Force teams from their rut

What appeared to me for ages as a rather nonchalant approach from the managers towards a plain Indian domestic cricket and its slip-ups is, to my delight, now being replaced by a more informed and involved outlook.

For instance, not only genuine lovers of the game but also top honchos seem to be sitting up and taking note of the abysmal quality of teams in the Plate division. "What do we do with them?" is the big hopeless question doing the rounds. While this change of heart is good news, I ask a slightly different question to get a possible answer: "What do we do with the teams that aren't showing any real progress?" For blaming only the teams in Plate division would be naive.

There are a lot of teams in Indian domestic cricket that are participating but not competing. They turn up season after season only to produce an almost identical performance before fading into oblivion for the next six months. Some teams are more than happy to be just there, without making the effort to stretch the envelope.

If they are in the Elite division, their only endeavour is to ensure that they don't get relegated. Qualifying for the knock-outs and eventually winning the Ranji Trophy never cross their mind. And that's precisely the reason why only a few teams compete for the top spot and keep rotating the trophy among themselves year after year. And some of the teams in the Plate division have no reason to worry because relegation is not a possibility for them.

These teams not only consistently fail to surprise people by causing a few upsets, but also fail to produce quality players, which in my opinion is a much bigger crime. When all the state associations get a huge share of BCCI money every year, it's only fair to expect them to improve the state of cricket.

And let me assure you that it's not only the teams from the Plate division who are guilty of not doing enough, the teams in the Elite are to be blamed equally for the poor show. In fact, some Plate division teams spend more time and effort to upgrade the facilities and have put a proper structure in place to ensure progress. And that's why we are increasingly seeing good players coming from small towns and teams.

In my opinion, there are two ways of improving the fate of cricket in a state. The easier route, albeit taken by a lot of teams, is to hire professionals and expect them to take the team to the next level. But this is only a quick-fix, which is guaranteed to backfire in the longer run. Assam followed this, and the professionals helped them qualify to the Elite division last year, but the sustainability at the top would depend on the other eight players now.

While there's nothing wrong with the first approach, it's mandatory to supplement it with serious work at the grass-root level. Eventually, home-grown talent must take over from the seniors and take their team forward.

Rajasthan are following the first path by hiring professionals but also spending both time and money on cricket development. There's a serious effort to have state-of-the-art academies in every district, running a 12-month program, something a lot of teams in the Elite division can also adhere to. It may take some time for the young kids to make a mark but it's just a matter of when and not if.

However, there are certain associations that spend money neither on hiring professionals nor on cricket development. How they are spending the money received from the BCCI is anybody's guess, for they haven't even developed a decent ground in so many years. And these associations must be taken to task by slapping a financial penalty for non-performance, both with regards to the results and producing or nurturing talent. Nothing hurts people more than the money being taken away from them.