The problem with home-and-away games

Dear friends,

Till a few years ago, the knock-out matches of the Ranji Trophy were held on an home-and-away basis. Teams hosting the match had two major advantages. Preparing the pitch was their prerogative and they had the support of the home crowd. Those were days when people turned up in big numbers to watch a first-class game. And if that game happened to be between Mumbai and Delhi with all the big players available, the atmosphere would match up to an international game, or so I’m told.

Gradually the crowds starting dwindling and the home teams abused their right to prepare the track. They started preparing tracks to suit their strengths without keeping the larger interest of the game in mind. A spin-heavy attack would prepare a dustbowl to have an upper hand; similarly the team which was banking on their batsmen to win the game, started dishing out feather beds. A first-innings lead was enough to decide the winner and they were under no pressure to prepare tracks which would produce results.

The BCCI tried to counter this by appointing a chief curator to overlook the preparations. But that wasn’t enough because the chief curator didn’t have complete control over the ground staff. He would give suggestions which very few who would obey, especially when it meant putting their team in jeopardy.

Hence the BCCI was forced to have neutral venues for the knock-out matches. In my view, it was a wonderful move because it negated home advantage and tested teams on a neutral playing ground. It also meant that the knock-outs were held at Test centres and if prepared properly, most of them are capable of preparing a result-oriented pitch.

I have no doubt in my mind that Delhi’s win in the Ranji Trophy in 2007-08 had a lot to do with neutral venues. We would have fallen way short of Uttar Pradesh in the final if the match was in Lucknow or Kanpur, and had they prepared a dustbowl. The track we played on in Mumbai was a player’s delight. The ball swung appreciably for the first couple of days before becoming a great track to bat on day three and four. Since the track offered a lot of bounce, the spinners were also involved throughout the game.

From this year on, the neutral venues have again been done away with, and we are back to old ways. Perhaps it's been done to attract the crowds to support the hosts. To negate the home advantage in terms of preparing the pitch, the BCCI has now appointed a neutral curator for all four venues.

But is it fair to expect a track in Rohtak or Palam to play like the one at Wankhede? Incidentally, the venues for the four quarter-finals do not have the required infrastructure to cover the matches. Hence, while league games were covered live, the quarter-finals won't be. This move may perhaps bring a few people to the ground but has, in fact, denied many more an opportunity to watch the game on the telly.

Wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.