13 January 2014, 06:07 PM IST
Maharashtra recorded perhaps their most creditable performance in their Ranji Trophy history when they beat Mumbai in the quarterfinals last week.
Creditable because the state team had not won any 'away' knockout game 'outright' since 1948.
With little bit of neutrality and discount, one can argue that Milind Gunjal, Surendra Bhave, Santosh Jedhe and Shantanu Sugwekar were no inferior players than some of the batsmen who played for India being from influential state associations. However, it's also true that these Maharashtra stalwarts had never shown their champion material in a knockout game outside Maharashtra.
Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Zol had washed away those chicken-hearted ways with match-winning unbeaten knocks at Wankhede stadium. Pace bowlers, led by Anupam Sanklecha, had set up the victory in grand style: consistently probing Mumbai batsmen in the corridors of uncertainty.
Of course, Mumbai can always cry over the split milk. Like missing Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane (on NZ tour). Or of not being totally in charge of preparing the wicket at Wankhede.
On the contrary, the BCCI should be congratulated for taking the step of playing knockout games on 'identified' venues. For, all four quarterfinals provided a real contest between the bat and ball.
Mumbai are 40-time champions of the Ranji Trophy. And that's a huge achievement. But the landscape of Indian cricket is changing big time for the last 15-20 years. Though Mumbai remain undisputed powerhouse of domestic cricket, it can't be denied that some of those wins came due to other factors.
Confidence, legacy, gamesmanship, pressure tactics, great attitude were more responsible for Mumbai's triumphs than raw cricketing skills. Once players from other regions, already having raw skills, refined these other skills with the help of cable television, advanced coaching and Mumbai's imported tactics, the domestic giants were bound to slip.
They were on the verge of elimination last season (Baroda game) and this season (in Gujarat). So, they were not dominating in every sense of the word. It's apt and not that surprising that they are not producing top-quality India players frequently. For, others have improved by leaps and bounds. Since Mumbai were already up, they were closer to stagnation and complacency compared to other teams. Too much winning and too much losing is never good for developing talent. The former suffers from arrogane; and latter from impatience.
It's not the first time that Mumbai have lost a knockout game at the Wankhede. They had lost to Uttar Pradesh outright in the semifinals of 1997-98. Current Mumbai coach Sulkashan Kulkarni was a part of that team too. The UP had repeated the feat in 2006-07 proving conclusively that it was not a flash in the pan.
Mumbai had lost to other plate-elevators like Maharashtra this time (Rajasthan) in the quarterfinals of 2010-11. Of course, that was only on the first innings at Jaipur.
When Rajasthan won the Ranji title that season, they won just one match outright. All other 'wins' were on first-innings leads (which carry zero marks in Test cricket, unless you have 'won' the previous Test). Maharashtra have already won five games outright. In my eyes, this counts for more.
The BCCI did well to bring a leash on these "first-innings lead" elements by stretching all knockout games to five days, thus increasing chances of the outright result. For two seasons in a row, only one quarterfinal and one semi was decisive, with five games each ending in draws. That rewarded spineless, defensive tactics, draw pitches and slow batting: scoring rate of less than 2.50 per over was Rajashtan's way to make raaj.
I must confess I have a personal problem against Jadhav's namesake Dheeraj Jadhav and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who played for Maharashtra earlier. They must be good first-class players. But they bat me to boredom, blocking half-volleys et al.. and consequently force to me to sleep and invite deriliction of duty. Inferior players play the game for favourable results (by whatever ways), the better players play for both: results and pure joy.
I strongly believe that Indian cricket needs entertainers like Kedar Jadhav. But then, they must able to beat boredom (from within and that from the opponents) and still show their dynamism.
On the fourth day of the Ranji match against Mumbai, the Mumbai bowlers bowled way outside the off-stump to test Jadhav's patience. But he was prepared to leave the ball.
When the entertainer is ready to play the silent note, he prepares himself for a symphony!
PS: Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke had criticised the then BCCI technical committtee decision (chaired by Sunil Gavaskar), which allowed the promoted plate division teams to play the quarterfinals. "Weaker teams could well prefer this easier route to qualify for the knockout phase," he had said. But Rajasthan's surge for the title from the plate division; and Maharashtra's semis berth; convey that the plate-toppers carry can't be under-estimated. In that sense, it's time to eat the humble pie. For me too!!
ends ends
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