Indian domestic cricket winning big among the small

Himachal Pradesh’s Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph and Pondicherry’s big scalps should inspire and provide a winning template for less known teams in Indian cricket.

The Union Territory of Pondicherry covers 483 sq km while the main Puducherry district is only 120 km from Chennai. “When we were arguing our case to be granted full membership of BCCI, the rival lawyer said in court “Puducherry is so small, every time a six is hit there, it will land in Chennai. How many times will we have to return the ball?” Everyone laughed. I felt so embarrassed,” says P Damodaran, former secretary of Cricket Association of Pondicherry who initiated its formation.

Himachal Pradesh celebrate Vijay Hazare Trophy win(Twitter/@BCCIDomestic)

The joke is on others now. The going was rough when they made their debut in BCCI’s senior tournaments in 2018/19 after getting affiliate membership. But within three seasons, Pondicherry have earned the reputation of a side no opponent can take lightly.

In the just-ended Vijay Hazare Trophy national one-day tournament, they were slotted in the tough Elite Group B, but beat heavyweights Mumbai, Tamil Nadu and Bengal to finish equal on points with the table-toppers. They missed out on the knockouts only on run-rate.

A decade ago, it was unthinkable the tiny Himachal Pradesh, where finding a flat piece of land amid its mountains is an achievement, could be national champions. They beat Tamil Nadu in the Hazare final to give a major boost to the smaller associations aspiring to make a mark on India’s cricket landscape.

Pondicherry is making life difficult for the top teams as competition gets tighter in domestic cricket. For Mumbai or Tamil Nadu, losing to Saurashtra or Kerala is no more a shock. But if they lose to newcomers like Pondicherry, they have nowhere to hide. Mumbai this time had Suryakumar Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Ravi Shastri, a former Mumbai captain, expressed disappointment. “When I sometimes see score-sheets that show Pondicherry beating Mumbai, not that they are an ordinary team, any team can beat any team on a day, but it tells you there is a problem somewhere.” He was speaking at the Police Shield final, a Mumbai Cricket Association tournament, last month.

Damodaran says: “We joke with the Mumbai players now, “Hey, it’s boring to beat you guys”. Last season, we beat them in the T20 Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well.”

The Shastri era when opponents were overawed by Mumbai is long gone. CAP, for instance, has made sure its players get top facilities and are not awestruck when they go up against the big names at famous venues.

“We’ve built eight grounds in a single campus, including six first-class standard grounds. Our main stadium is the second largest in the world, 99.9 yards all around. The important thing is we have a huge infrastructure. That’s why when our players go to Wankhede or any big stadium, they don’t feel the nerves.

“It’s an advantage a Mumbai player had. When they go and play anywhere their confidence level is very high, body language is very good. Now, our boys too don’t get overawed with the infrastructure they come across the country. Every player gets 30-40 matches a year. Anyone who gets so many games automatically improves,” says Damodaran, whose company Siechem Wires & Cables helped build the grounds with BCCI support. “Spending money is not important, giving great wickets and a superb outfield is the key.”

In 2018/19, Pondicherry’s debut season, BCCI cancelled the registration of senior players on the eve of their Vijay Hazare clash against Uttarakhand for allegedly flouting eligibility criteria. The controversy taught them to have bench strength, says captain Rohit Damodaran. “The lesson learnt was to have no expectations. When the seven players were barred, I told myself to think they are injured, (but) you have to replace them from outside. We told CAP academy coaches to prepare a second line of players. After that we’ve been working on a pool of 30-40 players. We have a Team A and Team B so that in a worst-case scenario we have a team good enough to fight,” he says.

To help prepare for the T20 and 50-over formats, CAP organises a 12-over event, an example of small teams being smart. “We felt they had a mental block shifting from T20, one-day cricket to multi-day. They all developed in T12. After that they found T20 a very slow game, and when they went for 50 overs, they were more relaxed.”

HIMACHAL’S JOURNEY

Players from smaller towns have been breaking into the Indian team for a while, ending the domination of traditional cricket hubs. Ambition and hard work have been their mantra.

