A tournament with potential

I wrote this at the Chennai airport while waiting for my flight back to Delhi. It was delayed by half an hour and so it was a perfect time to pull out my laptop and mull over the matters of the past week-and-a-half. Buchi Babu Tournament has been my first assignment in the new season, as a part of a new team, under a new coach and a new board - the Rajasthan Cricket Association. It has also been my debut in the tournament itself, Delhi never having played in it. Obviously, we at RCA are fancying our chances of bouncing back into the Elite division this year, and hence getting into the groove before we hit the crease for the Ranji Trophy matches.

Buchi Babu is an invitational tournament organised by TNCA, hosting 13 state teams from all over the country. Since the first class season is just round the corner, this tournament along with KSCA tournament in Bangalore and Moin-Ud-Dowla in Hyderabad are considered to be good practice sessions for the important matches ahead. State teams use these tournaments to dry run their fringe players and also provide a good enough practice to its senior players in the longer format. After all, once the first-class season gets over, there's hardly any tournament which is not a limited-overs one.

This tournament also gives you an insight into the seriousness of the association with regards to the upcoming season. While some teams travel sans a proper coach, trainer and physios, others travel with the entire entourage as they would for a first-class game. Some associations have also gone a step further to arrange overseas tours for their state teams in order to broaden their horizons. Personally, I'm not too sure if travelling abroad and playing limited-overs cricket in alien conditions is the ideal way to prepare for a grueling first-class season in Indian conditions. But since playing some cricket is always better than playing no cricket at all, the effort should be lauded. Also, there might be a feeling among the players to go that extra yard to keep up the name of the country, and the association which made an effort to provide them with the opportunity.

Coming back to the Buchi Babu Tournament, this year's matches were unfortunately marred by incessant unseasonal rains which resulted in only 3 games going the distance in the league stage. Rains, but more importantly the reluctance to tweak the rules to get a result, meant that the two semi-finalists were picked by the draw of lots. This is perhaps the most ridiculous way of ascertaining the winners, sadly though it was the case. Originally the match was to be played over 2 days with 90 overs-a-side which I think provides a big enough canvas for most players to prove their mettle. But once the rains played the spoilt sport, the rules left a lot to be desired.

If the match started on time on the first day, the number of overs wouldn't be reduced regardless of the rain which in effect means that one team might just field without getting a hit. So if there were clouds lurking close by, players would pray that it starts raining before the first ball was bowled. Also if there wasn't any play possible on day 1, the match would be reduced to 50 overs-a-side. Even this rule had an obvious shortcoming because regardless of the delay on day 2 the overs wouldn't be reduced further. We, Rajasthan, found ourselves in a similar situation against Madhya Pradesh. Since there wasn't enough time to get the required 100 overs in, both captains agreed to call off the match instead of playing an inconsequential match which would have provided batting practice to only one team.

The problem with a Buchi Babu match is that it is not an all-important Ranji Trophy game. And so there seems to be no intent to give it a much needed face-lift. Redundant rules must be done with to hold on to the reputation it enjoys. The tournament serves as a reality check for most participating teams, and hence the aim is to perform and not warm the benches. Only if the organizers had been swift enough to react to the situation, Buchi Babu would've been a better show.