Cuttack, Dec. 22: The Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has decided to be less generous to the Ranji players following the team’s relegation to the Plate division this season. Odisha could garner only two points from six matches.
The association has planned to withdraw the privilege of air travel for the players.
“None other than the players is to be blamed for the disastrous performance in the Ranji matches. Despite being given all kinds of facilities and support, they failed to put up a good show. We have, therefore, decided that from the next season, they would travel by train,” said OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera.
A top sources in the OCA said the players were “not mentally fit” because of excessive physical exertion in the form of rigorous training programmes and back-to-back matches before the first-class tournament began.
The team lacked enthusiasm and were visibly tired this time. They played the Odisha Premier League from May 22 to June 12 and then toured Australia in August, the source said, adding that “wrong players” were chosen for the foreign trip.
Odisha skipper Haldhar Das, pacer Basant Mohanty and star batsman Paresh Patel were not included in the team that went to Australia. Consequently, the team spirit took a hit because the top players were upset about missing the foreign tour, the source added.
The state team has been playing in the Ranji Trophy Elite division for the past five years. In 2007-08, it was placed fourth with 13 points from six matches, which included two wins. The team had managed to secure a berth in this group then. However, it has not been able to register a win in the past 19 matches played in the Elite division from 2009-10.
Odisha, the only team to have less than five points in the Super League, is now playing its last match at Jaipur against defending champions Rajasthan, which has 10 points in its kitty. A win (six points) would not change anything for the home side, which has been drawing criticism from various quarters.
Former Ranji player Saurajit Mahapatra said: “We played defensive cricket and failed to capitalise on good starts that could have earned a good lead in the matches against Saurashtra and Karnataka.”
Mahapatra attributed the dismal performance to the sudden exit of Australian coach Michael Bevan, five days before the tournament started. Moreover, the players’ craze to play in the Twenty20 tournament affected their ability to perform in the domestic matches, he said.
“Only Odisha allows young talents to play in the shorter version of the game. It is very important that they are trained to be patient enough to play the four-day Ranji games,” Mahapatra added.
Cricket experts feel that a technical committee, free from administrative control, should be constituted to look after the team management and development of the sport.
“Emphasis must be laid on the junior-level matches to groom the under-16 and under-19 players. More matches should be organised during the off-season and players must be encouraged to take part in different tournaments within and outside the state,” said sports critic Sushant Mohanty.
Cricket fans believe that suspending skipper Haldhar Das from the side in the match against Punjab and stripping him off captaincy for breaching team discipline affected the morale of his teammates. The suspension also seemed to affect Das’s batting as he managed to score only 13 runs, including two ducks, in the two matches after he was reinstated in the team.
“Our bowling lacked teeth as pace spearhead Debasish Mohanty was appointed coach after Bevan left. The team is now dependant on pacer Basant Mohanty and we don’t have a specialist spinner. In the match against Karnataka, when our team badly needed wickets, Basant did not bowl until the new ball was available,” said Amit, a cricket buff.