MS Dhoni is a classic example. His path from Ranchi took him to a Railways job before he got into the zonal side, and then into the India team, becoming a double World Cup-winning captain.

It’s never straightforward though for small town cricketers because they won’t be noticed if their team is not winning at national level. Their growth lies in their team’s performance. That is the significance of Himachal’s triumph. Skipper Rishi Dhawan, who made his senior debut in 2007, has been part of Himachal’s growth story. He has been part of many wins over fancied teams, but it was always called an upset. That outlook should change now.

The self-belief comes from being the product of a system that is as good as any. Dhawan says: “HPCA has given us excellent facilities because of which the new players coming in have good camps. It’s all Anurag (Thakur) sir’s hard work. He has built a lot of infrastructure in the last 15-20 years. We have six-seven first-class level grounds. Our match practice is also very good. Now, youngsters coming in deliver the goods in any situation they are put in.”

The biggest name to emerge from Himachal Pradesh before Dhawan is Shakti Singh. The fast bowling all-rounder was selected to the MRF Pace Foundation and sent to Australia in 1991 to train under Dennis Lillee. But there was no scope for progress in his state and Singh shifted to play Ranji Trophy for Delhi. He returned to home to play towards the end of his career.

A BCCI match referee now, he was officiating at Jaipur and watched Himachal’s Vijay Hazare triumph. “In our time, we used to travel in third-class buses. Facility was zero, even leather balls won’t be available sometimes for training. There were a handful of grounds, at Una, Chamba and Mandi. Most of the cricket used to be played on matting wickets. Before Ranji Trophy, we would have three-four days’ camp, participation was a formality,” says Singh, who made his first-class debut in 1987. He was HPCA’s selection committee chairman from 2012-2015.

“I was in Jaipur till the semis and the way Tamil Nadu won their semis against Saurashtra, everyone was saying it will be a cakewalk against HP. Many seasoned teams have won Vijay Hazare, but to win the final like HP did was a very big thing, chasing 300-plus against such a big, professional team.”

Singh too attributes HPCA’s transformation to former BCCI president Thakur, now the union sports minister. “The journey actually started when he came in, first as secretary and then president, the reforms he brought in. HPCA now has academies in every district (12), some have more than one.

“Before becoming India batting coach, Vikram Rathour, as head of cricket, did a lot of work for HPCA to bring up the standard. How the set-up of academies should be? Where should they be? He played a big role in that,” says Singh. “We got a coach from Punjab, Krishna Mohan Sharma, who too made a difference in his eight-nine years. A lot of local coaches were groomed.”

THE HP BRAND

“We don’t think about the opposition at all. Our focus is on our team. We know if we trust our ability, our performances will be good,” says Dhawan. “That is what we tried to do against Tamil Nadu in the final.”

There was a time when Himachal would have at least a couple of professionals in the senior team. Now, HPCA product Paras Dogra plays as a professional for Pondicherry. “Our Hazare Trophy team had only local players. Himachal has stopped hiring professional guest players,” says Singh.

NORTHEAST RISING

In comparison, it has been slow progress for Tripura. Granted BCCI membership in the mid 1980s, they set an example for the other Northeastern states, though their players had not made a mark at national level or IPL.

This time they topped their Plate group in Hazare by winning all the games. It wasn’t a big challenge, but they impressed in the pre-quarterfinal against seasoned Vidarbha. They restricted Vidarbha to 258/7 and were 145/1 chasing before losing the way to be 224 all out.

Sameer Dighe, former India stumper who is the Tripura coach, says: “We were not beaten, we lost by our mistakes.”

“Now, the players are more aware. They know the importance of winning, so they have to raise their standard. Earlier, they were happy with one good innings, there wasn’t much competition. Awareness has come that to win you’ve to be consistent. Even if you get a hundred, you start from zero again. I had to instill that mindset.”

“The standard is good, the players are talented, but there is a lack of exposure. They don’t get to play many matches as they don’t have a strong league. They have to play matches in the off-season.”

Other small teams are watching—not in awe, but with expectation.

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