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Rahul Dravid is hoping for an “all-round overview involving coaches and gamers” to deal with key points referring to the Ranji Trophy particularly and home cricket on the whole.
Dravid was responding to a question on what the board can do to deal with issues, just like the one raised by Shardul Thakur about simply three-day gaps between Ranji video games resulting in accidents, and hampering participant restoration.
“I’ve heard the identical as effectively. I noticed among the feedback Shardul [Thakur], I believe, made and, in actual fact, among the [new] boys who’ve come into the staff [have said it] as effectively,” Dravid stated after India’s win over England within the Dharamsala Take a look at. “Some remark about how powerful the home schedule is, particularly in a rustic like India with the quantity of journey concerned. So yeah, we have to hear the gamers. That is a vital factor in lots of these items.
“It’s good to hear your gamers as a result of they’re those going by way of the grind and placing their our bodies on the road; and if there are sufficient voices saying that, then yeah, I believe there’s some want to have a look at it, and see how we are able to handle our schedules. It is a lengthy season already in India. It is powerful.”
The senior males’s home calendar started in June 2023, with the Duleep Trophy, the zonal first-class competitors. The schedule has been relentless because the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the home T20 competitors, began in October.
The Ranji Trophy that started in January has had gamers criss-crossing the nation for matches with solely three-day breaks. Ranji finalists Mumbai and Vidarbha, who play the ultimate beginning on Sunday, would have performed as many as ten first-class video games in simply over ten weeks.
Dravid’s feedback got here at a time when the BCCI has carried out away with the annual Captains and Coaches Conclave it used to organise, the place a number of vital points – like umpiring, scheduling, format, DRS, match charges and central contracts – have come up for dialogue up to now. Nevertheless, because the resumption of home cricket submit the Covid-19 pandemic, this apply of involving gamers and coaches has been discontinued.
Amongst different points has been the unavailability of high gamers for his or her home groups due to the schedule conflict with the India A tour programme. That is one thing former Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary had touched upon in a chat with ESPNcricinfo, as he talked about the necessity for higher coordination between state groups and the Nationwide Cricket Academy over participant availability for shadow excursions.
This season, for instance, Bengal have been with out opener Abhimanyu Easwaran for a lot of their Ranji marketing campaign as he was away main India A in opposition to England Lions.
“The Ranji Trophy is a protracted season,” Dravid stated. “In the event you add a Duleep and a Deodhar on high of that – final yr, if I am not mistaken, the Duleep began in June, it was only a month after the IPL – and your drawback on this state of affairs is your greatest gamers, the blokes who’re pushing for choice for India, are those that find yourself enjoying essentially the most cricket as a result of they maintain getting chosen on the subsequent stage an increasing number of.
“And their groups are those most likely who’re enjoying the semi-finals and the finals, or that form of state of affairs. They’re those who find yourself enjoying lots of cricket, and also you additionally need them to be enjoying for India and India A excursions. So it may get fairly powerful on lots of these boys, and possibly we have to hear them out.
“Possibly we have to relook and see whether or not among the tournaments that we’re conducting are vital nowadays or they aren’t vital. There must be an all-round overview [involving] coaches and gamers, particularly the blokes who’re a part of the home circuit.”
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
