Diminishing importance of Ranji Trophy in the IPL era

The Ranji trophy winning Karnataka team – None of its players could make it to their home IPL franchise (photo: The Hindu)

There was a time when the Ranji Trophy was considered as the premier domestic cricket competition in India. Countless Indian legends have made their way into the Indian team through this competition.

But since the inception of the IPL, Ranji Trophy has been losing its significance and sheen. Except the odd player here and there, most of the Indian squad nowadays is selected on the basis of a player’s IPL performance.

Regardless of the fact that IPL is treated by most as an international platform, performances in the Ranji Trophy should at least reward a player with a spot in the Indian Test squad.

Let’s have a look at some of the numbers from this season’s Ranji Trophy. Maharashtra batter Kedar Jadhav finished the season with the highest run-getter tag, accumulating 1223 runs at an impressive average of 87.35. Not far behind were Karnataka opener Lokesh Rahul and another Maharashtra batsman Harshad Khadiwale.

These three scored over a 1000 runs in a single Ranji Trophy season which is no joke keeping in mind the extreme heat and soaring temperatures – the conditions in which they have to toil hard for these runs.

Himachal Pradesh quickie Rishi Dhawan finished as the top wicket-taker with 49 wickets followed closely by Railways’ Anureet Singh, Karnataka’s Abhimanyu Mithun and Bengal’s Ashoke Dinda.

As much as these numbers speak for themselves, yet when people talk about a reserve opener in the Indian team, they talk about a Gautam Gambhir who has had a modest season rather than a Lokesh Rahul or a Khadiwale.

The only two people who were given Team India selection based on their Ranji performances are Mohamamed Shami who is prospering like a blooming flower in overseas conditions and Ishwar Pandey, who was not preferred over Zaheer Khan in the New Zealand series.

If we have a look at the last edition of IPL, performers like Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dinesh Karthik, R.Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra all were awarded with the national cap. But none of the Ranji stars are given a chance in the national squad let alone a national cap.

Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla has had an excellent first-class season, amassing 608 runs at an average of 46.76 and a strike rate of 83. He also picked up wickets at crucial intervals. 12 wickets at 39.66 makes for an excellent reading. Yet, Stuart Binny was picked over him as a result of his performances with the Rajasthan Royals.

People remember players for their IPL performances rather than their Ranji Trophy performances. Fanatics remember Rishi Dhawan as the lad playing for Mumbai Indians rather than the lad from Himachal Pradesh.

Another amazing fact was no member of the Ranji winning Karnataka squad could make their way into their home IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. Ranji Trophy matches should be given more coverage and people should be made aware of the importance of this tournament.

There will come a time when even the players will lose their eagerness to score runs and play matches in this premier competition. It is now up to the selectors to reward Ranji Trophy performances so that its importance is upheld in the coming days.