Lahli : On Sunday the village of Lahli in Haryana will become the centre of the country’s attention as it officially kicks off the farewell celebrations for Sachin Tendulkar. A send-off of such proportions is bound to overshadow the actual event he’s there for – the first round of the Ranji Trophy.
But more than for Tendulkar, the Ranji Trophy is significant for hundreds of other players, eager to prove themselves. If Ishwar Pandey, Madhya Pradesh’s young fast bowler, will look to build on his success last year, when he finished as the highest-wicket taker, Mumbai allrounder Abhishek Nayar will be keen to repeat the consistency and determination that brought him 966 runs last year. Kerala’s Sanju Samson must show that he can not only keep his focus in the IPL, but also in first-class cricket as well.
The presence of several big names who are looking to force their way back to the India side – Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and possibly Yuvraj Singh – will also add to the interest in the competition.
“When you have two teams with quality international players, then the best quality of cricket will come out and in the process that is likely to help more youngsters to perform,” Sulakshan Kulkarni, the Mumbai coach, said. “The fact that all these top names still have something at stake and will be striving to perform in order to regain their place in the Indian team can only play to the advantage of their domestic teams. The motivation for all these international players is still high. They are not playing just for the sake of it. They know if they perform the selectors might be impressed. At least they will play with that hope. So that will only help the overall cricket.”
WV Raman, who recently moved from Bengal to coach his home state of Tamil Nadu, also said the top stars’ hunger to prove themselves can only be positive, because the internationals would be interested in forcing a result as far as possible. “There will be another vacancy created soon in the Indian Test team [with Tendulkar’s retirement] so that will also be an incentive for most of these [big name] players to perform.”
As always, the narratives of lesser cricket stars abound this year too. Sport is not solely a platform to validate one’s worth, it can also be a space for redemption as Madhya Pradesh vice-captain Mohnish Mishra will attest to. Mishra was slapped with a one-year ban (which ended on May 15) by the BCCI for bringing cricket into disrepute through “loose talk and unsubstantiated bragging”, after a corruption scandal unearthed through a sting operation by India TV.
Jharkhand fast bowler Varun Aaron will be hungry to prove he still has the speed he is renowned for, and the fitness to last four days after an extended run of injuries. Other injury-hit bowlers like Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel, who have missed big chunks of previous seasons, will also be looking to make their mark. The rise of Parvez Rasool, the Jammu & Kashmir offspinner, became a popular human interest story but the offspinner would have to return with a bagful of wickets to keep his place in the India A team, in addition to leading his state.
And then there are the Ranji veterans, who have their own aspirations to fulfill. Top of the list is the never-ending tussle between the Mumbai pair of Wasim Jaffer and Amol Muzumdar to determine who will be the highest run-maker in the tournament’s history. At the moment Muzumdar, who now plays for Andhra Pradesh, has 9105 runs, exactly 50 less than Jaffer. The third-highest runmaker, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, is 115 runs short of becoming only the third player to reach the 8000-run mark.
For players at every level, the Ranji Trophy provides a challenge, even if some of the questions about the tournament remain the same. Regardless of the riches of the IPL, it is the only way, the only stairway, through which a player – however big or small – can enter the Indian dressing room. There are simply no shortcuts.
