Express View on Ranji Trophy and Andhra team: The field experiment 

This Ranji Trophy season, the Andhra team, while pursuing its first-ever title, has set itself a higher goal. To be true to the spirit of a team sport, it has decided against applauding individual efforts. So in their first match of the season, when the batsmen reached a hundred, the Andhra dressing room reacted with spectacular silence. It was only after the team had taken the first-innings lead did a wild cheer thread through the stadium air. These sights and sounds have been unseen and unheard in a cricket ecosystem known to celebrate personality cults. Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli — India always had record-breaking cricketing icons but Team India lacked the intimidating aura of the West Indies back in the day or in present-day Australia. Andhra’s diagnosis seems spot on, but isn’t this a band-aid solution?

Most Ranji Trophy games these days are played in front of virtually empty stands with the proverbial old man and his dog being the only witnesses to the action on the field. To deny a domestic performer the few claps from his mates when he reaches a milestone is cruel. Those who play the sport at the highest level say that the “respect of the dressing room” is the ultimate acknowledgment of their skills. So when an entire squad stands up to applaud a fellow player, who took blows for the team on way to a personal milestone, the moment best represents the ethos of a team sport.

While the dressing room can be instructed to remain aloof to individual achievement, what about the fans? Sport isn’t just about the eventual result, it is also about the small sub-plots and the many personal storylines. A stunning dive or a breathtaking catch all add up to make a match-day outing a life-long memory. While Andhra can continue with their little experiment, Indian cricket’s bigger stakeholders need to rethink. They need to stop selling team games as individual face-offs. After every India loss, or even Mohammad Siraj’s six-wicket haul, they need to stop showing reruns of Kohli’s hundreds.