When last did the beginning of a Ranji Trophy season become such a big talking point in Indian cricket?
Especially when England are already in India and a high-profile grudge series will get under way in less than two weeks.
Never in recent memory has a single Test series held such high stakes for so many superstars of Indian cricket — including one Mr Sachin Tendulkar.
The timing of the opening Ranji fixtures (12 matches will start on Friday) could not be more perfect, though, with so many stars keen to spend some quality time in the middle on the eve of team selection for the first Test on November 15. A look at some of the names reads like a Who’s Who of Indian cricket: Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma and Suresh Raina — and of course the recently retired wristy genius, V.V.S.Laxman.
It’s difficult, as always, to gauge what’s going in the Little Master’s mind, but the growing concern about Tendulkar’s form and reflexes must have left him pondering over retirement.
Recently he admitted, for the first time, that he may not play for much longer and may decide on his future during the England series.
The perfectionist that he is, he has certainly decided to go back to basics by “testing” himself — though that could be bad news for the Railways bowlers.
The situation is very much the same for Zaheer “Zaks” Khan, who did not look the same bowler after playing a big part in India’s victory in the 2011 World Cup — with recurring injuries not making life any easier for him.
The case of Yuvraj and Harbhajan, who will turn out for Punjab against Laxman’s Hyderabad in Mohali, is a study in contrast, though.
Yuvraj, whose comeback saga has left hacks running out of words of praise, will aim to seal the number six spot in the Test line-up that he has pined for, while time now seems to be running out for Bhajji. Demoted to Grade B in the annual contracts offered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI), in and out of the team for more than an year now, the lynchpin of the Indian attack not so long ago will be hard pressed to try and restore his confidence levels.
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who will turn out for Delhi against Uttar Pradesh, will also look to spend as much time as possible in the middle and show there is no real opening conundrum. Kohli, India’s top performer in the 2011-12 season, will also be around while Unmukt Chand — the captain of India’s under-19 World Cup team — will also enjoy a lot of attention.
The bottom line, however, will be a good advertisement for Indian first-class cricket — which of late has been swamped with all the glitz and make-believe world of T-20!
