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New format for Ranji Trophy

By Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI JULY 10. It will take 52 matches to decide the Ranji Trophy champion in the coming season. With the Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not inclined to give the green signal to the proposed changes in the format which would involve 171 matches, a move is on to work out a method by which the number of matches could be reduced. The Board is keen to maintain the competitive flavour and that appears the key reason for the move to push the new formulae.

The Working Committee of the Board had recommended a new Ranji Trophy structure which saw the teams divided into two divisions. The top 15 teams and the 12 teams in the second division would have played on a league basis which would have taken not less than four months to finish, not to forget the rigorous travelling by train.

According to the new formulae worked out, the top 15 teams would be divided into two groups of eight and seven. "This would mean we can finish the fixtures in lesser time and also maintain the competitive flavour. It would mean that we would have a champion in 52 matches,'' said the Board Secretary, Niranjan Shah, from Rajkot.

Similarly, the second division would have the 12 teams divided into two groups of six each. At the end of 33 matches, the competition would produce a champion. "We will call it the Plate championship,'' said Mr. Shah.

This formulae would reduce the number of matches substantially from 171 to 85. "We'll save time,'' said Mr. Shah but could not give an assurance whether the format would encourage the star players to participate. With the kind of international schedule confronting the Indian team in the build-up to the World Cup, the participation of star players in domestic cricket appears unlikely. The Indian team has a demanding time ahead with tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand and a home series against the West Indies giving them not even time to stage a conditioning camp for the World Cup in South Africa.

The new Ranji Trophy format has received the nod from past and current top cricketers. The total number of Ranji Trophy matches last season stood at 74 — 60 league matches in the five zones and 14 knockout matches. The earlier system involved 95 matches — 60 in zonal league, 30 in super league and five knockout games, a long way from the days when only one team would qualify from each zone and later two teams from each zone.

``We haven't taken a decision yet, but I'm sure the idea of having two groups in the first division will meet the approval of the Board. It will mean matches between better teams in lesser time than suggested in the league format,'' said Mr. Shah. The Board's Programme and Fixtures Committee is set to finalise the schedule in the next week.

Mr. Shah expressed satisfaction at the progress being made in the preparation of "sporting'' pitches at major centres in the country. The Board had identified 10 Test centres — Cuttack, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Nagpur, Mohali and Delhi — apart from Rajkot for re-laying of pitches. Delhi has not been able to undertake the project since it is not sure whether it wants to prepare the said pitches at Ferozeshah Kotla or at the proposed new stadium.

The Board had picked a team headed by Kasturi Ranjan, aided by Daljit Singh, Anand Shukla, Dhiraj Parsana and Probir Mukherjee, to supervise the work.

"We've given instructions to prepare green tops, wherever possible, and bouncy pitches to prepare the Indian team for series overseas. We're going to maintain a certain standard in pitch preparation. We don't want placid tracks anymore because they hardly help in boosting the image of Indian cricket,'' said Mr. Shah. Next year the Board will identify more centres for preparing lively pitches, depending on the success of this experiment at 11 venues.

The Board, in a refreshing departure from the past, has made up its mind that the captain shall have no say in deciding the nature of the pitches for the series against the West Indies this winter. The Test matches are scheduled at Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai and these venues will have tracks encouraging bounce and speed. A step in the right direction even if not a pleasant thought for the batting kings of docile pitches.

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