Runs, wickets, silence: The grim reality of future prospects
The increased frequency of franchise tournaments has led to an imbalance as the progression of talents from the domestic circuit has become the most neglected variable.
Place all your worldly obligations aside and put yourself in the shoes of 17-year-old top-order batter, Ayush Mhatre. Churning out incredible numbers in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy in a bid to establish himself in the Mumbai unit, he was conveniently cast aside in their recent clash against Jammu & Kashmir to accommodate Rohit Sharma, an indisputable stalwart of Indian cricket. Must be quite a bittersweet feeling; missing out on a golden opportunity of batting in the presence of one of your childhood heroes, all while being relegated to the sidelines, right?
There is a commonly-cited saying in Hindi - karm kar, phal ki chinta mat kar. This directly translates to “put in the effort and don’t fret over the results”. Would this be the mantra to live by for the current cricketing landscape, where certain performances are unduly given disproportionate priority over the others? I’m inclined to disagree.
The following tweet by Kiwi all-rounder, James Neesham, was posted a day after New Zealand fell agonisingly short of clinching their maiden World Cup at the Home of Cricket:
Interestingly, Neesham’s message could be said to mirror the experiences of the truckload of cricketers in the Indian cricketing system in particular, who have battled their way out of age-group cricket to make a mark at the domestic level. There have been a whole lot of cricketers like Mhatre, who, despite giving their all, have been overlooked into oblivion while shortlisting the next crop of national superstars. This is not to imply that that one game Mhatre was made to sit out would be a career-altering event for him (hopefully), but you get the gist, don’t you?
One of the root causes behind this concerning development is the visibly increased weightage given to the glittery domestic tournaments like the Indian Premier League and the like. Over the past many years, several cases have come to light wherein a select group of performances across an IPL season have been reason enough for the national selectors to expedite those players to be part of the elite circles of Indian cricket. Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Tilak Varma, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, to name a few. This is not about stirring up any resentment to the aforementioned players, who have slowly but surely become a regular feature of the Indian unit. Instead, it is to highlight the bias which creeps in during the selection process.
In relation to the IPL, it is a well-established fact that not all of the registered players would finally make the cut in terms of getting bid for during an auction. To elaborate further, the mega auction for IPL 2025 had a total of 1165 Indian players registering (other than the 409 overseas players). Only 31.5% ended up with a franchise. Subject to how they perform in the season, a bunch of them could be expected in the national reckoning. Nonetheless, one seldom thinks of those practicing on local grounds with substandard resources. As much as the IPL is broadcasted and talked about by any and every analyst, commentator, player, or cricket enthusiast, quite the opposite could be noted about domestic cricket – irrespective of the format under consideration.
Of course, the spotlight is where the money is. At the end of the day, conducting all the cricket tournaments involves a ton of funds. Broadcasting rights would only be set aside for games attracting crowds to stadiums and in front of the televisions. In all of this, the First-Class, List-A, and 20-over domestic games suffer; with the players bearing the biggest brunt.
Jalaj Saxena, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jaydev Unadkat, and Manisankar Murasingh constitute the top-five leading wicket-takers in India’s premier domestic red-ball competition at present. Other than Nadeem and Unadkat, who themselves have featured in a little more than a handful of international games, none of the others have even recieved a call-up. What one does after getting picked is solely up to the player. However, for that, getting that brief stint of showcasing your prowess comes first, which unfortunately never materialises for so many.
Coming to the batting front, the most-recent casualties have been that of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Karun Nair. The former has been one of the most prolific run-scorers since more than a decade in the longest format, averaging a solid 48.87 after 173 innings. He is yet to make his Test debut for India. A staggering Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 for Nair in which he amassed a whopping 779 runs in eight innings did not fetch him a spot in either India’s 15-member roster for the upcoming ODI series against England or the squad for the Champions Trophy.
The non-inclusion, or more precisely, the outright disregard of such players after such superlative outings only shows that there is no light at the end of this tunnel. With the competence pool only increasing as time ticks by, it is hard to ignore the bleak situation for the bulk of domestic cricketers as far as getting to the next level of the cricketing ladder is regarded. The initial move, if not by the administration, has to be from the end of the media and the public to bring more attention to the unsung heroes of the domestic cricket scene. Rich coverage of up-and-coming gems should be at the forefront rather than succumbing to the allure of the superstar culture.
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