Ranji8217;s Smiling

That figure is now with the courts, of course, but Ranji cricketers are not doing badly anyway. Their wages were hiked last season to Rs 4,000 a day for a Ranji league match of four days and a Duleep Trophy of five days match.

For a one-day match, cricketers get paid the same cumulative amount. So in effect a Ranji league tie is worth Rs 16,000, while a knock-out match and a Duleep match fetches Rs 20,000. A reserve gets 50 of the actual amount.

Earlier, a player would get Rs 6,000 from a match, with an extra Rs 4,000 put in the benevolent fund. It8217;s not the cricketers alone who are making the money; the increase in the number of sponsors means state associations are also getting into the black. Mumbai, for instance has egg major NECC, Delhi and Tamil Nadu are sponsored by TVS. Even Assam have tea major Williamson Magor as sponsor. That money 8212; details are unavailable 8212; also trickles down to the players.

And every little bit is welcome. For paceman Ashish Winston Zaidi, a one-time challenger to Javagal Srinath, there is nothing really left except helping Uttar Pradesh do one step better every season. To make it worse, Uttar Pradesh does not even have a team sponsor.

So in effect Zaidi has seen the worst of times. Today no wonder any increase from the board is only welcome. 8216;8216;Its a great thing, what else I can say,8217;8217; he says before returning to take a few more wickets.

8212; Chandresh Narayanan

THE ROOKIE

Shikhar moves closer to his summit
THE Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year was his first step towards the big time. A man of the series award for his 505 runs ranked him among the potential stars of the future. Last week, Shikhar Dhawan completed his first big step towards that goal by making his Ranji Trophy debut, scoring 49 from 66 balls with nine fours against Andhra Pradesh.

While the U-19s set him on his way, it was time spent at the Commonwealth Cricket Academy in Australia in July-August this year that honed his skills. And though the Delhi call-up came quite by chance with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir on international duty, Dhawan now says confidently that his career is 8216;8216;in motion8217;8217;.

Where Indian cricket often goes wrong is in blooding youngsters too late. For every Tendulkar, Ganguly and Irfan, there are twice as many stories of talent going to waste. This one, it can be suggested, won8217;t follow the latter path.

The confident youngster agrees: 8216;8216;Once you8217;re in the squad, you always expect to play. I was hoping to play the first match, but Gautam Gambhir was around and so he played. I know I8217;m not the first choice, but I will have to score runs each time I get the chance.8217;8217;

The strokeplayer who is 8216;8216;most comfortable8217;8217; playing an attacking game, promises good times for people watching Delhi matches too. With Sehwag and Gambhir out most of the time, Dhawan can offset some of the dourness Chopra brings into the game. And at just 20, he promises good times for the future of Indian cricket. Only, he has to 8216;8216;go on performing and scoring big and quick runs8217;8217;.

THE COACH

A Maestro at Mohali
A coach who8217;s achieved the ultimate in world cricket ties up with the team that perennially underachieves in the Ranji Trophy. A partnership from hell, you may feel, but both Intikhab Alam and the team he coaches, Punjab, appear to be relishing the relationship.

Signing on Inti was a typically progressive decision by a state association that already boasts India8217;s best cricket stadium. But Mohali needed success, trophies, a winning habit. A side with the likes of Mongia, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh should be in Ranji finals every season, challenging the likes of Mumbai, the current holders.

Enter Inti and his work ethic. On the first day of a fortnight8217;s pre-season camp, the coach reached the ground at 7 am, well before the team. The message for the likes of Mongia 038; Co was clear: things would be different around here.

Alam has been doing the training routine himself with the rest of the Punjab team, showing in a way that he is willing to be 8216;8216;one of the boys8217;8217;. And this quality has endeared him to the side,.

Mongia, the team captain, is now an unabashed admirer of Alam8217;s, whom he can8217;t praise enough. 8216;8216;The first time I heard his name, I thought, This is great. He8217;s always so very calm that it is amazing to interact with him,8217;8217; says Mongia.

That calmness 8212; and a sage, steady guiding hand 8212; is the crucial element missing from a team of high-spirited, if talented, cricketers.

