Domestic help needed
The thrilling Ranji Trophy final between Mumbai and Karnataka would perhaps have been spicier with the availability of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
The thrilling Ranji Trophy final between Mumbai and Karnataka would perhaps have been spicier with the availability of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. The absence of the best players reduced the opportunity to test upcoming talent against experience, leaving their performances open to scrutiny. Writing in Outlook magazine, Rohit Mahajan feels the tournament cramps players, and that Indian domestic cricket needs a refit.
Travel isn’t a joy ever since the Ranji Trophy was converted into a two-tier event. Earlier, neighbouring teams from a zone would compete with each other to qualify for the national level, logging in fewer travel miles. Now, the Elite and Plate divisions separate the top teams from the whipping boys, but it involves tiring journeys across the country—for instance, Punjab could be playing Tamil Nadu in Chennai and then sprinting back home for the next match.
Rahul Dravid proposes the reduction of one or two domestic tournaments, to help space out the crammed Ranji schedule - just one of the suggestions he mentions, while talking about how things could improve in the premier competition. Read the full interview in the same magazine.