Nothing personal about it

The 2007-08 Ranji Trophy has just ended. As usual the team that claims the title ensures that their name will be etched in the history of Indian domestic circuit, which they richly deserve. I daresay that winning the Ranji trophy is as good as winning a Test match because of the toil that a team goes through for over six months of preparation and performance.

Most first-class teams start their off-season training camps in the month of August, when 30 probables are selected. These players have to undergo fitness camps; they go out and play some cricket in south India in events such as Buchibabu Trophy, Moin-ud-Dowla Gold Cup and KSCA Invitational, which are organised well by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) respectively. These tournaments are played in the last two weeks of September and the first week of October.

After proving their mettle in these matches, fringe players get eventual nods for their teams. The actual first-class season begins in the last week of October and it is often noticed that the team that peaks at the right time eventually wins the tournament, as is evident from the finalists: UP and Delhi, who have sidelined major teams like Mumbai and Karnataka at crucial stages of the tournament. Players also have to fight through patches wherein form deserts them in batting, rhythm in bowling, and confidence in wicketkeeping and fielding. After each failure, the toughest part is to spend the evening - when you doubt yourself and your abilities. The players who succeed are the ones who forget about the previous day and sleepless night, and begin the next day with hope and optimism. This trend has to continue over a consistent period of three months.

Selectors, who do honorary jobs in most of the states, are also pleased to see players whom they have given an opportunity to, repay the faith placed in them by performing and contributing to the team cause. Administrators, too, have to undergo difficult situations while staging the matches, arranging the travel itinerary, ensuring that Under-19 and Under-22 players are made available for the Ranji Trophy matches, and then rewarding the teams for bringing glory to the associations. Trainers ensure that they engineer the players’ fitness according to the nature of the job. And physios maintain these lean machines through proper care, injury prevention and injury management. Most of the coaches have played the game themselves, and help the teams in preparing well, giving strategic inputs, maintaining discipline, and encouraging players and keeping the team spirit going. The coaches also realise that playing was much easier than coaching, as once the game starts, the coach has no control on how the players deal in match situations. To de-stress themselves, they get into the healthy habit of drinking a lot of water.

As only 260-odd players have managed to get an India Test cap in about 75 years of the history of Indian cricket, for a bulk of the players, winning the Ranji title is a high point of their careers and something they can be really proud of. For the finalists of the Plate League - Railways and Gujarat - regaining a place in the Elite League is an achievement, as playing in the Plate League has its own set of challenges. Even though some of the teams are weaker, the playing conditions are tougher, as all matches are played on sporting wickets and teams want to get as many outright wins as possible and qualify for the all-important semi-final stage. Once that has been achieved, the teams can’t slip during the semi-finals as that can spoil all the efforts during the season.

Sterner tests lie ahead for players getting selected in the zonal teams, as the Duleep Trophy is one of the tougher competitions on the domestic circuit. As the Duleep Trophy is an opportunity to catch the eye of the national selectors, the team spirit among players collected from different states is often missing. That team spirit, which is central in a state team, is what makes a Ranji Trophy triumph so special.