The Sanatana Dharma ground in scenic Alappuzha, a tourist hub, is where one of India’s best spinners Kuldeep Yadav will begin this first class season — playing for Uttar Pradesh against Kerala.
How many games the left-arm wrist spinner will play in the country’s premier first-class tournament is anybody’s guess.
Ranji Trophy is being played in the middle of a packed schedule.
A five-match Test series against England begins on January 25. A shadow tour of the England Lions versus India A begins on January 12 in Ahmedabad, the same day as the second round of Ranji Trophy matches commence. Fringe players knocking on doors of the Test team will be part of the India A squad, while the best will be donning Test whites.
Not for the first time in an era when T20 cricket is the holy grail and the IPL a quick route to entry into the national side, Ranji Trophy — which runs till early February — will struggle for relevance.
Not since the 2016/17 home season so India have as many as 13 Tests lined-up this year. But the diluted Ranji Trophy, sans the best of the rest outside the core of the Test squad, may not be the best yardstick to judge performance for selectors to build a bench for the Test squad.
Coaches of domestic teams are a worried lot.
Rotate ‘A’ squad
To prevent Ranji Trophy matches from being a watered-down affair because of India A engagements that run till February 4 and to have key personnel available, some of the coaches have asked selectors to at least rotate the players.
With the tournament now held in the second-half of the season; December to February instead of end of September to early January — several coaches complain how players, especially fast-bowlers, cite slight niggles to skip games as they don’t want to risk missing out on the IPL, which usually begins in early April.
That the visiting England Lions team has only three Test-capped players, in Ollie Robinson, Keaton Jennings and Alex Lees, isn’t lost on them. India A should be an emerging team comprising Under-23 players, suggests a coach.
“England and Australia will never schedule A series when County cricket or Sheffield Shield is on. When we tour these countries, we do it in the off-season or in the pre-season. This series (England Lions versus India A) could have been played in December. But now we have to lose our players,” another veteran coach said.
But from the national team’s perspective, it is easy to understand why this A series is important. With this being a shadow tour (played alongside the five Test matches between India and England) and coming at the end of a long season that included a World Cup, there are concerns about the fitness of a few Test players.
Two of India’s best spinners aren’t young anymore and the workload may take a toll. And given there are at least four young batsmen in the Test squad, the selectors feel they need to keep the reserves ready. Matches against the England Lions will be key.
But if the Future Tours Programme is prepared in advance, can’t the domestic calendar be planned accordingly. The IPL has forced a change.
Before the Covid years, the Ranji was usually slotted to begin from September end or October first week. But with IPL auctions usually scheduled during this time, the BCCI advanced the Syed Mushtaq Ali and with Ranji Trophy pushed further down.
There are benefits, says WV Raman, former India opener and ex coach of Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“When you start the tournament early (Sep-Oct), except for the western side, rain will be a factor in other places because of the north-east monsoon. While fog will be an issue in December-January in the northern belt, it doesn’t hamper as much and as the tournament progresses into the last leg, it would only get better. Nowhere in the world can we have conditions which will be ideal for everything,” Raman told The Indian Express.
Playing in this period also means, most of the matches are played on surfaces which have good grass cover, enabling lateral movement and aiding fast bowlers. Sans enough sunshine, pitches usually don’t break easily and have shown a tendency to flatten as the game progresses in some places, which isn’t a common occurrence at the top level.
“Of course during this phase there is nippy movement in some places with bowlers usually enjoying the conditions. You will have moisture in the surface that would aid movement, but you aren’t playing in one particular zone. You get to play in different conditions and build your game,” Raman added.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 tournament, has relevance because it is a talent-spotting opportunity for IPL scouts before an auction. Playing in the shadow of a high-profile Test series and India A games, the onus will be on a special player to catch the attention of the selectors during the Ranji Trophy.