Ranji Trophy struggles to align despite the star turn

For a long time, Ranji Trophy has reflected all the symptoms of the apathy shown to it by the players and BCCI - empty stands, lack of star players, poor wickets, bad umpiring, and no marketing.

- Sanjeev K Samyal

MUMBAI: Despite its rich history, the tournament has found itself sinking into a black hole of indifference. Every domestic cricketer wants to play IPL, and if not that, in the state T20 leagues; Ranji has now been reduced as a last recourse for players who have nothing else.

But last week, the tournament was launched following a meeting of the Indian board in July 1934, found itself in focus again.

With BCCI making it mandatory for the national stars to turn out for their state, the fans and the media were curious to see how it would pan out. But this is nothing more than a temporary reprieve, and only shows how far down the pecking order Ranji is for BCCI.

The sixth round of Ranji games were played last week, more than two months after the previous round. Sandwiched between was the T20 Mushtaq Ali Trophy (Nov 22 to Dec 15) - held to give IPL teams a chance to see some new talent before the auction - and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy that ended on January 18.

The players who were in white-ball mode were expected to go into red-ball mode for a short stint before switching into white-ball mode for the season-ending IPL. This is hardly ideal.