MSK Prasad believes that playing on Neutral venues has revolutionized Indian cricket

Chief Selector MSK Prasad believes that playing the Ranji Trophy matches in Neutral Venues would go on to add to the competitiveness of the Indian domestic scene. Speaking about the same, the chairman of the selectors stated that this was perhaps the biggest revolution in Indian cricket. The decision to play in neutral venues was something that the BCCI believed would be something that would remove the ‘home advantage’ as far as the Ranji Trophy competition is concerned.

“Playing at neutral venues is the biggest revolution in Indian cricket,” Prasad, chairman of the senior selection committee, said in an exclusive chat with TOI on the sidelines of the Punjab-UP Ranji Trophy match.

MSK Prasad also went on to add a few words on the availability of the home advantage. “It is the best thing to happen to the game at the domestic level as it has brought in a lot of competitiveness. The biggest advantage of this format is that both teams get to play on an equal footing.

‘Home advantage’ is no longer available and as such the teams have to work out their strategies for each game,” Prasad said. “Playing in different conditions is not easy and will test the skills and mental toughness of the players. But in the long run, it will do the world of good for the players as they will be able to learn to adapt to the conditions and wickets.

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Prasad also believed that this would help in adaptability in overseas and alien conditions.”One of the problems for Indian players has been playing abroad. Most often, the players find it difficult to adjust and adapt to the conditions abroad and the team suffered as a result of it. But now the players will learn to make adjustments to their game and that will help them when they play abroad,” Prasad added.

“But for a few murmurs, the players, on the whole, have adapted quite quickly to the format. We have seen some amazing performances during the last few weeks. There were a few apprehensions about playing at neutral venues but the fears have been found to be false.

“Hats off to the BCCI and its technical committee for having adopted this format. With a bit of fine-tuning, I am sure that the quality of the game will improve by leaps and bounds. The curators too need to be lauded for the hard work they are putting in to provide good wickets.”

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