5 things to look forward to in the upcoming Ranji season

The 83rd edition of the Ranji Trophy begins on 6 October 2016. Being the premier domestic competition in India, players from all teams will try to give their best in order to catch the eyes of the selectors and come in contention for selection in the Indian team. The competition thus, is going to be intense.

As always, there is lots to look forward to in this Ranji season, but this time, the season promises to be all the more exciting as there are a few new things that will be seen this year.

Let’s have a look at 5 things which all cricket lovers would look forward to:

#1 Neutral Venues

This Ranji season will be the first ever to see teams playing at neutral venues. What this essentially means is – the venue for the match won’t be the “home” venue for either team. For example, the match between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, who are in the same group this season, will be played neither in Mumbai nor in Chennai; it’ll be played at CH Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Lahli, Rohtak.

This will ensure two things:

- That the pitches can’t be doctored to suit the needs of the home team, so both teams will start on an even base, with neither having an extra advantage. This came into notice very clearly last season when Ravindra Jadeja took 6 consecutive five wickets hauls to storm his way back into the Indian test team, on pitches that were made specifically to suit his kind of spin bowling. We saw matches getting over in 2 days and there was nothing the batsmen could do on such tracks.

- Players get exposure of playing in all kinds of conditions that will develop their all round game. Earlier, players got used to playing on certain kinds of “home” pitches which meant that while their skills on such pitches were improving, they were not making a lot of progress in terms of their technique when it comes to playing on surfaces that are substantially different from their home pitches.

Hence, neutral venues would make sure that such cases don’t happen and the wickets that are prepared are made to ensure good quality cricket without giving an edge to a particular team.

#2 Use of pink ball

Playing some Ranji trophy games with the pink balls under lights is surely a great initiative

This Ranji season would also see the use of pink ball in some matches. The BCCI President Anurag Thakur, in an interview on 10 September, announced that just like in the Duleep Trophy, the pink ball will be used in some Ranji trophy games too, this season.

He further stated that since most of the top cricketers played the Duleep Trophy matches with the pink ball and it would be used further in the Ranji season, the board will take feedback from players about the ball’s visibility and how it is same as or different than the red one. Only once this happens, the board will take a decision about when to host the first ever day-night test match in India, using the pink ball.

As we know, there are talks all around the cricketing world about how day-night tests might be the way forward as they might ensure more people coming into the grounds to watch test matches. But for that to happen, players from all countries must first gain some experience of playing with the pink ball and also get accustomed to playing a 5-day game under lights.

In this direction, playing some Ranji trophy games with the pink balls under lights is surely a great initiative.

#3 A changed schedule

The players will finish the Ranji season first and then get into limited overs mode for the 50 overs and the 20 overs competitions

This season, the Ranji trophy will see its earliest final, which will be played between January 7 and 11 in 2017. Last season, what we saw was that the Vijay Hazare Trophy which is the 50 overs tournament, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy which is the 20 overs tournament in India’s domestic season, were played before the final of the Ranji trophy, which took place in the last week of February 2016.

However, in this season, first the Ranji season will culminate on 11 January 2017 and then we will have the 50 overs and the 20 overs tournaments. The 20 overs tournament will also be changed to an inter-zonal league from this season.

This certainly makes a lot of sense as it’ll be easier for the players to adjust to different formats mentally. They will finish the Ranji season first and then get into limited overs mode for the 50 overs and the 20 overs competitions, which should mean that are better equipped preparation-wise for the rigours of the tournaments rather than having to switch from one mode to the other mid-season.

#4 Upcoming batting talent

Shreyas Iyer amassed 1321 runs at an average of 73.38 last year in Ranji Trophy

Last season, we saw a new name emerge from the oldest and most revered school of Indian batting, Mumbai. He was Shreyas Iyer. The guy amassed 1321 runs at an average of 73.38, but what stood out was that these runs were scored at a scarcely believable strike rate of almost 92.

His form took a minor dip in the IPL this year but what will be most interesting to see is if this supremely talented batsman turns out to be a one-season wonder or manages to follow up a stellar last season with a very good one this time too.

If that happens, we shouldn’t be surprised if we see his name in the Indian squad of 15 when Australia comes to India to play a series of 4 tests. There would be quite a few other names too who would be looking to make a big impression on the selectors and press for a place in the national team. The ones noteworthy would be:

- Mayank Agarwal, who made a big impact playing for India Blue in the Duleep Trophy and helped his team clinch the title.

- Manish Pandey, who has already made it to India’s one-day team but hasn’t got the nod from the selectors thus far for the longest format despite being a consistent performer for Karnataka over the years. One more very good season and his opportunity might finally come.

- Sheldon Jackson has been the corner-stone of Saurashtra’s batting in the past few seasons in the absence of Cheteshwar Pujara, and as of now, averages well above 50 in first class cricket. He scored tons of runs in the recently conclude Duleep trophy and the fact that he keeps wickets too can hold him in good stead as a contender for the no. 6 spot in the batting order.

Other than them, the likes of Robin Uthappa, Saurabh Tiwary, Baba Aparajith, Karun Nair and Sanju Samson will also be eagerly watched by the selectors to see if they can step up a few notches and stake a claim for a place in the Indian team.

#5 Impact Bowlers

Shardul Thakur is the one to watch out for

It’s no secret that Indian domestic competitions have rarely unearthed great talents in the bowling department over the past few years. Most of the bowlers, spinners and pacers alike, have caught the eyes of the national selectors primarily based on their IPL performances.

Prime examples are Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah, who shot into limelight through the IPL and then became regular members of the national team.

But for test matches, what the selectors would really like to keep an eye on will be bowlers who have the talent as well as the temperament to step up to the international level. In the fast bowling department, a bowler who has been making all the right noises consistently is Mumbai’s Shardul Thakur.

His performances over the last couple of Ranji seasons have been exemplary which led to his selection for the tour of the West Indies a couple of months ago, where he didn’t get a chance to break into the playing XI, but another good season might make it almost impossible for the selectors and team management to ignore the youngster’s talent.

Another fast bowler who the selectors would surely have pinned their hopes on is Nathu Singh. We would all want to see him excel in this Ranji season so that team India gets a fast bowler who can win them a lot of tests in the future.

Among spinners it’ll be Kuldeep Yadav, who was the best spinner on show in the Duleep trophy, at the forefront when the selectors look to find backup options for Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra. As this being a very long home test season for India, there are bound to be wear and tears as well as some injuries to first choice spinners considering their workload.

This is where the domestic spinners will have to put their hand up and be counted as next in line for selection.

Jayant Yadav has already been picked in the team for the remaining 2 tests against New Zealand and then there are the likes of Axar Patel and Shreyas Gopal who surely aren’t too far off from a national berth. Their impressive performances in the upcoming season would augur well for the future of Indian cricket.