This year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) saw a new champion. Two long-suffering teams — Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings — battled for the title in the best T20 league in the world. In the end, RCB came out on top, ending an 18-year wait.
That said, this column carries great pleasure and quite a bit of sadness about the retirement of one of Indian cricket’s wonderful servants. It is a great pleasure to recognise his contribution to our beloved game, and sadness because we won’t see him play again in his favourite whites.
Priyank Panchal, the former Gujarat captain, made the tough call to quit Ranji Trophy cricket after serving his State for almost two decades. He was part of the Ranji Trophy-winning Gujarat team, but if there’s one regret he has, it would be that he didn’t get the India cap. He came close to it on a couple of occasions but didn’t have the good fortune to get it. That doesn’t make his contribution to Indian cricket any less than those who have played for India. Sometimes it’s just the misfortune of having been born at the same time as some others who were selected ahead of him and did well enough never to allow him to replace them.
From time immemorial, this has been the case in not just Indian cricket but world cricket, where some very good players have missed out on their country’s cap. Look at Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar. They would have been certainties in most other countries’ Test teams, but with the four great spinners in Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar, and S. Venkataraghavan around, they couldn’t get a look-in even once. Similarly, when the Fab Five batters of Indian cricket were around, many heavy run-scorers in Ranji Trophy cricket couldn’t find a place in the team. Who could replace Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and V.V.S Laxman when they were in their pomp? So, Panchal also missed out despite scoring consistently in the domestic circuit.
Apart from not getting the India cap, he also wouldn’t have much to show in his bank balance, despite spending the better part of his youth trying to make a career and a living out of the game. It is here that the lopsided nature of remuneration for other domestic tournaments and that of the IPL, another domestic tournament, stands out.
It’s doubtful if, after playing for two decades in all kinds of weather conditions all over the country, including the bitter cold in the North of India and extreme heat elsewhere, and also amid rains sometimes, Panchal has made even Rs. 3 crore in Ranji Trophy fees. Compare this with uncapped players in the IPL who make Rs. 3 crore-plus a season and often do not even play a single game.
The argument that it is market forces is not really valid, for more often than not, it is sheer good fortune as some franchises want to take a punt with young talent. Have a look at the uncapped crorepatis throughout the IPL, and you will find that very few have gone on to do big things for India. It’s their good luck that has made them the crores that they actually don’t deserve.
Make no mistake, it is not their fault if franchises splurge on them, but then when you see somebody like Panchal spend his whole youth playing the game in all conditions as stated above, and then not even finish with half the amount that some uncapped youngster gets, it makes others also wonder whether it’s worth playing in the national tournament, the Ranji Trophy.
The BCCI has increased the match fees in recent times, and that’s very good, but if they add the slab system of fees whereby those who play more matches get more, then that would make more players turn up for the Ranji Trophy instead of feigning injury just a month or so before the IPL starts, so that they don’t get injured and miss out on the IPL.
If the BCCI can also increase the match fees for the teams that reach the knockouts, then that also would be a great incentive for the players to keep playing further, instead of withdrawing in fear of injury before the IPL. Money is not the issue for the BCCI and its affiliated units, so hopefully, these suggestions will be considered before the new domestic season starts.
For now, congratulations to RCB and all the best to our boys as they take on England in what promises to be a tough series.
