Background score

Over the next five days,the action was feverish: Rohit Sharma smashed 141 to help post a huge first-innings total,Zaheer Khan scalped seven to bowl UP out cheaply,Rohit scored his second ton of the match to set them an improbable,if not insurmountable,target,before Dhawal Kulkarni’s five-wicket haul handed Mumbai their 38th Ranji Trophy title.

Incident-packed as they were,though,those five days pale in comparison to what has followed over the next 10 months: India visited Sri Lanka to kick-start their season,slipped into New Zealand for a full tour,flew to South Africa for the Indian Premier League,jetted straight to England for the second edition of the World Twenty20,trudged all the way to the Caribbean for four of the most inconsequential one-dayers ever played,went back to Sri Lanka for a tri-series (after,of course,the newly concocted domestic Corporate tournament),headed back to South Africa for the Champions Trophy before returning home for the inaugural Champions League T20 (which has blended seamlessly into a seven-match ODI series against world champions Australia).

A return,under the circumstances,to the languid pace and genteel surroundings of the Ranji Trophy is most welcome.

India’s premier domestic competition starts midweek with,among other clashes,the defending champions taking on Punjab,the runners-up UP at home to Karnataka,and heavyweights Delhi and Tamil Nadu playing Baroda and Railways,respectively.

Over the next few months,there’ll be tons of runs scored on flat tracks and blink-and-miss collapses on absolute minefields; traditional rivalries,always so full of needle,will play out alongside Plate Division slugfests in far-flung corners of the country; last season’s stars — batsmen Ajinkya Rahane,Cheteshwar Pujara,Wasim Jaffer and Abhinav Mukund,and bowlers Dhawal Kulkarni,Siddharth Trivedi,Bhuvaneshwar and Ramesh Powar — will revisit the art of crafting big hundreds and teasing batsmen out over long spells. The seemingly futile hunt for a pace-bowling all-rounder will continue to play out like a background score.

But there are a few things that add an edge to these already keen contests,not least the presence of the Indian Cricket League’s returning ‘rebels’.

Rebels,with a cause

November 3 may be the start of just another Ranji season,but for the 79 former Indian Cricket League (ICL) players who return to the fold,it will be a shot at redemption. Over the last two seasons,Bengal,Hyderabad and Punjab — once contenders for the title — were most affected by the defections. While Hyderabad and Punjab at least managed to retain their position in the Elite Division,Bengal were relegated after losing crucial players such as Rohan Gavaskar,Deep Dasgupta and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala.

It is this trio that Bengal,who have been promoted back into the Elite Division,will welcome with open arms. New coach Roger Binny is relieved to regain their services for his debut year. “Rohan and Deep are veterans who have played international cricket. They will have a great influence on the youngsters,” says the former India all-rounder. But Binny adds hastily that the ICL did allow teams to develop a stronger bench-strength.

Hyderabad lost nine players two years ago,including the talented Ambati Rayudu,who at one point seemed set for bigger things. Venkatapathy Raju,now in-charge of the team,believes this season will be be a perfect chance for the 24-year-old to reaffirm that early potential. “We have done well to stay in the Elite Division. All the players had to prove their worth during the build-up tournaments,” he says.

Punjab have included only one ICL player in their Ranji squad — fast bowler Love Ablish — ignoring former India all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi,while veteran fast bowler Shalabh Srivastava strengthens the UP squad,especially with Sudeep Tyagi now in the international mix. Over in Tamil Nadu,fast bowler Laxmipathy Balaji will finally have a steady partner at the other end with R Jesuraj being picked for the season.

Home away from home

Summer is considered the ideal season for the migration of birds,and a number of domestic cricketers left their home states in search of greener pastures this year — with the pattern favouring a north-eastward movement.

Most departures were due to lack of opportunities at home,but for senior Mumbai players Amol Muzumdar and Sairaj Bahutule,the shift to Assam is a new challenge at the fag end of their careers. Newly appointed Assam coach Surobjit Saikya is not complaining. “We were left battered after a number of our key players left for the ICL a couple of years ago. Now,with the entry of Sairaj,Amol and Dhiraj Jadhav (Mahatrashta opener),we can finally hope to challenge other teams in the Plate Division,” Surobjit says. Assam are yet to produce an international cricketer,and the youngsters in the team are looking forward to sharing the dressing room with those who have been in or around the national team.

Not surprisingly,Mumbai have lost the most players this season. The defending Ranji champions lifted the title without too many changes,which has resulted in the departures of Vinayak Mane,Nishit Shetty,Hiken Shah,Kshemal Waingankar and Wilkin Mota.

Mane,who not long ago was part of a formidable opening partnership with captain Wasim Jaffer,moves to Jammu and Kashmir along with middle-order batsman Shah. The pair of Mota and Shetty didn’t really figure in Mumbai’s 2008-09 campaign,and are headed for Tripura,where they will be joined by Maharashtra’s Kaushik Atre. Waingankar,who impressed against the touring Englishmen,joins ICL-return S Sriram in Goa.

“It’s great,especially for teams from the east,that players are moving. Apart from Bengal,none of them have too many cricketers of note,” says Baroda coach Paras Mhambrey.

For Kerala captain Sreesanth,however,the arrival of these seniors means better competition in the Plate Division. “We generally come up against teams with hardly any talent. It will be a challenge to come up against players like Amol and Sairaj,” he says.

New kids in town

Not long ago,Abu Nechim was one of the leading lights of the Indian under-19 team. After two years in the ICL,he will be one of the players looking to move to the next level. Tracing the rise or fall of potential stars is one of the most engaging aspects of following a season,and Assam coach Saikya insists that Nechim will be one of the youngsters to keep an eye on. “He’s returning after a two-year hiatus,and he’s hungry to perform at this level again,” he says.

