IPL success has made India a T20I powerhouse — Can the Ranji Trophy do the same for Test Cricket? Key changes BCCI must implement.
India have been a force to reckon with in white-ball cricket for close to two decades now. The reason is the flourishing shorter formats, (T20I and ODI) thanks to the introduction of the IPL in 2008.
This brought in a huge inflow of talents in the national side and that is still continuing. So, there are no dearth of options when it comes to these formats and India have more often topped the ICC ranking charts and won several trophies.
But when it comes to red-ball format or Test cricket, the team has not found consistency to dominate, especially in overseas conditions. They have won a few series away from home but have often faced defeats or a draw.
So how can the BCCI propel the Test team to the invincibility that is achieved by their current T20I team? We will list down what they can do at the ground level to make India invincible in Tests.
Changes to the Elite Group – Expand it
At present, the Elite Group in Ranji Trophy consists of 32 teams divided into four groups. Each side in the group faces every other team once in the round robin format before heading into the knockouts.
It is not necessary that all the eight teams in the group are equally matched. Hence, there will be a definite mismatch among some teams in a single group.
To improve the level of competition, the BCCI can make some tweaks to the Elite Group. Instead of grouping eight sides together, Ranji Trophy Elite group can have 12 of the top sides.. They can play with the relegations and promotions involving two or three teams after every season.
This way, the best players can play against the best ones more often and it not only improves the standard of the game but also gets the best out of the players involved.
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Upto 2 international players in Ranji sides
Once the top-12 sides in the Ranji Trophy is decided, BCCI can make some standardisation in how each of the squads are set up.
Much like the County Championships in England where international players feature in a side, BCCI can do similar things in the Ranji Trophy as well. This should especially apply for the Elite teams where a side are able to include up to two international players.
Pay more to Ranji players
To encourage more players to take up this sport and play the red-ball format, the BCCI can increase the player match fee at the domestic level. The reason why youngsters nowadays prefer T20 cricket over longer formats is the pay it offers.
They know playing a league like IPL will fetch them more than the Ranji Trophy. Hence it will be better if the BCCI increases the match fee at the Ranji Trophy level so that we can see more youngsters grow in view of playing the prestigious tournament.
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Include D/N fixtures in Ranji Trophy with pink ball
The other major revamp that the BCCI needs to do, especially to the Elite Group, is the inclusion of day-night fixtures. It should be made mandatory that each team in the group play at least a pink ball game.
This will give the domestic players much needed exposure and better understanding of how
TElites, play day night. So that they can experience and understand how to play differently before going into the highest level.
Provide mix of pitches
While we have to give a big shout out to the BCCI and state association for improving the quality of pitches at the domestic level, there is room for improvement.
For the matches played in the Ranji Trophy Elite group, there can be a mix of pitches prepared. This will give better understanding to both batters and bowlers on how different surfaces behave.
This way, the domestic players can get a glimpse of what they would experience in different conditions. For example if there is enough grass on the wicket, it will aid seamers and expose them to similar conditions like in SENA countries.
Naturally Indian surfaces offer turn and are generally very good for batting. So there should be a mix of all these pitches in Ranji Trophy cricket.
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Commercialisation of domestic cricket in India
The popularity of IPL, without any doubt can be attributed to the quality of cricket but its commercialisation is one of the reasons why the league grew big as the years went by.
So if India’s first-class circuit can get a similar sort of makeover, then it would be great for the format. BCCI could get several private firms to stake a claim in teams. This move will likely invite foreign coaches and in turn improve the playing standards.
These moves will ensure that there will always be interest among the public for red-ball cricket, at all levels and boost the Indian sporting economy.
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