Build-up to Indian Domestic Season 2008-09
 

The Indian Domestic Season 2008-09 is not too far away, and already there are a few developments of note. While Mumbai have already started their practice sessions, and Tendulkar is in the list of probables, the one significant development is from Maharashtra. They have brought in Enamul Haque Jr and WR Sujeewa de Silva, to replace Sairaj Bahutule and Munaf Patel, whose contracts have not been renewed. I wonder, do they have no better choices? This was the board that boasted that they would bring on Darren Gough and Matthew Hayden.

The other talking point will be the IPL impact on the domestic season. Will we see more transfers? Better foreign players, with two a team, all over? Matches played only in international-ready venues? Corporate ownership? Rajasthan? Saurashtra? It's started appearing in the papers already.

Extremely unlikely given the politics involved. States like to reward games to other venues apart from the main centres. For instance, not all Bengal home games are played at Eden Gardens.

Aside from the odd crappy overseas player for the odd team, I can't see much changing in the upcoming season, which is a shame, but I can tell where I'm standing over here in England that the BCCI really don't care that much about domestic cricket.

EDIT: DAYMN! - Sujeewa de Silva has an FC strike rate of 36.6 and a Test strike rate of 39.2 over three Tests, albeit against Bangladesh - wow

It took an ugly turn at times, when you had one match for Delhi scheduled at Roshanara Cricket Club. This is a highly elitist 'members only' area, so they disallowed print and television media from entering. Then there was JMI University ground, which was a pitch spread all over the ground when we saw it once.

Three Tests against Bangladesh.

I knew you wouldn't come in this thread for legitamate reasons - though I do suspect you to be a closet Utter Pradesh fan.

The one thing we'd all love is the integration of the IPL model into the Indian domestic scene. You've got the cricket-centric aspect of Indian domestic cricket with the efficiency and productivity of the IPL.

Not going to happen, though, which is a shame. No money to be made out of Ranji, Duleep, Deodhar Trophies though.

There have been improvements. The outdated style of OD cricket is now scrapped, and we now see more D/N matches as well as white balls.

The IPL was a much better event, from the point of view of cricket played. If you can take the best parts of both and put them together, that would be ideal. Not a 'waste' like the domestic scene, or a commercialised event with subliminal advertisement like the IPL.

You can have two top foreign players a side for every Ranji team, especially the lesser Elite teams having the better players. We see some grounds like the Kotla host domestic matches once again. You can have a relatively more elaborate transfer system here than the one in place, though not as extreme as will be in IPL. Questions may be raised about team ownership- while the IPL was highly commercialised, the same model may not work so well here. The IPL had a lot of good things in it, which can be integrated in the domestic system, to make something even better.

I don't mind the Ranji OD and FC championship to stay as it is, but I think they can ask the IPL teams to play for the Duleep and Deodhar Trophies and maybe make the Irani Trophy as a game between the Duleep Trophy winner and Ranji Trophy winner. The IPL teams can just play whichever overseas players are available to them at that time and make up the rest of the side with the local players...

Rather than play the IPL teams separately (it's difficult to pit the Mumbai 'Indians' against the Mumbai Lions, when they have more or less the same players) , they can 'streamline' or 'remould' these franchise teams into better versions of the existing state teams. Mumbai 'Indians', for instance, can send off six of their foreign players to the other catchment teams, Maharashtra and Vidarbha, and then get back their players who have been scattered across franchises (except the ones who've been transferred to other teams, such as Rajesh Pawar), so you've got back the team you love so much.

Likewise, Chennai can get back Karthik and Yo Mahesh, and also include Vijay Krishnan, send back Dhoni, Patel, Gony and the rest, keep (for instance) Hayden and Albie Morkel and let the rest out into catchment teams Railways and Kerala. The respective support staffers can then proceed to the state teams. The number of foreign players may be limited to two in the squad, although reserves may also be named in case the ones listed first are on national duty.

As for the Irani Trophy, that's just right as of now, but at the wrong time. It should be held when the Indian team is off duty, so that the selectors can assemble a truly Rest Of India side. The Duleep Trophy is also planned well, with a sixth team coming in from abroad (the Sri Lanka A team was a tough one unlike the first three teams that came here) facing the zonal teams. Again, it needs to be played at the right time when the star players are available.

I dont think it is that much practical though.. It would be so much easier to keep the Ranji and Duleep as seperate stuff and let the IPL teams play for Duleep and Deodhar trophies too along with the IPL T20... Maybe we can scrap the idea of Irani Trophy between winner of Duleep and Ranji though.. IT can stay as it is..

Why is it not practical? This plan improves domestic cricket, rather than run that money-making, brand-brandishing event using top cricketers from everywhere. Both IPL and the domestic scene have their problems (lack of quality, revenues and interest against lack of cricket-oriented planning), and bringing the two together will solve them.

Besides, Sachin and Dhoni can only play for one team!

Who is the overseas side for the duleep trophy this year,english lions again?

No news on that yet.

There is, however, a new development- there are quarters for the Ranji Trophy, which involve the top two teams from Plate. There may be some totally one-sided matches on show.

The Mohammed Nissar Trophy starts from September 18, between Delhi and Sui Northern Gas Piplelines (Pakistan) in Delhi.