No TV spot for star-studded Ranji Trophy 2017 games

As per the contract with BCCI, Star India are obliged to telecast 72 days of domestic cricket altogether.

If you have been wondering why there’s been no Ranji Trophy on the tele this season; it’s because the BCCI have failed to convince Star India, the official broadcasters, to show Indian cricket’s premier domestic tournament on their wide array of channels. Instead, Star have been content with broadcasting one match from each round—the Ranji Trophy is into its fourth round presently—on Hotstar, their digital platform. And this is expected to continue throughout the league stages of the tournament with Star expected to have the knockout phase on their TV platform.

As per their contract with BCCI, Star India are obliged to telecast 72 days of domestic cricket altogether. They have already fulfilled some of it by telecasting the Duleep Trophy, which was played for the second straight year with a pink ball and under lights, during the month of September. And it’s learnt that the next installment of domestic cricket will be the India under-19 Challenger Trophy perhaps in the build-up to the junior World Cup in January, which will also be on Star.

And it’s not just the cricket fans in the country but also the many of the players who ply their trade in the Ranji Trophy that have been left feeling slighted by the TV snub. Madhya Pradesh seamer Ishwar Pandey, who was part of the Indian squad for a long period a couple of years ago, is one of those. He reveals that the players found out that the league matches would be shown on Hotstar. But with no access to the internet, his hometown, Rewa, in the north-eastern belt of Madhya Pradesh, has been left completely in the dark with regards to the goings-on of the Ranji Trophy.

“We all get charged up whenever there is a live game on TV since it is the only time we have a chance to leave a proper impression. Otherwise, nobody cares,” he says before admitting that playing for a low-key team like MP anyway provides little or no coverage to his performances unless when facing a high-profile team.

“We wait to play teams like Mumbai, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi because when they come; they bring journalists from national newspapers with them. That’s the only time we get highlighted,” adds Pandey.

While the Ranji Trophy doesn’t always attract major crowds at stadiums, having it on TV means domestic performances get the necessary exposure in front of a larger audience around the country like has been the case in the past. This is the second straight year that Star have chosen to not show a single Ranji league game on their channels.

Veteran Wasim Jaffer, who moved to Vidarbha from Mumbai, believes that playing in a televised match brings an added motivation to a player at every level.

“There is no doubt that selectors do watch games but many times a great impression made by a young player doesn’t get noticed. They are showing Ranji games on Hotstar but in my opinion it’s like jungle mein mor nacha kisne dekha,” the former India opener says.

Many state associations, meanwhile, have been left fuming by the absence of TV coverage and put the BCCI’s failure to convince Star to change their mind to the Indian board lacking strong leadership at the top.

“India is playing ODI and T20 international games presently. We could understand if Test matches are happening and there is a clash of timing. An ODI starts at 1:30 PM and a T20 game at 7 pm. The board had made Nimbus telecast all its games so why this special treatment to Star? The COA should do something on this,” a longstanding state association official and former board office-bearer said.

And it’s not like the Ranji Trophy is bereft of star-power either this season. While generally the tournament doesn’t see too many of the India stars in action, this year we have seen the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja turning up for Saurashtra match after match. Ajinkya Rahane has made his return too to the Mumbai team for their ongoing clash against Odisha in Bhubaneshwar. It’s the same match where teenaged batting sensation Prithvi Shaw scored his fourth century in five first-class matches, a feat that you could have only seen on Hotstar.

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and Star India CEO Uday Shankar didn’t reply when asked for a comment.