A note of appreciation for BCCI

By taking effective and immediate action against Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, BCCI has elevated the Ranji Trophy, the premier Indian first-class competition to its desired levels. It is important that the players be shown that they cannot mess around with the Ranji Trophy and hope to play in the IPL alone and thereby become eligible for the national team. This is indeed a rare move on the part of the BCCI to discipline the stars of the national team. The board is never known for such decisive action previously. As the saying goes, better late than never. This is a note of appreciation for BCCI.

Former cricketers were almost unanimous in their opinion that the BCCI did the right thing. Kapil Dev, Gavaskar and players of their era, who used to play in the Ranji games, when they were not playing international cricket praised the board for such a move. Ishan Kishan, Shreyas and a few others had the audacity to go against the diktat of the board to appear for their respective states when not playing for India. They were not even injured and yet, chose to keep away from the game. The BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, must have had these players on his mind when he issued the warning that everyone not playing for India, must appear for their respective state team.

The ability of the Indian batsmen

Though a precedent has been set, more needs to be done. The ability of the Indian batsmen and the ability of the Indian spinners, has declined over the years. The Indian batsmen need a pitch that does not turn to be able to play the opposition spinners. If there is even a slight bit of turn, the batsmen struggle to force the pace. Atleast in Test cricket, this can be overcome because of the time it allows but in white-ball cricket, this inability has often proved to be the difference between posting a winning score or a par score.

The rot set in towards the closing stages of the career of Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. The reason is pretty straight forward. When the Ranji Trophy or the Duleep Trophy, where the batsmen can hone their skill against the turning ball is ignored for a very longtime, it is bound to affect the technique of the batsmen. None of the batsmen belonging to that era, turned up for their state team during the Ranji Trophy season. It affected their confidence against spin. The fact that India lost the 2012 series to England is a case in point. Greame Swann was an exceptional bowler and there is no doubt about that but to give away cheap wickets to Monty Panesar, who never played for England after that series, that was down to the diminishing ability against spin.

The current Indian batsmen are not that good against spin either. The Hyderabad Test proved that. The ability against spin has gone down so drastically that ordinary spinners like Tom Hartley or Rehan Ahmed or anyone who can turn their arm around becomes a potential threat on turning surfaces.

The ability of the spinners

The Indian spinners are another breed that is struggling on pitches that do not turn. Ashwin and Jadeja are excellent when the ball turns but they lack the bite when the pitch does not offer anything at all. The fact that Ashwin is repeatedly dropped on away tours because the team management needs a solid batsman who may turn the ball and hence they pick Jadeja is a testimony to the fact. I am not sure whether the spinners will be able to improve by not playing in Ranji Trophy games at all. Ofcourse, with the Indian batsmen and anyone who is close to selection, choosing to skip these games, the spinners will not have batsmen of high quality to test their skills.

Will everyone be asked to play?

All of this leads to the important question. Will everyone be asked to play for their states when they are not playing for the nation? This is what the BCCI must make mandatory. A Virat Kohli or a Rohit Sharma or even a Bumrah must be made to play 3-4 games every year. It will not only enhance the quality of the entire tournament but will also enhance the skill level of the hopefuls. The question is, will the secretary Jay Shah, have the courage to ask the bigger stars to play in Ranji?

Wrapping up a note of appreciation for BCCI

This step from the BCCI has come when push came to shove but atleast it has come. It must become all-encompassing in the sense that every Indian player, it could be Rohit or Kohli or Jurel, everyone without exception, must be told to play 3-4 games every year. It will help in improving the skill against spin and also the ability to play a long innings. We are winning in India for now because of the fact that the opposition does not have a quality spinner in their ranks. The day they find a few, Swann or Warne or Murali, that will be the day and the series when we will come unstuck. Inorder to avoid this, it is essential for all the players to play in a few Ranji games every year.