More on their Plate

Eventually, Martin does call back and speaks about the traffic jam the team bus had to encounter because of the serial blasts in Guwahati. 8220;At seven in the morning, our bus had passed one of the blast spots. On the way back, we had to take a detour because of the chaos. The phone lines are dodgy here right now,8221; says his cracking voice.

But, despite the harrowing morning experience and the dying line, the excitement in his voice comes across clearly as he talks about his first few days in alien surroundings, and the anticipation of the season starting next week. This feeling is common among other Plate players as there is an overwhelming air of optimism in Indian cricket8217;s outback this year.

The reason is a BCCI decision which brings a sense of belonging to the long-neglected cricketing community. Starting this year, two teams from Plate Division will join six Elite Division teams to form the quarter-final line-up of the Ranji Trophy. It might not seem significant for the uninitiated, but ask anybody on the domestic circuit and they8217;ll call it a 8220;vital development8221;.

Martin says this was one of the reasons he thought of coming out of retirement and head to the 8216;Far East8217;. 8220;Finally, the players in the Plate division will be playing for the Ranji Trophy. So far, all they played for was promotion to Elite. I can feel the excitement among the Assam players and I8217;m sure that will be the case with the rest of the Plate teams too,8221; says the 36-year-old.

The excitement that the former India international and Elite division veteran Martin shows pales in comparison to the delight in Services batting mainstay Yashpal Singh8217;s voice. Since the time the BCCI decided to divide the Ranji Trophy tournament into two groups five years ago, Services have been Plate regulars and that8217;s the reason players such as Yashpal aren8217;t used to media interactions. 8220;Reporters rarely call us, selectors hardly come to our games, and most of the time our runs are dismissed because they8217;ve come against weaker oppositions. I get noticed only when I8217;m playing zonal games. But those chances are few,8221; he says, giving the grim details of his domestic career.

A couple of years ago, Yashpal had a terrific season for Services but he didn8217;t get the push to climb the ladder. 8220;I scored 800 to 900 runs but I didn8217;t get the recognition I deserved,8221; he says. Such was the frustration that Yashpal joined the rebel Indian Cricket League last year. 8220;I8217;d lost hope. I thought I could never play for India and so I took that decision. But I was advised to return to the fold, and I was lucky to get an IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders,8221; says the middle-order batsman.

Though Yashpal was on the sidelines during the IPL, he did get a feel of a jam-packed Eden Gardens. 8220;Being a Plate player all my life, I had no idea of crowd support. But with this new format, I see a ray of hope. Playing the Elite teams means a lot to us. Our performance will get noticed and then, the sky is the limit,8221; says the 26-year-old.

There have been cricketers such as Kerala8217;s S Sreesanth and Parthiv Patel of Gujarat who8217;ve made it to the national team despite playing in the Plate division, but such cases are few and far in between. Kerala coach Vedam Hariharan, the state8217;s former new-ball bowler, explains the general attitude towards Tier-II players. 8220;The problem in India is that players are compartmentalised by the decision makers. They8217;re not judged by talent but by the state they play for. People have a way of discounting teams. A player from Kerala would be looked at differently from someone from Delhi or Mumbai,8221; he says.

Hariharan is positive that this attitude can change with the fusion of the divisions at the quarter-final stage. 8220;Cricket is such a game that things can change in a minute. Once a Plate team reaches the quarter-final knock-out stage, anything can happen. They can even go on to win the Ranji Trophy!8221; he says.

But for that to happen, he adds, there needs to be a change in the mindset of players. 8220;Over the years, I8217;ve seen that Kerala players don8217;t have an I-can-do-it-too attitude. A player from Mumbai, who is only playing the Times Shield, thinks he8217;s just two steps away from playing for the country. But someone from Kerala or other smaller teams doesn8217;t think along the same lines,8221; says the 52-year-old Level III professional with coaching experience in England and Australia.

Not only the format, even the new rule of four guest players has added to the excitement in the Plate division. Besides all-time great Muttiah Muralitharan, who might turn out for Bengal this season, there are some known names in the division this time. Like Assam, Madhya Pradesh also have an outsider in skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar. During his 13 years on domestic circuit, Kanitkar has seen it all: he represented Maharashtra when they were in the Plate division, and also when they got promoted to the Elite League.

One asks Kanitkar if making it to the Ranji Trophy quarters through the Plate route might be easier compared to the tougher Elite division and he chuckles. 8220;I don8217;t think so. Being the top team of the group in any division is tough. One can8217;t afford a single bad game. When I was with Maharashtra, we topped the Plate group once and I know how tough it was,8221; he says.

The 33-year-old dismisses questions about motivation being an issue for players like him and Martin. 8220;The general impression is that Plate division matches aren8217;t competitive. But that8217;s not the case, and with players such as Murali being part of this division, things will only get tougher. Add to that the incentive of playing the Elite teams and the entire scenario changes,8221; he says.

Martin points out another reason for calling the new Ranji format a welcome change. In the old format, the top two teams would get promoted to the Elite Division the following season. 8220;Suppose a Plate division batsman is in great form 8212; he helps his team top the group and get promoted. But he8217;s ignored that season because he hasn8217;t faced the best bowlers on the circuit. He only gets the chance next year, but by then he8217;s lost his form,8221; he says.

There are still chances, however, that intriguing Plate division stories will go unnoticed. This season of hope for Indian cricket8217;s have-nots coincides with two high-profile home series. Before the Aussies leave, the English would8217;ve landed, and considering this exhaustive international itinerary, it8217;s quite likely that these modest domestic dreams will be conveniently overlooked.
But it wouldn8217;t be a bad idea to sneak a glance at these less-fancied domestic cricketers. Who knows, Martin or Kanitkar could inspire their humble team mates into the Ranji quarters, or Yashpal could finally get a game in front of a jam-packed stadium.