Ask Alam about this and he says, 8216;8216;This is just my style.8217;8217; He considers himself a teacher who has to keep motivating. 8216;8216; As a coach it is important that you are patient. My style is different because I am here as an elder and am helping them out. The most important thing for me is that every player responds and understands what I am saying.8217;8217;

To get back to the wedding theme. Alam is aware that this is the honeymoon period, that it could all come crashing down or, as is more typical, disintegrate in slo-mo. So he pleads for time. 8216;8216;We have talented young players but you need time to build a side,8217;8217; he says.

Five changes still needed

Jacob Martin Batsman, Baroda
WICKETS
Should be prepared keeping both bowlers and batsmen in mind. A player on his first tour abroad should not see an entirely new pitch.

UMPIRING
As competition among players increases, the umpires8217; role becomes more important. They must be more alert.

SPONSORS
Domestic cricket needs to be promoted more. The game needs more money, though cricketers are being paid almost 3-4 times more than what they were a couple of years ago. Football teams have better sponsorships these days, even hockey8217;s stepping up.

DISCIPLINE
The cricketers need to bring more discipline into their regime. They are now professionals who are as good as employed with their particular teams.

COACHING
Rather than a senior player having a good coach, it8217;s more important for an upcoming youngster. It8217;s the other way round now.

As told to K Shriniwas Rao

Sanjay Jagdale Administrator, ex-selector

PITCHES
Should improve at first-class and U-19 levels; specifically, the junior section. This is where cricketers are made.By the time players reach first-class, it is too late.

REACH
State associations and BCCI must go to the interiors of India. Prepare cement wickets so that players can use them in small areas and towns. Even play more day-night cricket to attract the crowds

ACCOUNTABILITY
Officials should be given a fixed term so that we get new people, new ideas. Even paid professionals need to be accountable.

MONEY
The BCCI is doing a lot, but we need more. Facilities can always get better with more investment.

BIG NAMES
Our top players should play domestic cricket. If they don8217;t do it voluntarily, the Board must insist. The domestic programme should be designed so that the stars can play some matches.

As told to Chandresh Narayanan

THE PITCH

The Green, Green Grass Of Home
HOW often do we go to see a Ranji Trophy match 8212; even a Test match for that matter 8212; expecting fast bowlers to hold sway? The answer is closer to 8216;never8217; 8212; and when it happens, as at Nagpur, it is headline news. Yet it is happening, not just in Nagpur 8212; where it is a policy etched in stone 8212; but here in Delhi, where the Railways team laid on a greentop against Mumbai and Bengal.

Railways coach Vinod Sharma says his team will prepare similar pitches for the rest of the home matches as well at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Why greentops, we ask him, when tradition dictates otherwise? Part of the reason is team composition: Railways have four quality seamers. But there8217;s a larger issue, he explains. 8216;8216;The fast bowlers can have a go every morning and batsmen with the technique can score runs. The game is more exciting, there8217;s a chance of an outright win.8217;8217;

Proof of that was in the first day8217;s play in the Bengal match. 305 runs were scored and nine wickets fell. As the match progressed, the batsmen made merry and the speedsters picked five-fors. In the Mumbai match, Ajit Agarkar and Harvinder had five-wicket hauls.

The pitch, Sharma says, has something for everyone. 8216;8216;We put some additional grass of late and there8217;s been a lot of heavy rolling. We use black soil, which is slow. That8217;s why there8217;s the additional grass and there8217;s substantial bounce and pace on the wicket. If there8217;s a good sun, the afternoon and evening sessions become good for batting. The third day there are cracks, so spinners can do well.8217;8217;

Sharma8217;s was the quiet revolution, Nagpur 8212; where Australia romped home on a greentop8212; the blast hear around the world. That was thanks to Vidarbha Cricket Association president Shashank Manohar, who says it wasn8217;t just for the Aussies8217; benefit. Nor, indeed, for his own side. 8216;8216;I don8217;t mind seeing Vidarbha lose but I believe in the quality of cricket that is played8217;8217;, Manohar says. 8216;8216;Cricketers must get used to such conditions.8217;8217;

The VCA pitch, for Tests and Ranji games, has been prepared by curator Kishore Pradhan, praised by pitch expert G Kasturirangan as one of the best in the country. 8216;8216;He is one of the few who has actually tried to prepare a good pitch.8217;8217;

8212; Shamya Dasgupta 038; K Shriniwas Rao