The Ranji final and the rekindling of interest in Indian domestic cricket

Something weird happened this past week. The Indian cricket team had 2 ODIs scheduled in the week, one against Bangladesh and the other a final against Sri Lanka (again). But all the water cooler discussions in office and online seemed to center around a different match altogether – The Ranji Trophy final between Karnataka and Mumbai.

Uthappa collected the runners’ trophy from Brijesh Patel.

For more pics from the Finals Click here

This match was the shot in the arm that domestic cricket needed. It had the underdogs threatening to take the crown away from the dominant force of the Indian domestic circuit. It had a sporting pitch which eased as the days went by. It had wildly fluctuating fortunes with each session. It had some gritty innings played by Samant, Nayar, Kulkarni and Pandey. It had probing spells sent down by Mithun, Vinay Kumar, Kulkarni and Agarkar. It had the catch of the year so far. And the most important thing, it had a nail biting finish with an outright victor at the end of it.

This match proved that there is an audience willing to watch Indian domestic cricket if we can get a sporting contest out of it. Over the past few seasons, Ranji matches have been decided, by and large, by the first innings lead. This would not be a problem by itself, but the pitches on which the matches have been played have been so batsman friendly that the time both first innings are finished, there is barely a days worth of cricket left in the match. Yes, there have been nail biting matches such as last year’s Mumbai-Saurashtra semifinal in which the first innings lead was fiercely contested. But in an era in which almost every International test ends in a result, this mindset of the Indian domestic game is strange to say the least.

If the BCCI is smart, they will realize that this match has finally shown people that there is life left in the Ranji trophy. There is a broadcaster who has made a commitment to back the tournament, there are sponsors coming in, and now there is an audience as well. All that is required is a change in the mindset of the players. Here is hoping that this match inspires curators to make more sporting pitches, players to play towards a result and domestic cricket to blossom. Keeping the track record of the BCCI in mind, this doesn’t seem all that possible, but hey, one can dream.