Is long DPL responsible for Delhi bowlers' poor show in first Ranji game?

Delhi were lucky to get a first innings lead and three points from Hyderabad in their first Ranji Trophy match of the season. For this, they need to thank Ayush Doseja and Sanat Sangwan for their double centuries and Ayush Badoni and Arpit Rana… hold your breath… for their wickets.

Ayush Badoni took 6/73 and Arpit Rana took 3/23. Both are part-time off-spinners and have been included in the team as top-order batsmen.  

Sumit Mathur was the only regular bowler who picked a wicket.

The five regular bowlers delivered 76 overs between them but could get only a wicket, forcing Badoni to roll his arm for over 24 overs and Rana for 12 overs.

Off-break bowler Shivam Sharma returned with 0/64 in 20 overs, Navdeep Saini 0/37 in 12 overs, Simarjeet Singh 0/52 in 12 overs, debutant Rounak Waghela 0/80 in 15 overs and Sumit Mathur 1/64 in 16 overs.

Are these bowlers that bad or were they rusty?

Only the next couple of matches will tell, if they all get to play.

There is no dearth of experience in this bowling line-up.

One thing that the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) failed to do was to hold a long camp for the players. The selectors and coaches were announced late last month on September 27, and the squad was announced only on October 9 less than a week before Delhi were to play their first match.

What’s more – the DDCA named a jumbo squad of 24 players and all of them travelled to Hyderabad.

A DDCA official jokingly said, “Only 15 are allowed to visit the ground. The remaining nine will tour the city and relay information about what they have seen in the city to the DDCA upon return.”

Jokes aside, what is the reason behind these expanded squads.

We know there is a massive urge to satisfy all stakeholders and for the last three years we have been seeing expanded squads for all age-groups so that everyone is on board.

But why make them travel. Why not have the remaining nine players work in a camp at the Ferozeshah Kotla while the 15 travel.

None of the bowlers who featured in the first match were seemingly prepared for red ball cricket. How could they be? They had just finished Delhi Premier League (DPL) that was extended to about a month this time.

This was just the second edition and DDCA went all out in quest for money to expand the league by two teams and 11 matches without realising that the red ball season was upon them.

It should be noted that Delhi have failed to reach the knockouts since 2017-18. The 2017-18 season was the last time they reached knockouts, in fact to the final, and that happened under Justice Vikramjit Sen’s administration.

The long DPL may have filled DDCA’s coffers but it exhausted the bowlers and kept them in white ball for far too long. Add to that the lack of urgency to name selectors and coaches and then the squad.

A camp of at least three weeks would have prepared these bowlers well.

As it is the timing of DPL was questioned last year and this year they decided to expand it further, holding 44 matches -- up from 33 last year, in men’s competition and increase it by a few days.

Compare that to T20 Mumbai. They had just 23 matches and the tournament lasted for just about a week, from June 4 to 12. It is not that they had lesser teams. They too had eight teams. But they managed it well. Mumbai gave priority to its Ranji Trophy season and gave itself to sort everything out. That is why Mumbai keep doing well and winning Ranji Trophy titles.

Former cricketer Kirti Azad questioned DDCA’s decision to send a squad of 23 players for the under-19 match to Ranchi.

He wrote a letter to DDCA President Rohan Jaitley, saying, “DDCA which is a founding member of BCCI, has lost respect in cricketing circles over the years. Not only because our teams are regularly thrashed by aordinary (sic) teams, the intrigue and dirty politics that we continuously play in the background can beat the worst crooks, hollow. Since you have personally added 7 members even after the list was finalized by the Selection Committee, you must clarify about the rationale behind this decision and abuse of power by you. You need to ensure that DDCA's actions are in line with BCCI guidelines and do not just serve the vested interests who are jostling for your attention and affection, all the time.”

Tags : Ranji Trophy, Delhi cricket, DDCA, T20 Mumbai, Kirti Azad, Rohan Jaitley