Karnataka’s Manish Pandey sent the Indian media into a frenzy by becoming the first and only Indian centurion in the IPL earlier this year. But living up to the expectations and hype at the first-class level will be a challenge.

Mumbai have high hopes from 16-year-old left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh,the Sardar who was part of the Mumbai squad for the Buchi Babu tournament. Sreesanth is hoping that it will be the coming-out party for 23-year-old left-hander Rohan Prem (who scored three centuries last season) and all-rounder Raiphi Vincent Gomez,part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad during IPL 2. Meanwhile,Madhya Pradesh coach Mukesh Sahni considers young batsman Harpreet Singh Bhatia,who impressed at the under-19 level,to be a potential star from the state. “He just scored a sensational double-hundred in the CK Nayudu Trophy and we hope he continues his form for us,” he says.

On the surface

The nature of pitches often ends up being the most-discussed about issue before,during,and after every domestic season. The debate about whether associations should prepare wickets that suit their teams or to ensure a healthy competition between bat and ball,has almost proved a never-ending one. This topic promises to remain contentious as the upcoming Ranji season approaches.

Some insist that since preparing wickets is the responsibility of the local associations,preparing a sporting wicket should be their prerogative. Baroda coach Paras Mhambrey believes that the final call is always in the hands of the host team. “If a team doesn’t have a fast bowler,there is no point in them preparing a green track and handing their opposition the initiative,” says the former India seamer. But Bengal coach Roger Binny says that the wickets have hardly changed since his playing days almost two decades ago,and that most still favour the batsmen almost completely.

But the pitch at Valsad,which will play host to Gujarat’s Elite Division encounter against the visiting Railways side in December,is one ‘sporting’ track that comes in for high praise. “I’ve played a lot of cricket in Valsad and it offers a lot of pace and bounce for fast bowlers while batsmen too can play their shots at the same time,” says Mhambrey. “It used to be a lake that dried up,and because the ground is near the sea,there is always a stiff breeze blowing there,” adds former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad.

Another small-town wicket that is turning heads is the one at Ghaziabad,which will play host to a couple of UP’s matches. The trend is followed in several other small centres around the country,and there are many who are advocating more matches there in order to make the Ranji season exciting. “These places get to host only one or two matches,and the curators are looking to impress,” says Sreesanth.

But for every sporting wicket there are always two bad ones,and the notorious Karnail Singh stadium wicket in Delhi is never far away from criticism. “I think it is one of the most unpredictable wickets in the country. The one at Ferozeshah Kotla is also of a low standard — slow and low,” says Gaekwad.

At a glance

The Groups

Elite Group A

Mumbai
Tamil Nadu
Railways
Punjab
Himachal
Hyderabad
Gujarat
Orissa

Elite Group B

Uttar Pradesh
Delhi
Baroda
Karnataka
Bengal
Saurashtra
Maharastra

Plate Group A

Assam
Rajasthan
Jharkhand
Tripura
Vidarbha
Goa

Plate Group B

Services
Jammu & Kashmir
Kerala
Andhra
Madhya Pradesh
Haryana

Dates

1st round: November 3-6
2nd round: November10-13
3rd round: November 17-20
4th round: November 24-27
5th round: December 1-4
6th round: December 8-11
7th round: December 15-18
Quarter-finals: December 24-27
Semi-finals: January 3-6
Final: January 11-15

Newsworthy

* Amol Muzumdar is on the verge of becoming the highest run-getter in Ranji history. The middle-order batsman,with 9558 runs,is just 31 runs short of breaking Amarjeet Kaypee’s record. Amol,who has played 144 matches in 16 years for Mumbai,will be leading the Assam team in the competition.

* The BCCI has tripled the prize-money for the competition with Rs 2 crore now the winner’s purse. Last year,Mumbai received Rs 60 lakh when they defeated Uttar Pradesh in the final. The losing finalists this year will get Rs 1 crore while both the semi-finalists will get Rs 50 lakh each.

* ICL players mark their return to domestic cricket after a gap of two years,with Punjab,Bengal,Hyderabad and Railways benefitting the most.

* The BCCI technical committee,headed by Sunil Gavaskar,decided to do away with neutral venues for all knockout matches and reverted back to the home-and-away system.

* There’s now a ban on foreign players taking part in the competition,while only three ‘guest players’ — from other states — are allowed in each team.

Key postings

* Manoj Prabhakar took over as new coach of Rajasthan,but internal fighting within the RCA saw a last-minute change of guard with Parthasarathy Sharma taking over the reins.

* Sreesanth has been appointed skipper of Kerala while Irfan Pathan was also elevated to lead the Baroda side.

* Roger Binny has been named as the new Bengal coach.

* Former Indian paceman and national selector Bhupinder Singh Senior has taken over as coach of Punjab from Arun Sharma,who is now a junior national selector.

* Venkatapathy Raju,who quit as Orissa coach last year,takes over in Hyderabad.

Big transfers

* Mumbai players enjoy most of the transfers with Sairaj Bahutule joining Muzumdar in the Assam team.

* Vinayak Mane is leading Jammu & Kashmir with Manvinder Singh Bisla hopping over from Himachal.

* Y Venugopal Rao has returned to Andhra this season after spending a year each with Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Curated For You

India Women vs Sri Lanka Women 3rd T20I: Shafali Verma’s superb 79* powers India to 3-0 series lead

Archaeologists uncover a 2,200-year-old highway that once connected China’s first empire

Jana Nayagan Audio Launch: Date, Time, Cast, and Other Details – All You Need to Know