Do well in the Irani Trophy and play for India. There seems
to be a lot of truth in this, going by the number of times
a player shining in the important annual fixture has gone
to immediately represent the country.
The latest in a long illustrious line is of course T.Kumaran who made
the transition from a Tamil Nadu state player to a nationally known
figure by taking ten wickets in the Irani Trophy game against
Karnataka last month. More than anything else - and he did
have a couple of important credentials like being an
exceptionally promising MRF Pace Foundation trainee and taking
46 wickets in the Ranji Trophy last season - it was his
showing in the Irani Trophy game that brought him closer
to national recognition.
But then the Irani Trophy game is probably the most important
domestic fixture and it can be said that a good performance
here should attract considerable attention. Nevertheless some
of the feats in the annual tie have been truly outstanding
and have either brought unknown players to the forefront
or resurrected careers.
In 1975 for example 19-year-old Dilip Vengsarkar was just
another promising cricketer, hardly known outside Bombay. And
yet one knock of 110 he played in the Irani Trophy game at
Nagpur - during which he treated Bedi and Prasanna with
scant respect - brought him immediate national recognition.
Oldtimers compared his batting to that of CK Nayudu and
Vengsarkar earned the sobriquet ``Colonel''. Within a month,
he was opening the Indian innings with Sunil Gavaskar in
a `Test' against Sri Lanka and shortly afterwards went on
the tour of New Zealand and West Indies, when he got the
first of his 116 Test caps.
Three years later, it was the turn of Kapil Dev to display
his skill and talent in the Irani Trophy. On the eve of the
selection of the Indian team which went on a path breaking
trip to Pakistan, the tall and well built 19-year-old from
Haryana came up with a fine all round show when Rest of India
scored over Karnataka at Bangalore and the rest, as the cliche
goes, is history. Kapil was already on the fringe of selection
but it was his Irani Trophy performance that clinched the place
for him.
In October 1982, K.Srikkanth had been tried and discarded at
the Test level. ``Good for one day cricket, not for Test cricket''
was the general refrain with regard to the dashing
Tamil Nadu opener's abilities. Srikkanth took up the challenge
and with a blazing century in the Irani Trophy tie at
New Delhi - again oldtimers were reminded of CK Nayudu when
they saw the dashing swashbuckler at his best - he not only
shaped a memorable triumph for Rest of India but forced his
way into the Indian team that went to Pakistan.
Six years it was the turn of another swashbuckler from
Tamil Nadu - a batsmen who at his best could make even
Srikkanth look pedestrian - to parade his capabilities
in the Irani Trophy game against Rest of India at Madras.
When Tamil Nadu were set a difficult target, VB Chandrasekhar
made light of the task by reaching his century off just 56
balls - then the fastest hundred by an Indian in first class
cricket to steer Tamil Nadu to a sensational victory. His
pyrotechnics attracted considerable attention and ere long
he was opening the innings with Srikkanth in the one day
internationals against New Zealand.
But perhaps the cricketer to benefit most from one crucial
performance in the Irani Trophy has been Anil Kumble. The
current No 1 strike bowler made his debut in England in 1990,
was discarded after that and not considered for the one off
Test against Sri Lanka in 1990-91, the tour of Australia in
1991-92 and the World Cup that followed. Shastri, Venkatpathi
Raju and Hirwani were the established Indian spinners during
this time and the three were expected to keep their place for
the historic tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa in 1992-93. But
with a superb effort in the Irani Trophy match held just prior
to the selection of the Indian team, Kumble edged out Hirwani
for the third spinner's slot. Kumble took 13 wickets in the game
(7 for 64 and 6 for 74) to bowl Rest of India to an innings
victory over Delhi. Kumble went on the tour, took 21 wickets in
the five Tests against the two countries, finished with another
21 wickets in three Tests against England at home in early 1993
and there has been no looking back since then.