Crowds turned up for stars, will they stay for domestic cricket?

The turnout for Mumbai's Vijay Hazare game suggests domestic cricket still has some takers but is the BCCI listening?

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

One-day cricket is the least favoured of formats in international cricket nowadays. Only during the buildup to the ICC World Cup do the cricket boards take it seriously. This is not the year of the 50-over World Cup either. The next big event is the T20 World Cup in February 2026 and the India team for it was named just last week.

Still in the midst of this all, it was a pleasant surprise to see that the biggest buzz in domestic cricket was created not by a T20 or a five-day game, but by a List-A 50-over game. More so because the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final, the premier domestic competition for T20 cricket, was played last week in front of a near empty stadium in the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Gahunje, on the outskirts of Pune.

But in a scarcely believable scenario, the opening games of the 50-overs Vijay Hazare tournament on Wednesday were buzzing like never before. Fans thronged to Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Stadium, to see Rohit Sharma. Delhi's match starring Virat Kohli in Bengaluru was shifted to BCCI’s CoE after inspection of the readiness of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium but fans followed it closely online. The records, though, fell in the other games. However, the halo effect saw all performances being accorded solid coverage in every news outlet.

To be fair, it came asa pleasant surprise for all stakeholders. Such aresponse for an opening round domestic fixture has not been seen for ages, at least not since Sachin Tendulkar's time. So, how did this happen? Itwas the result ofa combination of factors but the main thing to be noticed is that there is potential in domestic cricket when the right moves are made.