotten by the youngsters. School cricket has changed a lot now. The schools used to play three-day and four-day games. Now it has become 20-over and 30-over games,” Mylvahanan Senthinathan, Chief Coach at the MRF Pace Foundation, said during a panel discussion titled Taking Cricket to the Tamil Nadu Hinterlands at Sportstar’s South Sports Conclave.
“The bowlers that we are getting right now are not really thinking batsmen out. That is what the shorter format does. Which is exactly why I want three-day games to be played with the city and districts so that you get more overs to bowl and you can prise the batsman out,” former Tamil Nadu captain Sunil Subramaniam said, highlighting the State team’s troubles in the bowling department in the longest format.
Subramaniam lauded the Tamil Nadu Premier League and credited the State’s dominance in white-ball cricket to the T20 league. “TNPL has brought about a change in the way TN plays the shorter version of the game. The boys coming out of the TNPL don’t seem to have any fear.”
The league has also helped in taking the game to the hinterlands.
However, former Tamil Nadu cricketer and coach D. Vasu believes more remains to be done. “Tamil Nadu has done a lot of great work in setting up grounds in Dindigul, Salem, Coimbatore and Tirupur but the problem is access is not there for all district players.”