As the IPL reaches the halfway stage, there’s a strong chance that one of the four teams yet to win the title could change that on May 25. All these four teams – Delhi, Punjab, Lucknow and Bengaluru have been playing top-class cricket. Yes, they have had the odd setback, which is expected in this format of the game, but have shown a great ability to bounce back. As is their wont, slow starters Mumbai are making the charge now, and if their batting continues the same way, then they could also be in the fray for another title. As of now, it looks very difficult for the former five-time winner Chennai, the inaugural winner, Rajasthan and last year’s winner, Kolkata, to make the cut. That said, in this form of the game, a couple of good deliveries and a couple of big hits can change the direction in which the game is heading.
What this IPL has shown is that once again, one performance can catapult an unknown player into the reckoning for higher honours. One performance also means that the whole family, teachers, coaches, clubs and all the aunties and uncles in the town get publicity that they have never had before. This is in stark contrast to performance in the National Championship, the Ranji Trophy, where top-notch deeds do not even get headlines. Have you read or seen anything about the families and coaches of two of the star performers – Yash Rathod and Harsh Dubey, for Vidarbha in this year’s Ranji Trophy season? Similarly, has there been anything that highlights the magnificent run that the Kerala team had for reaching the final of the Ranji Trophy? They did this without the talismanic presence of Sanju Samson, who was injured, and that is all the more reason their efforts should have been recognised with a lot more publicity than they have got.
There are several such stories every year of consistent Ranji performers getting ignored while the razzmatazz of the IPL ensures that one performance in the whole season gets headlines, which are more often than not, way over the top. There are many instances of these one-match performers being out of the game in a season or two, but one season of IPL often gives them much more than a whole career in the Ranji Trophy. While this imbalance can be attributed to the appeal of the IPL to the masses and thereby the huge broadcast and sponsorship rights, it does leave a sour taste in the mouth, especially for those who play almost thrice the number of cricketing games as in the IPL.
As if to rub salt into the wounds, at the end of the Ranji and domestic Vijay Hazare, Syed Mushtaq Ali seasons, those who have played the whole season do not even make the lowest base price of Rs 30 lakh of an uncapped IPL player. This imbalance can be reduced to a great extent if other associations, like Mumbai, match the BCCI’s payments to Ranji players. Sadly, this doesn’t happen as most associations are happy to keep the huge multi-crore subsidy that the BCCI gives in their bank and hardly even use it for the development of the game in their jurisdiction. Since BCCI fees reach players only after the Ranji season ends, State associations should also pay them an equivalent amount. After all, in which profession does one get paid months after the job has been done? Hopefully, in the next season, more and more State associations will come forward to bolster the income of their Ranji players and incentivise them to play at their best.
Lucky charm
To end on a non-cricketing note, it was good to tick off the last and final item on my bucket list of watching world sports events by being there on the final day of the Augusta Masters. Rory McIlroy has been trying for the last 11 years to win the tournament and receive the green jacket, and thereby complete a career Grand Slam of the four golf Majors. He finally did that in a play-off with Englishman Justin Rose. My first trip to the French Open Tennis and the US Open Tennis resulted in Stan Wawrinka winning those titles for the first time and now with McIlroy also winning the Augusta Masters for the first time, maybe anybody who is coveting a title for the first time should invite me as their lucky charm.