Ranji Trophy quarters: Red-ball switch after the IPL season
Players are busy polishing their game for first-class cricket as the Ranji Trophy knockouts start in Bengaluru barely 10 days after the T20 league ended
From Virat Kohli to Rohit Sharma to MS Dhoni, everyone has spoken about “adaptability” being the key factor while switching formats. Those back from IPL stints must adapt quickly when the Ranji Trophy knockouts start in Bengaluru on Monday. In the quarter-finals, Mumbai face Uttarakhand, Karnataka play Uttar Pradesh, Bengal take on Jharkhand and Punjab meet Madhya Pradesh.
Coaches, past and present, feel those who play mostly at Ranji level won’t have much of an issue switching from T20 to first-class cricket.
“First you have to change your mindset as you are playing a different format. The players are playing for such a long time it doesn’t take them much time to switch formats,” says Uttar Pradesh coach Vijay Dahiya. “Adaptability is the biggest challenge any player faces. It’s about how quickly you adapt to the format, to the situation, to the condition…If you are aspiring to play a higher grade of cricket you have to counter all these challenges.”
Former Mumbai coach Vinayak Samant points out that in 2019-20, there was hardly any gap between the holding of the three formats and that helped. That season, the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day tournament ended on October 25, and the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament began on November 8. It ended on December 1 and Ranji Trophy began eight days later.
Samant says, “Those who play even in Ranji Trophy know how to change gears. They (also) have no option. The key is how quickly they can do that. It is important to trust your abilities, make a game plan and visualise how you will tackle the red ball.”
So, what are the players focusing in the nets?
“Fast bowlers and spinners have done a lot of target bowling and are trying to get into the habit of pitching it a bit fuller than what they were used to doing in the shorter format. Batters have spent enough time in the nets to get the feel of playing the red ball. More than playing, the important factor for them was to leave as many balls as possible. Now they have to make the bowler chase them. In IPL, they were the ones going after the bowlers,” says Dahiya.
Samant adds, “In T20 the pressure is to score from every ball, or for bowlers to bowl dot balls. The bowlers may not feel that much pressure in Ranji as you can get away with an odd loose delivery. For the batter, it is important to play close to the body. The white ball doesn’t cut or swing after a certain point. That’s not the case with the red ball. A good bowler can make it swing, cut and reverse through the day.”
Different teams and players have prepared differently. For those who were not in IPL, state associations organised camps.
Mumbai had almost a month-long fitness and nets session before the squad flew to Bengaluru on Friday. Uttar Pradesh also landed on Friday. Madhya Pradesh, guided by domestic coaching stalwart Chandrakant Pandit, have been in Bengaluru for a couple of weeks playing practice matches.
The IPL to Ranji switch will also be prominent when Karnataka batters Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair and Devdutt Padikkal line-up against Uttar Pradesh left-arm pacer Yash Dayal and batter Rinku Singh, who impressed for Kolkata Knight Riders after ending the Ranji league phase as UP’s top run-getter.
Karnataka seamer Prasidh Krishna has been rested, having led the attack for finalists Rajasthan Royals.
Players who were not in IPL were also playing. For instance, April-May is peak cricket season in Mumbai and many Ranji players took park in local tournaments. Mumbai’s top Ranji wicket-taker Shams Mulani played in the U-25 Col CK Nayudu Trophy. Left-arm spinner Mulani, who has taken 29 wickets in three Ranji matches so far this season, played a starring role in Mumbai winning the CK Nayudu Trophy.
Mumbai batting mainstay Sarfaraz Khan—third-highest run getter this season with 551 runs in three matches—quickly moved from the Delhi Capitals bubble to the Mumbai nets. Training with his father-cum-coach, Naushad Khan, included facing swinging deliveries, short balls and playing as late as possible to switch to red-ball cricket.
Sarfaraz says that playing quick, swinging balls from a shorter distance at a makeshift practice facility built by his father at home has helped improve his red-ball game. He sees it is the best way to switch formats. “As there were very few days to get used to the red ball, I tried to face as many balls as possible. Hopefully, I will be ready,” he says.
Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran played in the Dhaka Premier League one-day tournament in April to get match-time.
“Ultimately, it comes down to how you play on a given day. If you think about mistakes, you will end up making them. So, you need to be positive while walking out onto the field,” says Dahiya.
Continue reading with HT Premium Subscription
