Inspiring tale in domestic cricket

Played away from the spotlight in front of empty stands, India’s domestic cricket continues to produce inspiring stories. The ascent of Vidarbha is the latest one. The region is known more for oranges than cricketers of note, but the Nagpur-based team won the Ranji Trophy for a second successive time on Thursday. The captain and coach felt it was a fitting reply to those who said the team’s maiden triumph was a fluke. They need not have said it. The team’s record in domestic cricket in the last two seasons shows what it has done has few parallels.

Few noticed, but days after last year’s Ranji final, Vidarbha’s junior team won the national Under-19 championship for the Cooch Behar Trophy. This year again the colts have reached the final, while their Under-23 team lost in the semifinals.

They were the only team this season to have qualified for the semifinals of all three competitions. It shows that they are doing the right things and creating the right environment for their players to excel on the national stage. The region is still to produce India players other than pacer Umesh Yadav, but in terms of achievements the team has left behind domestic giants like Mumbai and Karnataka.

Improvements in infrastructure and remunerations for players are some of the factors that all teams have benefited from in recent years. What makes Vidarbha stronger is perhaps the fact that it has read the formula better than others.

With a seasoned coach from Mumbai and a couple of outstation professionals who function as players-cum-role models, the team has got homegrown boys to understand what needs to be done and how. The team’s preparations begin three months before the start of the season and the players focus on getting the basics right rather than going for anything fancy. It is a combination of simplicity and sincerity that has got them the results. The team’s success shows that work at the grassroots can still lead to rewards even if the rest of the world keeps staring at what is happening at the top.