Opinion Tripura’s arc underlines cricket’s possibilities
Tripura’s journey was no fluke, or made solely on the virtues of semi-retired hands borrowed from other states. Seven of the 11 that upended the team from Karnataka were born and raised in the state.
Tripura’s rise is the ideal template for the cricket board to strengthen Indian cricket. The population of Tripura, barely 3.70 million, could arguably fit into a Mumbai suburb. It’s the third-smallest state in India, one-tenth the size of Karnataka. Yet, disparities of size, population and sporting heritage were blurred when Tripura stunned Karnataka and Mumbai, cricket’s historic powerhouses, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season.
Tripura’s journey was no fluke, or made solely on the virtues of semi-retired hands borrowed from other states. Seven of the 11 that upended the team from Karnataka were born and raised in the state. Captain Manisankar Murasingh’s all-round virtues could summon the attention of IPL franchises. He is a metaphor for Tripura’s gradual but steady rise. Academies have been sprouting, several subdivisions have installed Astro-turf and indoor nets (a necessity due to the incessant monsoon), and construction of a new first-class stadium is underway. Tripura is building its cricket the old-fashioned way, through hard work and rigour. The hurdles they face are many, from frequent floods to clashes between separatists and police.
Tripura’s rise is the ideal template for the cricket board to strengthen Indian cricket. Rather than forcing them to manufacture a red-ball culture and making them endure the tedium of lop-sided Ranji Trophy fixtures, fledgling cricket associations could be exposed to the shortest version before transitioning to higher levels. Murasingh, 277 runs and six wickets in six games, could be the pathbreaker for his state as well as the region. The North-east frontier in India’s cricket landscape has swung its gates open.
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